Shelly Simmons, CAWA, Division Manager, Greenville (SC) County Animal Care

Shelly Simmons has worked for Greenville County Animal Care, the largest open-admission shelter in South Carolina, for twelve years now. She sits down with Stacy to talk about how, in the last four years, through the implementation of a variety of community cat programs, the shelter’s cat intake has decreased from 9,000 cats annually to under 3,000 a year.

Most of this was accomplished by offering free spay/neuter for all community cats in Greenville County. A county resolution supporting community-wide TNR and a 2016 grant from the PetCo Foundation helped kick the program off. By focusing on giving the community the resources to help fix the overpopulation problem themselves, Shelly feels they have put together a truly sustainable program—and the great statistics that she shares with Stacy prove that it is also a successful one.

Visit the Greenville County Animal Care Service website to learn more. You can also email Shelly directly at misimmons@greenvillecounty.org.