Improving the community one animal at a time

Paws4Ever, a non-profit no-kill animal shelter located in Mebane, works hard to ensure all abandoned animals have the opportunity to live happily ever. (Paws4Ever recently opened a thrift shop—Paws4Ever ReSale Store—in Hillsborough at 115 John Earl St., see today's paper for more details)
But a lot of work goes into that mission. The organization provides puppy and dog training to help smooth the transition for both dogs and humans after adoption. "If you want an adoption to work, the best way to do it is to make sure the human and animal have a bond," Caroline Green, Paws4Ever Board of Directors president, says. "That works if the dog is well-trained."
Paws4Ever offers free puppy training after adoption but also provides a variety of training levels complete with professional animal advocates available for assistance.
Paws4Ever also runs an extensive community education program, emphasizing the importance to spay and neuter your pets so no unwanted pregnancies occur. Bringing pets to the vet for spaying and neutering can be extremely expensive, but Paws4Ever offers low-cost procedure.
"The only way to stop needing to give homes to lovely dogs is to get people to plan neuter the ones they already have," Caroline says. "We try to push that in connection with trying to find as many homes for existing animals as we can."