Molly’s Mutts Animal Rescue in Dixon, Kentucky Closes & Deserve Our Thanks

Dr. Whitney Winstead and the fabulous team at Molly's Mutts Animal Rescue worked tirelessly to save animals all over Kentucky for ten years. As they close their doors we want to thank them for their service and sacrifice.

I've followed Molly's Mutts Animal Rescue for years. We helped promote their fundraisers and watched them rescue hundreds of animals. Often they brought animals that needed to be adopted to events in Owensboro. They worked hard with the community, other shelters, and rescues to save as many animals as possible over the last ten years. It didn't go unnoticed. I'm sure that it took a toll on the staff, especially during the pandemic.

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Molly's Mutts Animal Rescue Closes

Whitney took to social media to make the sad announcement last month.

"You have truly not lived until you can do something for someone that can not repay you…

I, Whitney, have lived…my mission was to rescue animals and to one day not have to.… I’m not sure that day will ever come, but I pray we at Molly's placed our mark in the animal rescue world. Burnout is real…rescuing is not for the weak-hearted.

With that being said, words can not express how we truly feel making this announcement, but after 10 long years of rescuing, we are closing our doors at the end of May. We are asking for your help in sharing our posts to aid our animals in other area rescues."

Molly's Mutts was opened in 2012 in Dixon, Kentucky. They helped to save hundreds of animals over the last ten years.

Molly's Mutts Fans React to the News

Many took to social media to respond to the sad news. Molly's Mutts have affected so many people through their rescue work. Whitney and the team deserve all the love and thanks that have been pouring in.

Mollys is a wonderful place!!! I’ve received 2 of the most precious dogs from there. I’m sad reading this and it breaks my heart but I truly understand. - Stacy Owens

I’m so sorry to hear this but I understand. Thank you for helping so many dogs over the years including medical cases that never would have made it without Molly’s Mutt’s Animal Rescue! - Nancy Shorkey

This guy, my Colby, came from y’all 3 years ago. He’s been with me through moving, marrying again, becoming a mommy twice over, taking in a street dog who is now our family, and on and on it goes. This hurts my heart, but you guys always have a special place in mine. - Katie Jean

Thank you and Molly’s employees & volunteers for all you have done in helping so many animals. You all should be proud of the impact you have made during these 10 years. Thank you for being such an important partner with quite a few shelters. Molly’s will be missed! - Judy Galloway

The work done at Molly's Mutts Animal Rescue was inspirational. The rescue volunteers worked so hard year-round because they knew that it would help in the mission of saving the lives of many animals. It warmed this animal lover's heart and many others!

They plan to keep the Molly's Mutt Facebook page up so they can keep up with their past adoptions and give information for microchips, etc.

There's still so much work to be done at area shelters and rescues. It's important to give these animals their second chance at life. They didn't ask to be born and they deserve it.

Life of a Shelter Animal

This was written by an anonymous shelter manager and it tells the story very well. Way better than I can.

WARNING - Some parts are very hard to read. Grab a tissue.

The shelter manager's letter:

"I am posting this (and it is long) because I think our society needs a huge wake-up call.

As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all - a view from the inside, if you will.

Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know - that puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore.

How would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that a dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at - purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays" that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

No shortage of excuses. The most common excuses I hear are:

We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat). Really? Where are you moving to that doesn't allow pets?

The dog got bigger than we thought it would. How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?

We don't have time for her. Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!

She's tearing up our yard. How about bringing her inside, making her a part of your family?

They always tell me: We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her. We know she'll get adopted - she's a good dog. Odds are your pet won't get adopted, and how stressful do you think being in a shelter is?

Well, let me tell you. Dead pet walking!

Your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off, sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies.

Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "bully" breeds (pit bull, rottweiler, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don't get adopted. If your dog doesn't get adopted within 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.

If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed, it may get a stay of execution, though not for long. Most pets get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles, chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put down". First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk - happy, wagging their tails. That is until they get to "The Room".

Every one of them freaks out and puts on the breaks when we get to the door. It must smell like death, or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there. It's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained and held down by 1 or 2 vet techs (depending on their size and how freaked out they are). A euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully, your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk its leg. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood, and been deafened by the yelps and screams.

They all don't just "go to sleep" - sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves. When it all ends, your pet's corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back, with all of the other animals that were killed, waiting to be picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know, and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal, and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head. I do it every day on the way home from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists and I hate that it will always be there unless people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in every day than there are homes. My point to all of this is DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to - the truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope I maybe changed one person's mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this on Facebook and it made me want to adopt". That would make it all worth it."

Author Unknown