“We are always on the precipice of a complete disaster,” said Courtney Proctor Cross, the director of the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Shelter.
The shelter, which is experiencing city funding cuts from $400,000 to $250,000, is constantly working to support the animals it houses to stay afloat.
“We have to work extra hard to fundraise,” Cross said. “That funding was what the shelter needed in order to not constantly be on a knife’s edge.”
The “knife’s edge,” Cross said, is the impossible position the shelter could be put in: out of room, out of resources and, as a very last resort, losing their no-kill designation.
“We’re not going to start euthanizing animals because we don’t have the funding we need,” Cross said. “We are trying to seek other avenues for more money and support.”
That said, the shelter currently remains at a constant maximum capacity, she added.
“We’ll end up taking in about the same number of animals that we send out within a month,” Cross said. “Our numbers stay pretty constant.”
Along with the funding cuts, Cross said the shelter is feeling the same financial strain that rising costs are placing on everyone.
“Utilities are more expensive, food is more expensive for the animals and we have to pay more people to work here than we used to because we have more animals to take care of,” she said.
Despite the increased expenses, rather than place an intake cutoff, the shelter aims to manage intake, Cross said.
“It’s not like we have all this empty space and don’t want to take them; we truly have nowhere to put them without making space,” Cross said. “This happens either through adoption, sending animals to rescues and we’re trying to avoid euthanizing animals for space.”
In addition to adoption or rescues, the shelter makes space for new animals through individuals or families who volunteer to foster.
“We can’t necessarily give them a timeframe for fosters,” Cross said. “It might be two days, two weeks or two months, but we take care of their medical needs throughout this time.”
When there’s no good samaritan to take in a dog or cat, however, the shelter makes room in creative ways.
“The other night, we had two dogs who had to spend the night in the play yard,” Cross said. “That’s how full we are, and it’s not ideal, but when the alternative is euthanizing them, we do what we can.”
In terms of rescues, the shelter works with One By One Animal Advocates and Advocates Saving Adoptable Pets, who send dogs to rescue partners in the northeast or larger cities.
While the shelter frequently offers adoption specials, Cross said it never rushes an animal into a home, even if the process takes longer.
“If someone who has little children has interest in a snippy dog, we try to redirect them,” she said. “We try to think of the dog’s personality and what home environment is going to be a good fit for them and the person or family.”
As the holiday season and winter months quickly approach, dogs inside and out are feeling the shelter’s current state, Cross said.
“I wish we had a situation where we could bring dogs in at night and then take them out during the day,” she said. “As soon as we built our extra outside kennels, they all filled up along with the inside spaces.”
Despite the shelter’s current conditions, dogs and cats alike are, of course, provided with necessary amenities to keep them comfortable, like heated dog houses for the winter and cool pools for the summer, Cross said.
When it comes to public support, Cross said there is no shortage of ways for individuals to assist the shelter.
“Donations of food, specifically Purina, are always helpful,” she said. “Of course, monetary donations are super helpful, and volunteering is always welcomed.”
For the shelter’s animals to have the best quality of life, however, the true solution is adoption.
“Even if dogs get three 20 minute walks, that’s still only an hour out of their kennels,” Cross said. “The more adopters and volunteers we have come in, the more attention our animals get.”
Volunteer walkers are trained through a handling tutorial, and dogs are labeled on a one to four scale, with one being easy to walk and four reserved for staff only.
“We want our volunteers to walk safely with the dogs and have an enjoyable experience,” she said. “People are also welcome to come and check a dog out to take it to the park, home or to get a pup cup.”
In addition to walking animals, volunteers may transport animals to rescues as well. Likewise, individuals may volunteer to work in the shelter’s on-site surgical unit, monitoring animals as they wake from anesthesia.
If volunteers wish to not work with the animals, Cross said the shelter has volunteer spaces in the front office to answer phones and partake in typical admin work, Cross said.
Most importantly, Cross said the shelter wants to help the community understand just how essential its services are.
“We take in more than 3,000 animals a year, which in turn is a lot of animals who then get spayed and neutered,” she said. “If animal welfare is important to you, then I think the work the shelter is doing is hopefully also important.”
Kaitlyn Fleming can be contacted at [email protected].
Connie Kirk • Dec 5, 2025 at 6:24 pm
Courtney I’ve seen this shelter go thru many leaders. You have been the best thing that has ever happened to this shelter in every single aspect, especially the welfare of the animals. I pray things get easier with each day 🥰. I pray there will be more people who care