05/28/2026
My heart is shattered—words can't fully express how I feel today. We work so hard to save every dog, but this time we couldn't... Rest in peace, my girl.
Today a decision to humanely euthanize Mindi, a Project Homebound - Athens, GA dog was made. Often people think the dogs at our shelter are doing ok or are "safe" because they look happy and well cared for. The ACCAS staff and our volunteers pour into all the dogs as much as they can. We have great programs like Project Homebound. But the losses still happen and we are desperate for foster and adopters. We do not do a weekly "last call" post because of many issues with those type of posts, we want dogs to be chosen with a commitment to what fits a household not out of just urgency surrounding that one dog.
So today we mourn with our PHB trainer Adrianna, her inmate handlers, her recent foster Clint, and everyone who has worked with her and loved her. Below is a tribute to Mindi and a plea from Sandice Thrasher who knew her so well.
"Sometimes, no matter how hard everyone tries, they just cannot be saved.
Mindi was not the first dog so many people fought for and lost, and sadly, she will not be the last.
She was a great dog who, through unfortunate circumstances, found herself in the county pound. Volunteers loved her. Staff loved her. When she moved into the prison program, the inmates fell hard for her too.
But over the course of a year in the system, even one filled with people trying so hard to give her a life she had likely never known, her world got smaller.
Some dogs can survive that. Some can roll with it.
Some cannot.
Mindi became so accustomed to that life, so bonded to the only family she knew, that she could no longer find comfort outside of it.
And that is the heartbreak.
It was not a lack of love.
So many people poured love into her. She attended adoption events. She was a star student in the program. She was loved deeply by the inmates who worked with her every day.
But no one stepped up to be more for her.
At some point, the impossible question has to be asked: are we giving this dog a life, or are we giving her a life sentence?
For Mindi, that line had been crossed.
A life lived behind bars is not really a life.
We have to do better. And when I say “we,” I mean all of us as a society. We need better laws around backyard breeding. We need more people to spay and neuter. We need people to stop creating more dogs than there are homes for.
This is not the fault of the shelter, where more dogs come in than go out. This is not the fault of the volunteers, staff, inmates, trainers, and advocates who work tirelessly in an overwhelming system that never seems to let up.
Mindi was a good girl.
Today, she got her wings.
Life is not fair. Please spay and neuter. Please do not support backyard breeding. Mindi is only one of many, and every single one of them deserved better.
Today a lot of folks are hurting. We tried, baby girl. Rest in Paradise, sweet Mindi. ✨❤️"
