Jennifer Hyduke, Vice-President of the Humane Society of Marlboro County pictured here at Best Friend’s Animal Sanctuary in Utah with a Michael Vick dog who was being adopted that day.
Here is Jennifer’s story:
My name is Jennifer Hyduke. I was born and raised in Bennettsville and cannot recall at any point in my life, as a child or adult, that my family did not have animals. Mainly dogs, but cats as well. Our cats were always named Cathy…go figure. I guess my mom thought that was easy enough to remember.
I have always loved animals and I believe my passion for helping animals stems from growing up in Marlboro County and seeing the abuse and neglect of animals, the lack of laws regarding animal welfare and the need for new ordinances/laws and the need for enforcement of the few laws that are on the books. I am sure many rural areas across the United States face the same issues we face in Marlboro County, some are worse but many are better. I want us to learn from all of them and grow in the right direction. That entails local government and the citizen’s help and involvement. We have come a long way since we have moved into the Shelter!
My involvement with the Humane Society of Marlboro County started about 5 or 6 years ago when there really was no Humane Society so to speak. There were a handful of folks who housed stray cats & dogs in their homes and very little organization or resources. This group disbanded then would start again and so on…..
The last time we organized we still had no building, the only foster homes were ours, and I, along with Ms. Peggy and Josh, would take calls every day about abused, stray and neglected animals and do the best we could with very limited resources. The only funding was usually out of our pockets, thought we did have a few citizens who would donate to help as much as they could and some of those folks are, to this day, still supporters of our cause.
Finally, I can say, WE ARE HERE TO STAY! And, it IS all because of our volunteers and their hard work and dedication! Anything is possible, we are proof of that. I believe that the citizens of Marlboro County realize that we are serious and see how hard we work; they are behind us now and the possibilities are endless. I am proud to be a part of this wonderful group of people! I wish I could name each and every one of you in this message.
As you all know, it is never easy, and until you volunteer, you can never have an understanding of what it entails to run a shelter and care for the animals. We are like one big family- we may not always agree with each other, but we talk about it, make the best decisions we can for the best interest of the animals and we move on. We all know why we do what we do – FOR THE ANIMALS and that’s what keeps us motivated. We all have our moments that we just feel like giving up, then we will adopt out a dog that we never thought would go anywhere or we may get a donation or something else great may happen and that lifts our spirits and reminds us why we do what we do!
So, long story short, I’m one of the “old timers” and could not be more proud of where we are right now. We have a long way to go but there was a day that I could not see the light at the end of the dog run 🙂
Become a Volunteer and make a Difference! The Humane Society of Marlboro County is ALL volunteer run and we could some extra helping hands.
Choose what you want to do for your hour a week: Walk dogs, bathe dogs, give medicine, clean, feed, wash dog/cat bowls, help in the cat room.
Sign up here: https://www.humanesocietyofmarlboro.org/support/volunteer/
or email or call our Volunteer Coordinator, LeaAnn at forloveofanimals@ymail.com | 603-903-5603