SPCA head wins citizen of year for pet advocacy work

By Rebecca Putterman

rputterman@newsobserver.com

CLAYTON The lights in the Town Hall chamber dimmed as photographs came up on the projection screen: a dog sleeping between a couple in bed; children holding new-born puppies; goofy close-ups of curious big, brown eyes getting as close to the lens as four-leggedly possible.

The slide show was the embodiment of the phrase, "all dogs (and cats) go to heaven," except dog and cat heaven is right here in Clayton. It was clear, then, that Clayton's 61st citizen of the year would have something to do with animals.

However, with a host of friends and directors of the Johnston County SPCA - soon-to-be titled Clayton SPCA - present at the banquet, it was unclear who would receive the award.

It was unclear, that is, until Alex Harding, a member of the SPCA board of directors, began to explain how he first met Melinda Barefoot, the SPCA director, when he adopted his border collie/springer spaniel mutt some years ago.

Barefoot is a woman whose diminutive size and shy demeanor makes one wonder how she manages day in and day out to keep a 100-animal rescue shelter clean and inviting for adopters, and comfortable and rehabilitative for the animals. But that's not even all she does on a donations-only budget and minimal fees from the town for animal control rescue.

Saving animals

With a handful of volunteers to keep the shelter clean, the animals fed, socialized, exercised and rehabilitated from all kinds of abuse and injuries, Barefoot is also advocating against pet cruelty and rallying people around spaying and neutering their pets to control the overpopulation that brings pets to rescue shelters like hers in the first place.

"(What) sets the Clayton SPCA apart from many other shelters is the shelter director, Melinda Barefoot, and her determination to take sick and suffering animals and nurse them back to health," Harding said in his introductory speech.

As no-kill shelters, an SPCA organization works to rehabilitate and re-socialize animals, only euthanizing those that are unadoptable. On its petfinder.com adoption webpage, 455 animals are listed as having been adopted - and that's only as long as the shelter has been on petfinder.com But Barefoot is known to go much further than pet adoption.

For instance, a Himalayan kitten, barely a few weeks old, was left on the shelter's doorstep one morning in September for Barefoot to find on her way into work. She quickly discovered that he had lost one of his clear, blue eyes, which was still attached to the kitten's head in a painful, swollen scab.

The surgery was expensive, and the kitten's heart stopped three times on the operating table. When he awoke and looked likely to make a full recovery, Barefoot named him Lazarus, a figure in the Gospel of John who rises from the dead.

Harding said that it's Barefoot's ability not to ask donors and would-be adopters for pity, but rather to relate the heart-wrenching stories of animals like Lazarus who need enormous help, that convinces local veterinarians to donate their time and skills and volunteers to come back day after day to clean up what can only be described as a building which smells as good as an animal shelter possibly can.

Many of the animals at the shelter stay for a few months - if they're adoptable, she says she can give them the necessary time and attention to find them the right home.

Laddy, a gorgeous male Sheltie, has spent the last five or so months greeting visitors at the shelter and corralling the other animals - he is, after all, a sheep dog. Now that he's spent time in the reception area playing host, Barefoot says he's spoiled - she can't find him a home that would fit his needs which she's come to know so well.

Barefoot said a woman came asking to adopt him recently, but that she would have to keep him in a garage while she's at work. That's not the right home for a dog like Laddy, Barefoot says.

And she knows each individual animal that comes through the shelter door just as well as she knows Laddy and his particular needs.

In a December, 2011 "needy pets" feature in the Clayton News-Star, Barefoot helped explain the individual personalities and needs of six dogs, including Laddy. All the dogs but the spoiled shelter Sheltie have since found loving homes.

Of course, Barefoot says she doesn't deserve the award. "It's all about the animals," she said, emphasizing that she couldn't do any of it without her dedicated board, volunteers, donors, the town, and adopting families.

Keeping the shelter going

Barefoot knows she wont' be around for ever, and that worries her considerably.

The shelter is small, it constantly needs more funding for veterinary care, and the animals could use more exercise space and larger kennels.

"My dream is for a nice new facility so the animals can have a nice environment while they are waiting for adoption.," Barefoot said after winning the award. "(Also) more funds for medical care, exercise areas, and for the shelter to continue after me."

Harding quoted in his speech a 2009 poem to Barefoot written by Donna Eatmon, summing up her incredible impact on Clayton-area animals:

"Many thanks once again for this shelter you provide - it's all because of you that so many have survived."