OUR STORY
Community + compassion
Friends of MCAS was founded in December 2022, in an effort to support the initiatives of the Maury County Animal Services (formerly known as the Maury County Animal Shelter). Because of the hard work of our volunteers and MCAS staff, the shelter animals receive a great deal of care and enrichment to their lives.
Founder, Kim Plachta Raffauf, developed Friends of MCAS after recognizing the few resources that MCAS had to best take care of the animals in their care. With a passion for our community's animals, Kim decided go all-in and develop a structured, robust set of resources that could be utilized by MCAS to give the shelter animal their best chance at a thriving life.
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As a result of Kim's drive, determination, and passion for animals, she now holds the Director position for Maury County Animal Services and continues to work hand-in-hand with Friends of MCAS so that together, we can build a stronger community for the animals of Maury County.
Run 100% by volunteers, FOMAC supports the needs of Maury's County's most vulnerable pets in the following ways:
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We facilitate meet and greets with adoptable pets outside of the shelter environment
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We host meet and greets in the play yards of the shelter if you already have other pets in your home to ensure that all personalities are a good fit for each other
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We organization adoption and fundraising events to bring awareness within the community, and raise money to support the needs of our county's vulnerable pets
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Our volunteers have a daily presence at the shelter, allowing the shelter dogs to have adequate potty breaks, play groups, affection, and more
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How we socialize the animals
Socializing the animals of MCAS is top priority. Not only does it help to provide a more enriching life, it also gives the animals skills that make for an easier transition into a home. If you've ever visit MCAS, you've probably seen the several play yards on the property. We use these specifically for our dogs and draw our inspiration from Dogs Playing for Life.
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Playing can be a dog’s most natural form of positive interaction and communication with both humans and fellow dogs. For shelters, allowing dogs to be dogs in playgroups can reveal their behavioral tendencies better than their reactions during the intake process, while kenneled, or during a formal behavior evaluation. Unfortunately, shelter dogs are often mislabeled as aggressive and may never get the chance to show their true personalities under more normal circumstances. This strategy helps people to see the best in their dogs through observing natural expressions shown during play.