Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
With her genuinely good heart and a wealth of experience behind her, Susannah works to connect local business and non-profit leaders to their neighbors. In a community like ours in which so many have invested their lives, there are fantastic stories all around us that motivate and inspire, often right next door. She hopes to share some of those here, on the Good Neighbor Podcast. Book an interview today at GNPAuburn.com
Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
Ep.#135: Patti Tole, CARE Humane Society
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We sit down with Patty Tole from CARE Humane Society to unpack what the shelter actually does for Auburn, Opelika, and all of Lee County. We talk spay and neuter access, Trap Neuter Return for community cats, and the behind-the-scenes work that keeps animals healthy, safe, and matched with the right homes.
• CARE Humane Society’s history, rebrand, and what CARE stands for
• Patty’s journey from volunteering to working across donor relations and community programs
• Misconceptions about shelters and who can use CARE’s services
• Low-cost spay and neuter voucher programs for Lee County residents
• Trap Neuter Return basics and why “return” helps prevent new cats moving in
• Daily shelter realities, including cleaning, play groups, fostering, and enrichment
• How to find adoptable pets and start the adoption process online
www.carehumane.org
Welcome And Meet Patty
SPEAKER_00This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.
SPEAKER_02Welcome. And with me is Patty Toll, and she wears a lot of hats at the commit at the Care Humane Society here in Auburn. Administrative Assistant, Donor Relations, and Community Programs. Welcome, Patty.
SPEAKER_01Hi, Susanna. How are you today?
SPEAKER_02I am good. Thank you for joining me. Well, tell me a little bit about what's going on at Care Humane Society.
CARE Humane Society Mission And History
SPEAKER_02What all do y'all do?
SPEAKER_01Well, we are a local 501c3 nonprofit. We are a the animal shelter for the cities of Auburn and Opalica. We were established in 1974 as originally all volunteer and just foster-based. They didn't even have a building. But they knew that there was a need for animal care in our community. So the first building they established was in 1976. And then they had to, the state of Alabama had to purchase that land to make room for Highway 280. And so in the early 1990s, we established the building that we're in now. We're still trying to trying to grow and keep up with the growth of Auburn and Opalika. And then in 2023, just in time for the 50th anniversary, Lee County Humane Society changed the name to CARE Humane Society to better reflect our services and also to get across the key components of our mission statement. And so CARE stands for compassion, adoption, rescue, and education.
SPEAKER_02Okay. I remember when y'all went through that uh rebrand, um, and I think it's a great logo and a great rebrand. It it really does define what you guys do there. I was uh just met you a few weeks ago and did a tour of the of the place, and it is truly a valuable resource for um Auburn and uh and Opalika. Well,
Patty’s Path Into Animal Welfare
SPEAKER_02tell me a little bit about your journey, Patty. How did you get into uh working with Care Humane Society?
SPEAKER_01Well, I had been working in public accounting, and but I always had a love for animals. So when that job ended, I knew I wanted to spend some time doing some service to my community. And with my love for animals, Care Humane Society just seemed like a really good fit. And every day I was learning something new. My volunteer duties just kept growing because I kept learning new things and new ways I could help. So I started with walking dogs and then added some time at the front desk. So I learned about the adoption process and did some time in our intake department. Um and then I started helping out in the back office and learning about you know what happens behind the scenes. Um soon I was spending so much time they figured if they couldn't get rid of me, might as well hire me. Um that's when I also started working with our donors to organize our donations and also to properly acknowledge our donors for their wonderful gifts. Very good, and then that just kind of naturally led into what I've been really working on a lot now and focusing
Programs That Help Local Pet Owners
SPEAKER_01on now is our community programs. Um, those community programs um we offer to everyone in Lee County, Alabama. You don't have to be an adopter to participate in our programs. We have low-cost spay and neuter options. Um we have um what we call our intake diversion program, and if you need help with your animal, it doesn't have to have been an animal you adopted from us, just a pet that you have. We want to try to help you there. Um and so just reaching out to our community through those programs.
SPEAKER_02I think that um that probably is one of the misconceptions people have is um they all automatically think it's you know, strays and the services are for you know pets without homes and you trying to find homes, but actually you have services for people, you know, that are that do have their pets, and one of those is
Spay Neuter Vouchers And TNR
SPEAKER_02what you were just talking about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, spaying and neutering is is a cornerstone of our mission, it's very important to us. So again, you know, pet owners in our community, we want to reach out to them. So we there are a couple programs available for spaying and neutering for your household pet, your dog or your cat. And um, we call them SNP for spay neuter your pit, your pet. Okay. Can I do that again? Yes. So we call it SNP for Spay Neuter Your Pet, S-N-Y-T. Um, and one of those programs, uh, you just need to provide proof that you're a resident of Lee County with a current utility bill, simply as that. And then um if you have if your household income, complete household income is thirty thousand dollars or less, then you can get a voucher for your cat or your dog. It can cost as low as five dollars to get your cat fixed using that program. Wow. Yeah. That's really a good good price there. Yeah, I I we're seeing the the surgery prices just climbing, and you know, it's it's hard. It's a it's it's such an important thing, but it's hard when when when you're looking at, you know, anywhere from $250 to $500 to get an animal fixed.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01So, but that program um it's very affordable, it's really easy to enroll. Um, the other program we have, we just we call it SNP Plus. It's based on the same idea. You need to be a resident of Lee County. Um, the only difference is that household income is now bumped up to $50,000. Um that's nice. Yeah, but again, uh it can cost as low as $10 to get your pet fixed. Um then we also have a third program for spaying and neutering, and this program is designed specifically for those outdoor community cats, the feral cats, the ones who are unowned and living on their own. It's still really important to get those cats fixed. Um it is called a T and R program for trap, neuter, and return. Um, and the way the program works is it's the idea that you are, you know, you're getting these cats fixed and they're getting a rabies shot so they are safer and they're not making kittens. But also the return part, if they're brought back to the area where they they know the hunting grounds, they know the escape routes, um they will protect that turf. So they're keeping other cats from coming in. Okay. So a lot of people, you know, if there's um you know a dumpster behind the restaurant, you're you're gonna have those cats show up. Um people think, well, if we just get rid of cats, then we're getting rid of the problem. But if you remove those cats, you're you're just creating a vacuum and more cats are gonna come in. So this is a way of naturally and organically reducing that colony size. Um also while you're you know, like I said, they they know the hunting grounds, they can thrive on their own. Um, yes, you get some pest control out of them. Um, get absolutely that's yeah, keep those nights from getting there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I didn't know that they would they keep other cats out, so that's interesting. So you really kind of want to keep them around, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, tell me a little bit uh about you. What do you like to do for fun when you're not helping with Care Humane Society?
SPEAKER_01Um, simple stuff. Um, I like cycling, I like exercising, and of course, walking my own dog. I've got um a big furry guy, 95 pounds, um, and his favorite thing in the world is going on a walk. So it keeps me active too. What kind of dog do you have? Uh he was from the Humane Society, so he's a mixed breed. Um, he's got some Pyrenees, but also some collie. Um you look at his face, it's kind of the nose of a collie, but gigormous body of uh okay.
SPEAKER_02Well,
What Shelter Care Really Looks Like
SPEAKER_02uh tell me about uh one thing that you wish people knew about Care Humane Society that you would like to get across.
SPEAKER_01Well, kind of in a nutshell, I would say that at care, we don't just care for the animals, we care about the animals. I wish people could understand the work that we put in to really care about them, to care for them, and also gain knowledge about these animals so that we can find them that best home. Um, we do a lot of work, um, enrichment work to help the animals and to help us understand better the personality of these individual animals. Um many people think that our shelter is a dark, sad place. And although it's certainly not the right place for these wonderful cats and dogs, we are very involved and motivated and we are very, very busy keeping these pets healthy and happy and safe. Um although we're not open to the public every day, we are here every day. That means Christmas, that means Thanksgiving. That means when everyone was having their barbecue on 4th of July, we were here that afternoon. Um we have to be here every day. Um and so, you know, we work hard. There are there are staff members that are constantly fostering, and and they foster um to help get the animal out of the shelter, but also with the idea of getting to know this dog or cat in a home environment. So again, so we can better match them with the right home. Um, so things things like that that we are we are working hard to find these animals the right home and to help make the right match. Um we offer play groups every day. So every day we our staff gets here at 7:30. We don't open to the public until 12. From 7:30 to 12, we're cleaning.
SPEAKER_02We're cleaning to us to keep a one thing I did notice when I took the tour with you is it is very, very clean. You guys spend a lot of time making sure that these animals are in an environment that's healthy for them. My favorite part of my tour was the medical, look, the the medical part you have and that little kitten that had um a little some stitches and she was so intently listening to us as we were talking. That was the sweetest thing. Do you give do you give a lot of tours?
SPEAKER_01Um, I'd love to give more, honestly. I'm open to it. I'm you know, as you learned, I I can talk a lot about this stuff because I'm really I'm really proud of what we do here. I really believe in it and I really enjoy it. So I I love giving tours. I'd give a tour every day if I could.
SPEAKER_02Well, I certainly enjoyed mine, and it really does help to, you know, understand the mission that you guys have there. Um, all the cats and dogs there and the outdoor play area. It really is, y'all really have a fine establishment there. Well,
How To Get Involved And Connect
SPEAKER_02how would someone um get in touch with you or the humane society if they want to look at adopting or maybe volunteering or even fostering?
SPEAKER_01We have a really great website, carehumane.org. So that's the first place I would tell people go visit our website. There is information about um our adoptable pets, about our policies when it comes to adopting, the process you need to do to adopt, but also information like you said, fostering, volunteering, donating. Um that that would be a great resource. Um applications to adopt are on the website as well. Um, it just takes you know a few minutes, uh, and then we can get the process started.
SPEAKER_02All right. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Patty. I've enjoyed learning about you and about Care Humane Society. Thank you. It's nice chatting with you, Susanna.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpauburn.com. That's gnpauburn.com. Or call 334 429 740.