Pictured is Carter Thornton with Popeye. P-J photos by Sara Holthouse

SHERMAN — The Small Town Shelter in Sherman is always looking for people to volunteer to help or to foster and later adopt their animals.

Located at 118 Franklin St., Small Town Shelter is owned by Kelly Thornton, who runs it with her son, Carter Thornton, and two helpers, Kristi Walton and Cliff Warner. Carter Thornton and Warner help to take care of the dogs and Walton is in charge of the cats. The shelter is home to dogs, cats and guinea pigs.

Thornton first began the shelter as a part of the Sherman community cat project three years ago. This morphed into the shelter because of her job as a dog catcher. Originally, they would send the dogs on to the Chautauqua County Humane Society after they were not claimed by their original owners, but after the Humane Society downsized they began to have to hold the dogs at Small Town Shelter.

Small Town Shelter is open on Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with Sundays being by appointment only. Adoption fees for cats are $50, but for dogs it can be a little bit more complicated.

“We have no on site vet, so sometimes we can’t have dogs spayed or neutered until March,” Thornton said. “Adoption fees can be up to $225 when done. This is why we have the foster to adopt program until they can be spayed, where the families will take the dog as a foster and later adopt when everything is done. We can usually work with the fees too, especially for older or hard to place dogs.”

Thornton said that Small Town Shelter is a municipal shelter that is funded by the town. However, the town has a rule that after a certain amount of time that a dog is not claimed they are to be euthanized. Thornton said they will not euthanize and avoid it at all costs, and the shelter is working to get the paperwork so they will never have to.

Additionally, Thornton said that the current guinea pig part of the operation is not something that they would normally do, but they took them in after being alerted to a situation. The shelter currently has 11 female, pregnant guinea pigs. Most have been adopted and another shelter is set to take in the babies when they are born.

For Thornton, an operation like Small Town Shelter is something that is important for Sherman and the local areas, because it was something that was needed.

“The area needed it,” Thornton said. “We need more resources like this in the area. We have even been talking about expanding to hold livestock as well when we are able to.”

Currently, Small Town Shelter does not have its own building and operates out of Thornton’s home. They are working on getting their 501c3 paperwork finished to be able to get the shelter its own building and then work on expansion. They are also unable to accept owner surrenders until they have the 501c3.

Thornton added that the name Small Town Shelter was thought of because of the lack of resources for shelters in small towns, compared to cities.

More than anything, Thornton said the shelter is always looking for volunteers. This can be in the form of dog walkers or fosters or any other kind.

“After a dog has been here for a long time we need to get the kennels open for other dogs, so we need to send them somewhere else,” Thornton said. “We need people who would be willing to foster so we can get the kennels open and available. We have a lot of cats available because some of them come from farms.”

Small Town Shelter has also been home to many different types of farm dogs, including; blue heelers, coon dogs and pitbulls. Many of the current dogs have been at the shelter for a while, including Tibby who has been there since June.

The shelter also accepts donations of any kind, including; food, pellets, towels, litter, or anything else that a shelter normally asks for. Small Town Shelter has very limited resources and at the moment most everything is paid for out of the family’s pocket. Other rescues have also been helping.

“It’s been very nice to be able to work hand in hand with them as a team,” Thornton said.

For more information on Small Town Shelter or if interested in adopting or volunteering they can be found on Facebook, or by calling 716-224-2244.