Linda Baker, volunteer with Praying for Paws, hugs Daisy and Elsie as they prepare to leave. Special photo

By Melissa Robinson
Co-Editor 

  Labrador retriever sisters Daisy and Elsie along with a third dog were found wandering around outside their former house in Jasper County, Georgia, when rescuers found them. The owners had moved and the dogs were abandoned, left to fend for themselves. When Praying for Paws founder Carol Kelly heard about the aging dogs, she knew they would be hard to place, but also knew that she couldn’t turn them away. 

  Elsie and Daisy made the difficult journey, however the third dog died enroute. Although large, older dogs are more difficult to place, the volunteers at the shelter make it their mission to find forever homes for these pets.

  These two labs were no exception, and Kelly, along with volunteer Linda Baker, made it their personal crusade to find a home for the pair. Their persistence paid off last week.

  After nearly ten months at Praying for Paws, on Thursday afternoon, Daisy and Elsie met their new family, who drove all the way from Virginia to adopt them. John and Betsy Hardy from Whitestone, Virginia heard about the pair through a network of rescue organizations. The couple, in their 70s, made the 600 mile trek to McDonough to take home the newest members of their family.

  “The Hardy’s have a large property with 35 acres in Virginia, and I know the girls are in good hands,” said Kelly. “They are the sweetest, most low-key dogs.”

  The Hardy’s called Kelly to let her and the volunteers know that Daisy and Elsie had a wonderful trip home and were adjusting beautifully to their new surroundings.

  Praying for Paws is a non-profit, no-kill dog rescue group that works with the Henry County Humane Society and the Henry County Animal Control to place dogs in safe, appropriate homes. Officially in business since 2005, Kelly started the non-profit shelter after spending several years volunteering for the Henry County Humane Society.

  “They do a wonderful job, but there were some things I was interested in doing differently. Mainly, I wanted to be able to go outside the area and transport dogs to new homes,” said Kelly.

  Kelly said she began rescuing the dogs and sheltering them at her McDonough home, where her family still has 350 acres of land. She built kennels there, but in an effort to continue the mission of rescuing these pets, she began a business to support the charity. She started the Paw Pad on 133 Jonesboro Road in McDonough, where she offers a hotel for dogs for boarding, as well as grooming services and obedience training. She also brings the shelter dogs there when meeting with prospective owners. She has one paid staff member, a crew of volunteers, and all of the profits go to support Praying for Paws.

  “I had to find a way to support the charity to keep it going in the future,” she said.

  Although Daisy and Elsie had a happy ending, many dogs in the county and across the state do not.  Kelly said that partly due to the economy, the trend of abandoning pets when homeowners move is unfortunately growing. She said that another problem is the lax pet ownership and spay and neuter laws, particularly in this area.

  “In several states up North, citizens have to apply for a license to own pets. This ensures that when pets get lost, they are more easily reunited with owners. Breeders have to pay a breeder’s fee and many of the states also have stricter spay and neuter laws that owners have to abide by,” she said.

  Kelly said that there is a serious overpopulation problem in the county and that animals are being euthanized at an alarming rate.

  Currently, Praying for Paws is operating at full capacity, and sometimes she doesn’t have an opening for weeks, however she receives five to ten calls a day from people who want to bring in a dog.

   “I think people try to do the right thing and the animal shelter is doing the best that it can, but we need to change our laws and educate people on the responsibilities of ownership and having animal spayed or neutered,” she said.

  For more information on Praying for Paw visit www.prayingforpaws.com or call 404-202-4208.

  On any given day throughout the County, men and women can be seen picking up litter on the county’s roadsides, hauling away trash and debris from county buildings, washing county vehicles, providing ground maintenance and directing cars at the recycling center, all as part of the Henry County Community Service program.

 “The Community Service Department provides a wide range of services for the citizens of Henry County,” said Kenny Morris of the Community Service Department.

 Henry County’s Community Service program is successful in several ways, but particularly in saving money for the citizens of Henry County. According to department officials, in the fiscal year 2010, there were 1,714 community service participants who performed various jobs such as litter pickup, janitorial duties, county vehicle wash, grounds maintenance at various county properties and other miscellaneous duties.

  In the 2010 fiscal year, they picked up approximately 113 tons of debris and covered 2,288 miles on 1,045 county roadways. Workers answered 194 requests for department assistance as well as 148 citizen requests.

  Henry County’s Community Service department provides a restitution program for offenders who have been mandated by the courts to perform community service hours for various infractions, such as DUI, driving with a suspended license or no insurance and other misdemeanor violations. The program also offers inmates the opportunity to earn early release as well as offering probationers the opportunity to pay their debts to society if they are unable to meet the fine imposed.

  For more information on Henry County’s Community Service Program, visit www.co.henry.ga.us/communityservices.