The director of the Fulton County Animal Shelter in Akron called it quits on Friday. Beverley Harter, 72, has run the shelter for the past six years with only her daughter for help.
Harter said running the shelter has become too expensive, but giving up care of the dogs and cats is bittersweet.
"I'm going to miss the animals," said Harter. "I love 'em. I like taking care of 'em."
Since 2005, Harter has been the sole owner of Fulton County's only animal shelter, taking care of as many as 100 dogs and cats at a time.
Harter took in the lost, the stray, and the abandoned, working to reunite them with owners or find new ones.
"My mother said I always brought home stray dogs and cats," said Harter. "And she'd always make me take 'em back."
The county paid Harter $20,000 a year to run the shelter. But that money went fast. Harter said she spent every dime on the animals. Last winter, it just got too expensive.
"It costs more to heat the kennel than it does the house," said Harter.
All hope isn't lost for the animals. As Harter steps aside, Fulton County is stepping in. Opaljean Rogers is the new director of the shelter on Wentzel St. in Rochester. She appreciates everything Harter did.
"I commend her for that," said Rogers. "She didn't have a whole lot of help financially or physically through a lot of volunteers, and with what she had, she did the best she could."
Harter is glad someone will still be there to save these animals. Finding them forever homes has been the best part of her job.
"We've gotten to know people and they'd call back and tell us, the best decision they'd ever made in their lives was to come and adopt a shelter animal," said Harter.
The new animal shelter is expected to open as early as October 10th. It'll be housed in a building donated by the Manitou Training Center.
