In 2007 a group of Barnwell County citizens responded to a call to help animals left homeless after Hurricane Katrina.  They traveled to Mississippi, helped in the aftermath of the destruction, and returned home with a number of homeless pets to foster until their owners could be located or new homes found. They also returned home with a renewed determination to help the animals of Barnwell County, especially after some of them saw the condition of the county shelter for the first time. The Barnwell County Animal Shelter Foundation was founded under the direction of JoAnn McNamara.  From the beginning, our goals were to help to reduce the suffering and the high euthanasia at the shelter.

Over the years we have worked tirelessly to reach our goals.

• At the physical county shelter facility, we have added quarantine kennels (built by volunteers), cat pens (built by local Scouts), added cement pads and fencing, provided a carport, helped procure a washing machine and dryer, assisted with the donation of a storage unit, assisted with the donation of a van, and much more.

• For the animals, we have provided food, cleaning supplies, pain medicine and covered extra medical costs when necessary. We have helped with rescue, foster, adoption, and transport.

• For education and public awareness,

  • We have attended city and county council meetings and talked with other officials.

  • We have written letters to the editor about the need for more volunteers and about the plight of animals in our county.  Our voice has helped to raise awareness of dogfighting and overpopulation.

  • We have visited schools to reach children and to teach kindness to animals and the importance of spay/neuter.

• We have had many fund raisers and donations from people who care about the animals and want to support what we do.

• We have sponsored Animal Control Officer training and paid for one shelter manager to go to vet tech school.

• We have assisted the Barnwell County Animal Shelter Board in the writing of Policies and Procedures for the shelter and ordinances for the county.

• We have sponsored rabies clinics in the three main towns of our county.

Our belief is that education and spay/neuter are the two main solutions to the problem of animal suffering in our county.  From the beginning we had a small clinic in Barnwell where a local veterinarian, who has been part of the BCASF from the beginning, performed low/no cost spay/neuter surgeries. When she built her office in Barnwell, she continued to do these surgeries for us at a reduced cost. 

Since Covid, the number of volunteers is smaller, but the few we have are dedicated and hard working.