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HAYDEN, Ala. (AP) — Barks break the morning quiet at 2nd Chance Animal Sanctuary as owner Sandra Shaffer steers her golf cart past a line of dog kennels up the hill from her house.
The dogs see her approaching during her morning rounds. The sound of gravel grinding against the cart's rubber tires reaches their ears before Shaffer greets each of them by name.
A white-and-red pit mix named Reba — she's a "redhead," Shaffer says — does an excited dance atop her plastic doghouse, her tail wagging furiously, as Shaffer stops to talk to her.
"She's a sweet baby," Shaffer says of Reba, a nearly 7-year-old dog she rescued from a busy intersection where someone had left her.
Shaffer cares for nearly 46 dogs at 2nd Chance, which she founded as a nonprofit organization in 2006, The Shelby County Reporter reported (http://bit.ly/2acJ8Tj). She also has about 15 cats, five horses and a variety of other animals living on her 16-acre property in rural Blount County.
As one of only a few no-kill sanctuaries in Alabama, 2nd Chance harbors animals until they are adopted or until they have lived out their natural lives. No animal, regardless of age or health, is euthanized because of space issues at the sanctuary.
Many of Shaffer's animals available for adoption are considered "seniors" in terms of age, meaning they are 10 years old or older.
Some of the dogs are in the 6- to 8-year-old range. Occasionally, she has puppies available, but Shaffer emphasizes her non-discriminatory approach to accepting animals at the sanctuary.
"Yes, puppies are always easier to adopt, but not everyone wants to do puppies," she says.
Shaffer does not take animals surrendered by their owners, and she does not pick and choose animals for her sanctuary based on whether she thinks they are good candidates for adoption. She accepts animals that have been abandoned or that are about to be euthanized at a shelter.
Chester, a 10-year-old black dog Shaffer named after "Gunsmoke" character Chester Goode, is one of the beneficiaries of Shaffer's open-door policy.
Chester was on "death row" at an animal shelter with only hours separating him from being euthanized when Shaffer met him.
An older gentleman whose job it was to walk the dogs at the shelter before they were put to sleep had been moving Chester to different spots in the building, trying to buy him more time to live.
Shaffer was at the shelter on other business the day before Chester was due to be euthanized, and the man struck up a conversation with her about Chester, asking her to take the dog home.
Tears flood Shaffer's eyes as she recounts the day she couldn't say no to the old, black dog with a gentle spirit and a limp.
Many of the animals are awaiting adoption; others are fixtures at the sanctuary. Regardless of their status, Shaffer cares for all of them.
With a steady influx of animals and a not-so-steady flow of donations, however, Shaffer is facing a funding dilemma she can't conquer alone.
She isn't giving up, and brushes off the idea some people have suggested to her of retiring from running the sanctuary.
"You don't retire from this type of work," Shaffer says. "This mission is my life."
Shaffer has been involved in animal rescue for about 37 years.
"I had been doing rescue all of my adult life," she said. "There was a time when I left this earth and came back. It was June 30, 1979, and when I came back I knew what I was supposed to do, and I have been doing it ever since."
Shaffer opened 2nd Chance Animal Sanctuary and secured its nonprofit status in 2006. She receives no government funding, no tax dollars and no other support aside from public donations; however, she makes the rules at her sanctuary, she said.
In 2010, she moved from a location she was leasing in Warrior to the property in Blount County.
Shaffer has received a string of generous donations the last few years that have helped her expand the cat facility, improve dog facilities and run water lines necessary in maintaining the facilities.
But the list of needs for the animals and the sanctuary, from food to medicine to fencing to water hoses, is unending.
With veterinarian bills, food bills and other facility upkeep expenses, Shaffer said the cost to operate the sanctuary totals $40,000 to $50,000 per year.
The cost of care for senior animals can be more expensive because of medicines needed to treat chronic conditions, she said.
For example, one of Shaffer's dogs with chronic eye issues requires a specially mixed medicine that costs nearly $60 for a three-week supply.
"You never know how much money you've got coming in," Shaffer said. "You make do with what you've got."
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