Explore.org visits the Animal Shelter of Wood River Valley - the first No-Kill Shelter in Idaho - and finds out how the shelter staff rescues, protects, and finds homes for abandoned dogs and cats. Explore granted $50,000 to Wood River Valley to support the protection of animals from neglect, abuse, and exploitation and to adopt animals to qualified homes.

Find No-Kill Shelters in your area here! 

The Rescue U volunteers of the Petfinder Foundation had barely completed the meet-and-greet pens at the Humane Society of Jefferson County when the Diaz family stopped by the shelter looking to adopt a dog on Memorial Day. 

It was only fitting, on this patriotic holiday, that the dad had just come home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. While he was there, his platoon worked in partnership with a K-9 unit, which he said was a huge comfort. The family was looking for a medium-sized dog who would go on jogs and enjoy playing with the children.

Though we’d been here only a week, we knew just who to introduce them to. Charlie is a young Lab mix with a sweet, loving soul. I got to introduce them at his kennel and the sparks flew.

It was so wonderful to say, “Can I take you to our new meet-and-greet area? We just built it for the shelter.” The Diazes and Charlie played and bonded, and the family was soon filling out preliminary adoption papers. So today, another pet started to make his way home, and everyone here was bolstered to see their efforts really work. Awesome!