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Nashville Humane Association – Valentine’s Day Love

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to send some love to the Nashville Humane Association!

The brightly colored building with its red, blue and yellow color scheme and paw printed ceiling looks more like a kid’s daycare than a traditional shelter.

The wall-size murals announcing the pet of the week and the large glass doors and windows that allow you to see the absolutely adorable dogs and cats up for adoption when you walk in just makes your heart melt into tiny little pieces.

The location is set up so prospective adopters can see the animals in a way where they feel natural, have enough room to move around, and the public is able to in some cases step inside the dogs area and play with them.

It truly is a fantastically designed building.

Each dog gets their own large area, unless of course there are two dogs that were together, like the dogs below. The Association doesn’t use beds, because they have heated floors for the pups, who seem to be living a good life until they find their forever homes. And, one of the things we all commented on was how the building doesn’t have any trace of pet odor.

The Nashville Humane Association has a number of community outreach programs, as well as travels to and takes in pets from natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. They offer a variety of spay and neuter assistance programs, including a mobile unit dubbed ROVER, which travels four days a week and is staffed by a veterinarian, licensed veterinary medical technician, veterinary assistant and project coordinator.

The group I went with — dog writers and bloggers from around the country and sponsored by Mars Pet Care — had the benefit of learning about the shelter and getting a tour from the Executive Director of the Nashville Humane Association, Mary Pat Boatfield.  Her enthusiasm and kindness for all animals shines through as soon as you meet her. (below right)

The Nashville Humane Association is one of the oldest service organizations in Nashville and places over 2,500 healthy animals homes each year. According to their website they are committed to: “promoting humane treatment of animals, finding good homes for stray or abandoned dogs and cats, educating the public about their responsibility to help control the pet population, and providing treatment and care to ensure the well being of animals in our community.”

It’s such a welcoming place, that once you are there, you just want to stay all day and play with all the dogs and cats!

You can find more pictures from our visit on our Facebook page. And, for the latest from the Nashville Humane Association, head on over and “like” their Facebook page, too!

5 thoughts on “Nashville Humane Association – Valentine’s Day Love

  1. Amazing! I wish all shelters had the funds to make their facilities look like this. What a happy place to go – unlike many of the shelters I've been in.

  2. Wow…I am blown away by this shelter! It's absolutely incredible! It does look so much more like a children's day care than a shelter. I echo Amy's comment…it'd be awesome if all shelters had the funds to mimic Nashville's.

    Shelters can be very dark, grungy and sad. They did such a great job of brightening it all up. Very cool!

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