““When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.””
OUR MISSION
CARES’ mission is to provide a safe haven and loving homes for lost and homeless animals, while actively engaging the boundless compassion of our community to reduce pet overpopulation and promote compassionate care for all pets.
Achieving Our Mission
Clarksdale Animal Rescue Effort and Shelter, Inc. [CARES] was formed in response to an ASPCA raid on the local city-run animal shelter. CARES is a no-kill shelter dedicated to improving the lives of animals in Coahoma County, located in the heart of the rural Mississippi Delta.
CARES aims to work with our community to provide a better life for animals and their people alike, believing that pets enhance the lives and well-being of pet owners. CARES operates on the belief that improving the lives of animals and reducing the homeless pet population will positively affect the entire community, as well as the lives of individual citizens.
What this translates to operationally is that CARES aspires on a daily basis to provide an excellent facility for our pets, quality medical care, and loving treatment, to ensure that the animals in our shelter are happy and healthy. CARES also aspires to partner with communities and individuals to provide resources to enable pet owners to keep their pets in their own homes and to provide quality food, shelter, and medical care for them: our community food bank currently provides free food to over 600 owned pets in Coahoma County every month.
OUR OBJECTIVES
CARES' goal has always been to purchase/build a building that allows us more space, more visibility, and a better quality of life for the dogs and cats here. In October of 2017, the dream became a reality as we moved our operation into it!
We purchased a large, empty structure on the Blues Highway in Clarksdale. The vacant building was completely repurposed to fit our needs, and now it has everything we were initially seeking. Our animals are housed indoors, away from the cold of winter and heat of MS summer. Diseases have lowered. The cats have their own wing. The dogs have outdoor exercise yards as well as indoor training areas. There is an adoption room, an isolation room, and an educational room for children. Even a room for birthday parties, after school programs, and summer camps! This is no inexpensive project, and we'd love your support as we continue to progress.
Another objective is to provide spay and neuter services for those who cannot afford local veterinary care. Thanks to Petsmart Charities, CARES is realizing this goal by providing 500 spay neuters to underserved dog owners in Coahoma County. It's been proven in city after city that this type of preventative program pays for itself with the reduction of animals that have to be picked up, fed, cared for, and often euthanized in the future. This is the first opportunity for CARES to change the landscape of our community strays. Before this, CARES was a recipient of the Guardian Angel Foundation grant and a partner with Mississippi State University Veterinary School in spaying every shelter animal prior to adoption.
The third objective, and possibly the most important, is to engage the public and humanely rehabilitate these animals. It's imperative that both young and old find the reward in saving lives and learn the impact of animal cruelty, safety, and welfare. In collaboration with area schools, local veterinarians, and other nonprofit groups, we are working to provide support for our diverse population and the socioeconomic disadvantaged each day. We look forward to offering programs such as Break the Chains, Kids n' Kritters, and after-school programming in order to grow and change a community mindset from one of neglect to compassion. Our Pet Food Pantry not only benefits the community who needs it, but also other animal rescues that are in dire situations.