CARE and the Chatham County Animal Shelter (CCAS)
Chatham Animal Rescue and Education (CARE) works closely with the Chatham County Animal Shelter (CCAS) in Pittsboro, but is not officially affiliated with them. However, many of the dogs and cats in the CARE foster network were 'pulled' from CCAS by CARE volunteers. Plus, some CARE volunteers help at CCAS so that they can open on Saturdays, with the goal, of course, being more adoptions through increased accessibility. Note that while CARE is a private network of foster homes, CCAS is a county-run animal shelter that does not have a no-kill policy.

Euthanasia is a big word for a horrible reality, one that every animal lover wishes could be referred to in the past tense. But, before condemnation, realize that the ability to run a no-kill shelter that must accept all strays brought in is overwhelmingly the responsibility of the public to practice responsible pet guardianship, including committment to spaying and neutering. This country has not owned up to this responsibility, and thus animals stream into the shelter:
  • "We have a new baby and need to get rid of the cat."
  • "We wanted our children to experience the miracle of birth, but could not find homes for all the puppies."
  • "We are moving and can't take the dog with us."
  • "This dog keeps chewing things up...while we leave him at home all day."
  • "I just got divorced and can not keep the dog."
  • "My mother died and we can not take her cat."
  • "Our son poked the dog in the eye and he barked at him...we are afraid to keep him."
  • "I read that cats suck the breath from sleeping babies."
  • "The cat is pregnant, again, and we can not have any more cats around."
  • ...and so on.
It would be great if there was room for every animal that came in, but of course there isn't. There are only two ways to make more room: have an existing dog or cat adopted out, or apply that horrible word discussed earlier. CARE is a no-kill organization, but it is very important to remember that CARE does not HAVE to take in any homeless animals; CCAS does.

Who We Are (Chatham Animal Rescue and Education)
Directions to CARE Adoption Days Sites and Chatham County Animal Shelter
Important Information on North Carolina Animal Shelters
  1. NC state law requires public animals shelter to hold STRAY animals (animals with no known owner) only 72 hours. Some public shelters, like CCAS, hold them up to five days.
  2. There is no legal requirement that animals SURRENDERED BY THEIR OWNERS be kept at all.
  3. Many shelters keep as many healthy adoptable surrendered pets as they can accomodate.
So potential adopters need to be advised to act quickly
and to call ahead and make sure the animal is still there.
Recent CCAS Adoption Statistics
The following CCAS adoption statistics come from the Chatham County, NC Web site. The adoption rates are recorded as "number of animals adopted through shelter" and "number of animals adopted through rescue organizations." About 2 years ago, for the time frame of around 1999-2000, they were in the range of 5%. In 2001, the overall rate increased to 13%, and in 2002 it increased further to 30%. Projecting from the statistics, the adoption rate will increase again by the end of 2003 to around 40%. This trend is undoubtedly due to the combination of CARE staffing the shelter on Saturdays and expanding its foster home network and taking a greater number of animals from CCAS. The actual numbers are:
  • 2001 (actual): 2377 animals impounded, 98 adopted through shelter, 209 adopted through rescue group
  • 2002 (actual): 2261 animals impounded, 257 adopted through shelter, 419 adopted through rescue group