Life with a Possibility of Parole

By Colin Murphey

Colin Murphey

Team Eppridge

STORY SUMMARY

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The first job for volunteers at the Humane Society of Ray County animal shelter in Richmond, Missouri is to let the dogs out of their cells and lead them to the former inmate exercise area for some playtime and socialization. The shelter, housed in the old city jail, cares for approximately 30 dogs and more than 80 cats, with more animals constantly coming through the doors.

According to longtime volunteer and humane society board member Atalie Blackwell, the high number of animals coming in is due to a variety of factors, many of them related to the community’s struggle to cope with post-pandemic obstacles. Changes in housing and animals developing separation anxiety-based behavioral issues with the end of remote work has some people deciding they can no longer care for animals adopted over the past two years.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, animal adoptions increased, Blackwell said. “Then, this summer, it’s been brutal. We definitely started to notice our numbers going up. And, of course, people don’t say they can’t commit. We’ve had people tell us their living situations have changed and they can’t care for their pets anymore because they’re having to move into apartments.”

Underfunded, understaffed and overworked, the volunteers make do with what they have, aided by members of the community who all want to see the current four-legged inmates of the jail released to a new home.

Donna Payton, president of Humane Society of Ray County, takes a dog for a walk down a street in Richmond, Mo.Payton arrives early every morning to check on the animals at the facility which occupies the former city jail.

Kristen Dickey puts a puppy back in a cell at the Humane Society of Ray County in Richmond, Mo. Dickey is one of several volunteers caring for more than one hundred cats and dogs at the facility which formerly was the city jail.

A dog and her litter of puppies wait to be released from their cell for exercise at the Humane Society of Ray County in Richmond, Mo. Many of the animals at the shelter are housed in cellblocks formerly occupied by inmates.

Dozens of food bowls dry out in the kitchen area of the Humane Society of Ray County in Richmond, Mo. The facility currently houses approximately 30 dogs and more than 80 cats amidst a post-pandemic surge of people no longer being able to care for their pets.

Atalie Blackwell cleans a cell at the Humane Society of Ray County in Richmond, Mo. Rooms which once housed prisoners have been converted to shelter animals at a facility run solely by volunteers and funded primarily by donations.

Donna Payton, left, and her daughter Caitlyn, right, try to coax Punjab the cat out from under a stack of crates. Punjab is a well-known escape artist at the facility and is often difficult to get back into his crate after volunteers clean enclosures and feed the other shelter animals.

Atalie Blackwell sprays bleach on the ground in what used to be the exercise area for inmates at the former city jail in Richmond, Mo. The space is now used to let dogs out of their cells for a few minutes of exercise and socialization every day.

Donna Payton, left, reacts to a joke told by Ray Reavis while unloading a van full of supplies at the Humane Society of Ray County in Richmond, Mo. Shortly after Reavis and Payton finished unloading the van, a stray cat and a dog dumped by the side of the road were brought in to the shelter.

Donna Payton tries to coax a dog into staying outside. Payton said the group hopes to relocate out of the former city jail to a new facility in coming years.

Brian Kratzer, Co-Director

Alyssa Schukar, Co-Director

Hany Hawasly, Technical Director

http://www.mophotoworkshop.org