Bella waits for you to play ball with her at Praying for Paws. / Photo: Praying for Paws

by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~

Carol Kelly said yes.

On the Greek island of Kefalonia, I had recently found five puppies—just babies, only eight weeks old—wandering in the middle of a busy road. What could I do but chase them down one by one, scoop them up, and load them into my car?

But then what? At that time, in 2008, there was no animal shelter on the island, and there were precious few people with the time or the inclination to help stray dogs and cats.

A friend of a friend suggested I contact Kelly, president of a rescue group called Praying for Paws in McDonough, Georgia, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. It seemed like a crazy idea, and Carol probably thought it was too. But still, she said yes.

Later we’ll post more info about those puppies and how Kelly took them into her program and found them loving homes. For now, Spicy Stories is honored to present an interview with this dynamic, impassioned woman, a self-described “devout Christian” who, after retiring from a Fortune 100 company, felt called by God to help animals.

“Mankind is given dominion over creatures on this earth,” she tells us, “but as long as we allow mass killing of innocent, feeling animals, we aren’t practicing in the manner our Lord intended.”

Praying for Paws is one of Spicy Stories Save Lives’s donation recipients. Fifty percent of all our profits in February and March will go to Praying for Paws and other groups.

INTERVIEW WITH CAROL KELLY, PRAYING FOR PAWS

Spicy Stories Save Lives: Could you briefly describe your group?

Carol Kelly: We are a nonprofit dog rescue group, licensed by the Agriculture Department of Georgia.  Our primary mission is to find loving homes for homeless dogs. We prefer to pull dogs from the local county animal shelter as these dogs will be euthanized, however since the economy turned south in 2008, we began receiving calls from desperate people who were being forced to move due to foreclosure, and not being able to take their dogs to their new residence. So now we take dogs from the community, as well.

Spicy Stories: When did you start your group?

Kelly: Praying for Paws, Inc. officially started in 2005 but I had ‘unofficially’ been rescuing, transporting etc. since 2003.

Spicy Stories: Why did you start your group? What is your mission?

Kelly: I started Praying for Paws because the numbers of dogs and cats that were being euthanized was such a heavy burden on me that I had trouble sleeping, I was full of angst. I felt compelled to create methods that would save dogs’ lives.  At that time probably 95% of dogs entering the local animal shelter were euthanized.

I organized the group, then began to call on our commissioners to make them aware of a different type of sheltering method, known as “no-kill.”  After presentations to the local government we convinced the commissioners that so many dogs didn’t have to die.

This ushered in new personnel who opened the shelter up to rescue groups, put the dogs’ photos and descriptions on the Internet, allowed vaccines to be given and many other humane activities.

While the shelter isn’t no kill, strides have been made to improve their euthanasia rates, and staff do all they can to either reunite dogs with their owners, finds homes for dogs via the public, or invite rescue groups from across the nation to review and arrange pulling dogs to safety.

Also an arrangement has been made to bring in a veterinarian who provides spay and neuter services at a low cost. Praying for Paws now continues in our mission to save lives by helping dogs that come from the animal shelter, or from the community.

Spicy Stories: How many members and/or volunteers?

Kelly: We have a small core of people who volunteer weekly to help with the dogs, but we have large numbers of kindhearted people who donate dog food and provide funds to support us in our quest.

Spicy Stories: Do you have a shelter or are the animals housed in foster homes, or… ?

Kelly: We have had our own shelter since 2005. We have 28 pens now and 3 acres fenced for dogs, we call our “dog park.”  Also in 2008 the Paw Pad, Inc. began construction on a commercial building that became an upscale dog hotel, doggy day care, grooming and obedience training facility. Part of the profits that are made from the Paw Pad go to Praying for Paws dog rescue.  Also the small dogs are housed at the Paw Pad, and potential adoptees can meet and greet the dogs there.  The larger dogs most of the time are housed at the other shelter that is located at my home. We do have a few dogs in foster homes, but not many.

Spicy Stories: What’s the best thing you feel your group has accomplished so far?

Kelly: Our group has many stories of helping dogs. It’s hard to pick one but I will say the hardest and biggest accomplishment was to build the Paw Pad, this allows the dog mission group to have a sustainable source of revenue so that Praying for Paws should be able to operate for years to come, and help thousands of dogs who would have had grim futures.

Spicy Stories: Any particular rescues you’re especially proud of?

Kelly: We are proud and happy for all our rescues.

Spicy Stories: About how many animals do you rescue per year?

Kelly: About 150 dogs per year.

Spicy Stories: Is there any particular goal you hope to meet this year or in the coming years?

Kelly: This year we hope to use our local papers to help educate the public in good dog ownership, i.e. spay/neuter, no chaining, no backyard breeding, educate people as to heartworm and other health needs of dogs, etc.

Spicy Stories: What’s the hardest thing about what you do?

Kelly: The hardest thing is to have to tell people we don’t have space to take their dog.

Spicy Stories: What’s the most rewarding thing?

Kelly: Finding great homes for the great dogs we are privileged to have in our group.

Spicy Stories: For what purpose(s), primarily, do you use donations?

Kelly: Donations mostly go for vet bills. But we have one salaried person, Tonya, we have a vehicle that I donated—it has to be maintained, insured, and gas has to be purchased—we have lots of heartworm meds, flea meds, and other types of meds we purchase for the dogs. We also have liability insurance, license fees, and workman’s comp to pay. Repairs on the shelter also are needed and we have a handy man who works when we need him to fix/repair. Sometimes we purchase food but mostly food is donated.

Spicy Stories: What personally motivates you to devote so much of your life to animal rescue?

Kelly: This is a ‘calling.’ I feel I am directly called by God. Visions I had in my dreams showed me how to go, what to name the organization and to this day, dreams direct my thoughts and actions. I am an advocate. Even if I wanted to, I can’t deny this mission. It’s who I am and what I do and I know the volunteers and friends who help are of the same mindset.

Spicy Stories: Was there any particular moment or experience in your background that led to this?

Kelly: After my retirement from a Fortune 100 company, I knew what I was going to do with my life and my time.  I didn’t waste any time. I immediately started working with anther rescue group, a great group, but my calling was higher and more complicated than what they wanted me to do, therefore I started my own group, Praying for Paws.  The dreams or visions, as I sometimes call them, began.

Spicy Stories: What do you do in your life aside from rescue? Job? Family?

Kelly: I am married to a understanding man, Ken, who doesn’t really participate in my rescue activities, but he allows me the time.  I have 9 dogs of my own, all rescues, a pit, a Newfie, a American Eskimo, a golden retriever, a Lab, 3 Yorkies and a Yorkie-poo.  I have 10 cats. I also am the ‘top dog’ at the Paw Pad. We have 14 employees. I manage and operate this business. I also run a billboard sign business, and manage a family LP.  I belong to the McDonough Woman’s Club, and I am a devout Christian.

Spicy Stories: Does your rescue work have any negative impact on the rest of your life?

Kelly: Negative impacts are hard to come by. Rescuing is very rewarding. But I do manage to use a lot of my own money so you could say that jingle in my pocket is not so loud these days. My son, Pete, just completed his business degree from Mercer University. He is working at the Paw Pad too. I helped him so he wouldn’t have to acquire any school loans. I live in the home I was raised in. It’s old, but great and frequently needs maintenance so I seem to spend a lot of time making sure roofs don’t leak and yards are groomed, etc.

Spicy Stories: Does rescue work have any positive impact on the rest of your life?

Kelly: My life is so close to rescue and dogs in general, I am known for this locally.

Spicy Stories: What’s your response to people who say you should be helping needy people and starving children instead of rescuing animals.

Kelly: People do say stuff like that i.e., why don’t you help children instead of dogs?  I reply that I am helping children and their whole families by rescuing, because dogs bring so much into families’ lives, that when we adopt out a dog, we know we are enriching a family.

Spicy Stories: If there’s just one thought or fact about your animal rescue work or animal welfare in general that you’d like readers to remember, what would that be?

Kelly: Dogs are feeling, intelligent creatures of God. We know that certain breeds, like the border collie, has the intellect of a four-year-old child. Knowing this and seeing how dogs want to work for us, take care of us, how can this society be complacent with the numbers of dogs and cats being killed in shelters?  How can they allow this?  Doesn’t this say something about us as a culture?

It’s a slippery slope when we accept killing because there isn’t space or it’s inconvenient.  Who’s to say that that logic won’t turn into the idea that, well, Grandma isn’t in good health, she isn’t working or producing taxes, so let’s just euthanize her.

Mankind is given dominion over creatures on this earth but as long as we allow mass killing of innocent, feeling animals, we aren’t practicing in the manner our Lord intended. Especially since there are newer sheltering methods that reduce the euthanasia numbers to single digits, and increase the percentage of dogs going to foster or new homes.

We also could create and use more animal friendly ordinances and laws, require spaying and neutering, discourage backyard breeding, and require licensing of dogs, and use funds collected from licensing for spay and neuter.

There is a tremendous amount of education to be done regarding proper dog ownership.

That’s the way I feel; this is what motivates me to keep on rescuing and helping as many as we can.

Spicy Adoptable BELLA (photo above)

Info from Praying for Paws:

Bella is an awesome two-year-old Lab mix. She loves other dogs and knows a few commands. She is also housetrained! Bella loves to play ball and is such a sweetheart. She wants a new home of her own today!

For more info about Bella please contact Praying for Paws.

Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Her fiction includes 17 novels for Simon and Schuster, E.P. Dutton, Avon, and other major publishers (under the name Kathryn Makris), as well as a teleplay for CBS-TV, and a short story for The Bark magazine. She has written hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for outlets such as National Geographic Traveler, The San Francisco Chronicle, Travelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, Animal Issues Reporter.org, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).