It takes a village to raise a child and to rescue dogs and cats in Mc-Intosh County.

Two years ago two local ladies, Lori Powell-Fells and LaDonna Brittle- Rhodes set out on a mission to help rescue the Eufaula pound pups (young or old) that were at risk of being put down if they didn’t find forever homes. So they created a volunteer rescue, Paws N Claws – Eufaula, OK, and began helping daily at the pound and working diligently to find homes for all the dogs that were adoptable. However, what started off as a small volunteer partnership in January of 2024 has now become a community effort to help local pound dogs find forever homes and much more.

Though Paws N Claws’ priority has been finding homes for these pound dogs, they have also worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the abandoned, abused and neglected animals in McIntosh County area and even started a Pet Pantry inside the Eufaula Indian Journal to help those in need. The pantry is generally open Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. at 100 2nd St. in Eufaula and is graciously run by the Journal’s staff and stocked by community sponsors and volunteers who want to make a difference in their county.

Unfortunately, because high abandonment, abuse and neglect of animals runs rampant in McIntosh County and abroad, the Paws N Claws Facebook page was literally becoming saturated with more community canines and kitties than pound pups. This created a dilemma of the pound pups’ pictures being buried in the social feed. Since they were at a higher risk of being euthanized within a few weeks, Paws N Claws made the decision to start posting only pound pups on their original social media page. Then another social media page, PNC Community Pets, Eufaula OK, was created by PNC volunteer Olivia Powell Shackelford as an extension of community efforts to help find homes for the abandoned animals in the county and reunite lost dogs (and cats) with their owners in the area.

“For two years I’ve been a member of Paws N Claws and have helped at the city pound with feeding, watering, socializing and finding homes for the dogs picked up by the city,” Shackelford said. “Each time we find a pound dog a home it really brings me a lot of joy and a sense of accomplishment. Since I frequently keep up with the Paws N Claws Facebook page, I started noticing that the pound dogs weren’t getting as much attention as they did before due to so many posts for the community. So to help all of the dogs gain more attention I volunteered to start and maintain a community dog page as an extension of Paws N Claws.

“We would love to have everyone who has supported and followed us on the Paws N Claws -Eufaula OK page to also like and follow our new page PNC Community Pets, Eufaula OK so we can get help and homes for as many animals as possible in the county. Pinned at the top of the PNC Community Pets page is a disclaimer we would like everyone to read. It also lets everyone know what they need to do in order to get their animals posted on our page.

“Unfortunately we can’t take in any animals but we will do our best to share their pictures and information in hopes of obtaining homes for animals that have been abandoned or neglected or need to be rehomed due to their elderly companions going into nursing homes, etc. We know it takes a village and we are working day by day to keep making a difference.

Paws N Claws understands that being a responsible pet owner means spaying or neutering all your pets to help control the overpopulation of unwanted animals in the local pound and shelters abroad.

They are grateful for a community that is working to solve these problems.

For more information on sponsoring or helping the pound pups or the pet pantry please contact Lori at (918) 618-3810 or LaDonna at (479)422-4210.

For more information about community animals contact Olivia 918-618-3895.