Paws and Claws Pet Shelter

Our history: The effort to provide shelter for abandoned pets in Madison County began in the late 1980s from a grassroots effort of several citizens who were concerned about stray dogs and cats in the county. In 1997, the group registered as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. In 1998, the county gave the MCPS permission to build a shelter on county-owned land south of the Recycling Center. The shelter building became a reality because so many in Madison County, Arkansas, gave of their time, talent, and resources. __ We changed our name: In the fall of 2014, the Madison County Pet Shelter, Inc. board voted to change the doing-business-as name to Paws and Claws Pet Shelter. Our DBA name is registered with the Arkansas Secretary of State. The board had two reasons for making this change: 1) To emphasize that the shelter is not a government entity: The pet shelter is a private non-profit 501(c)(3) tax exempt charity that relies on private donations to help homeless pets in Madison County, Arkansas. 2) To emphasize the change in management philosophy. The board rejected the conventional, nationwide shelter practice of killing pets to make room. Today, Paws and Claws Pet Shelter staff finds loving homes for 99.9% of the 400+ pets we care for. The new name emphasizes the change.