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The Caroline County Humane Society (CCHS) is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization contracted by the government of Caroline County, Maryland to manage, operate and run the county shelter and to provide humane services for the animals in our county.
11/15/2025
🎄Home for the Holidays🎄
As we continue our bi-weekly feature highlighting some of our longest-term residents, today we’d love to introduce you to Dame Maggie. This royal girl arrived at the shelter on August 1st and has grown up in our care—she’s now 5 months old and more than ready to find a loving home in time for the holidays.
With her stunning green eyes and sweet personality, Dame Maggie is sure to charm her way right into your heart!
Her adoption fee is just $75, which includes all up-to-date vaccinations as well as her being spayed.
Come fall in love this holiday season and help one of our long-term residents finally find their forever home. Dame Maggie can’t wait to meet you!
11/15/2025
Happy Caturday!
We’re open today from 11 AM to 3 PM, and we’d love for you to come by and meet the cats currently in our care. From energetic little kittens to calm and affectionate seniors, we have cats of all ages, sizes, and personalities.
Whether you’re thinking about adoption, curious about fostering, or interested in volunteering, we’d be happy to talk with you about how you can get involved.
11/14/2025
🎉Happy National Family PJ Day!
Today feels like the perfect day to share our thank you. A huge shoutout to and to everyone who took part in our Buy One, Give One event. Because of your purchases, our pups received 12 pairs of pajamas.
These comfy jammies are already keeping our dogs cozy and helping our pups with skin sensitivities feel a little more protected. And of course… they’ll make our Shelter Slumber Pawty even more fun when the time comes!
Thank you!
Drop a photo of your pup in their pajamas in the comments!
11/14/2025
🎉 Shew! It has been a whirlwind at the shelter — in the best way! 🎉
We’ve been so busy helping animals find their families that we haven’t even had time to share the amazing news…
✨ We ended October with 56 adoptions!*✨
And on Halloween, these lucky pets found their homes:
🐾 Cats: Onyx, Zen, Mocha, Polly, and Crow
🐾 Dog: Laney
We also have many cats and dogs currently in foster-to-adopt homes, and we can’t wait to celebrate their official adoptions soon!
November has already been incredibly busy with even more happy endings — so stay tuned.
📣 We’ll be updating you very soon!
11/13/2025
Kitten fosters needed!
Kitten season is supposed to be at an end but we still have kittens coming in. We could truly use more helping hands (and loving homes!) to foster the tiniest members of our shelter family.
These kittens are not yet available for adoption, as they still need time to grow, socialize, and get big and healthy enough for their spay/neuter surgeries. That’s where you come in! Fostering gives them a safe place to thrive while opening up space at the shelter for other animals in need.
Bonus: many of our fosters fall in love and end up adopting their foster kittens once they’re ready!
If you’ve ever thought about fostering, now is the perfect time. We provide the support, you provide the love.
Interested in fostering? Fill out an application at carolinehumane.org/foster-application.
We are a few days behind but a huge thank you to ArchiesBlanketsAcrossAmerica for their incredible donation of the softest blankets ever! Last Friday they spent the whole day going to shelters all across the Eastern Shore of Maryland donating blankets, and we received 60 of them! Thank you so much to their incredible team for all the work they are doing to help shelters everywhere!
11/13/2025
TRINITY HAS BEEN ADOPTED!!
Thank you so much for everyone who shared and showed interest in Trinty. We had an overwhelming amount of interest in her and she was adopted last night. Here’s what her new mom had to say about Trinity.
" I wanted to reach out to let you know that I am already head over heels in love with Trinity. I can’t thank you ( our adoption coordinator) and the rest of the CCHS staff enough for choosing me to show this beautiful and sweet girl that life is worth living. I truly believe God brought our paths together. She and I were just meant to be. 💗
We have already started to form a bond and I can’t wait to see her sweet soul blossom and the fear to fade away. She had a great first night and you were right… the crate is her best friend and safety net. It took me awhile to get her in the house last night but today I was able to get her out to use the bathroom with very little coaxing. Treats are her love language! Looking forward to all the sweet moments I get to have with her. I promise to show her that there is much more to life than crates and puppies.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
Thank you again to our amazing community ❤️
11/13/2025
🏡 Home for the Holidays: Meet Dusky🎄
As we continue our Home for the Holidays series, we’re featuring our longest-term resident — Dusky.
To say Dusky is a staff and volunteer favorite would be an understatement. His resilience is truly inspiring.
You see, Dusky was running loose for over three weeks in 100+ degree temperatures through the town of Ridgely. No one had ever seen him before — until one day, he just appeared. For weeks, Animal Control worked tirelessly until they finally caught him.
Dusky waited nine months to find his first home. Sadly, after a few months, he came back to us through no fault of his own. Now, he’s been waiting five more months, quietly hoping someone will see the love, loyalty, and affection he’s ready to give as their best friend. ❤️
While many dogs struggle with the stress of shelter life, Dusky takes it all in stride. He sits patiently in his kennel, waiting for one of his friends to take him for a walk or a car ride. He’s a great walker, knows multiple commands, and is wonderful in the car.
Dusky is 4 years old and would love to be your one and only — he enjoys being the center of attention.
Can you help fulfill Dusky’s dream of a Home for the Holidays? His adoption fee is sponsored, so all he needs is you.
This sweet 4-year-old Labrador is looking for her new home. The shelter has been a little scary for Trinity at first, but she’s slowly coming out of her shell and showing us what a loving, gentle girl she truly is.
Her body shows that she’s been a mom before — but those days are behind her now, and it’s Trinity’s turn to be the one loved and cared for. 💕
Would you like to meet Trinity?
Please consider adopting or fostering*this wonderful girl and help her start her next chapter.
👉 carolinehumane.org
📧[email protected]
📞 410-820-1600
🐕 Caroline County Humane Society
11/11/2025
🚐🎄 Help us Stuff Our Van This Holiday Season!
This November through December 13, we’re calling on our community to help us fill our van with much needed supplies!
We’re collecting:
🐾 Pet food for our community pantry
🧼 Cleaning supplies
🦴Toys & treats for our adoptable pets
Pick your pets’ favorite treats, toys, or supplies to share the love… or shop directly from our Amazon Wish List.
You can drop off donations any time at the shelter, or find our van at the Christmas in Ridgely Santa Photo Event on December 12th! Let’s make sure every tail is wagging and every bowl is full this holiday season.
11/10/2025
💙 Monday Motivation from Downy! 💙
It’s a new week, and Downy wants everyone to know he’s so ready for his new family! 🐾
Downy is full of joy and loves to play! He has a blast in our dog playgroups — his best friends are Randy and Demi— and he’s always up for a good game of fetch or a dip in the kiddie pool on warm days. 🌞🎾💦
What Downy doesn’t understand is why, after 120 days he’s still waiting for a foster or adoptive home. 💔
🐶 About Downy:
* Around 1.5 years old
* Great with other dogs
* Energetic, fun, and full of love
* The most beautiful eyes and the goofiest ears! 🥰
As we get closer to the holidays, all Downy wants is the one thing that would make him happiest — a home of his own.
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The Caroline County Humane Society (CCHS) is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization contracted by the government of Caroline County, Maryland to manage, operate and run the county shelter and to provide humane services for the animals in our county.
In 1987, an initial attempt was made to organize a local humane society in Caroline County. While this attempt did not succeed, those same dedicated volunteers were not deterred. They began anew and in 1994 CCHS was firmly established in memory of Christina Blades-Fleetwood. Truly a grass-roots organization, early meetings were held in the court house in Denton. Animals in need were housed wherever space could be found and adoptable animals lived in volunteer homes until a new home could be found. Cruelty investigations were carried out in volunteer vehicles and the CCHS telephone was installed in a board member’s home.
In 1995, we expanded our vision with the dream of constructing a new shelter. In 1996, we applied for and received our 501c3 non-profit status. In 1998, we worked with the County to create the first ever Animal Control Ordinance in Caroline County. In 2000, thanks to a grant and loan from the USDA, the shelter in Ridgely became reality. Our contract with the county grew to include the enforcement of the County animal control ordinance, the operation of the newly built shelter, and providing Humane Services in Caroline County.
We care for almost 1,800 abandoned neglected, abused and homeless animals every single year. We maintain an active adoption and rescue program. We offer low cost spay/neuter surgeries funded by grants, and in 2010 we received the generous gift of a mobile spay/neuter clinic which operates at the shelter in Ridgely. CCHS provides educational programs, various community outreach initiatives, and has many fundraisers throughout the year.
The Caroline County Humane Society takes quiet pride in how far we have come. Through dedication, commitment and our love for the animals, we have made a difference; a difference not only in the lives of thousands of animals who were given a second chance, but in our community and in the lives of the citizens of our county that we serve. From our humble beginnings 30 years ago, we are proud to be called “the little shelter that could”.
