PAWS Of Dearborn County Needs You - Right Now

Dearborn County Has Always Stepped Up For Its Animals. Now Is The Time To Do It Again

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - PAWS was built by this community, by people who saw a need and acted. That need is here again. They’re asking responsible, compassionate neighbors to find a little more room in their hearts and homes.

PAWS of Dearborn County is at full capacity - every kennel, every cat room, every foster list. Animals keep arriving, but there’s no more space to safely take them in. The staff and volunteers are doing everything they can, but they cannot do this alone.

This is the moment when our community makes the difference - again.

If you can adopt, foster, volunteer, or donate, please reach out today. Your action doesn’t just help one animal. It helps the next one waiting at the door.

PAWS - the Partners for Animal Welfare Society of Dearborn County - was founded in April 2001 by residents who were frustrated with the county’s aging, overcrowded shelter. They didn’t have a building, a budget, or a blueprint. What they had was determination.

By February 2002, PAWS had secured federal nonprofit status, allowing volunteers to raise money, run adoption events, and offer spay/neuter assistance. In those early years, PAWS operated like a lifeline: helping the county shelter stretch limited resources while advocating for modern, humane care.

By the mid-2000s, it was clear the county’s existing facility could no longer meet the needs of a growing population. PAWS volunteers launched an ambitious capital campaign - one that would eventually transform the former Lawrenceburg Motorsports building into a full-service humane shelter.

The effort drew support from across Dearborn County, including a major boost from the City of Lawrenceburg. Architect Darrel Sears led the renovation, turning a commercial structure into a bright, clean, animal-friendly space with modern kennels, medical rooms, and adoption areas.

In October 2011, the PAWS Humane Center at 200 Charles A Liddle Dr, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 opened to the public. For the first time, Dearborn County had a shelter built to modern standards - and it was owned and operated by a local nonprofit rather than a government agency.

PAWS has grown from a handful of volunteers to a mid-sized nonprofit with staff, a board of directors, and a budget that reflects strong community support. Yet the heart of PAWS remains the same: provide comfort and care for our community’s unwanted and lost animals. Volunteers walk dogs, clean kennels, feed kittens, and greet families who walk through the door hoping to be the forever home for a new furry companion.

In the 25 years since its founding, PAWS has become more than a shelter. It is a symbol of what a determined community can build when it refuses to accept “good enough.” Thousands of animals have found homes, thousands more have received medical care, and countless residents have learned the joy of responsible pet ownership.

PAWS changed expectations, proving that even a small rural county can build something extraordinary when people care enough.

Now, fifteen years later, PAWS faces a challenge that can’t be solved alone. The shelter is completely full. Every kennel, cat room, and foster list is at capacity. The path forward is the same one that built PAWS in the first place: people stepping up.

Adopt. If you’ve been thinking about adding a pet to your family, today is the day. Every adoption opens a kennel for an animal in crisis. Every forever home gives a dog or cat the stability, love, and safety they deserve.

FOSTER. Fostering is one of the most powerful ways to help. Even a short-term foster home can save a life. PAWS provides the care plan and guidance. You provide the love and a safe place to rest. Fostering helps senior pets, shy animals, kittens, and dogs who struggle in a noisy shelter environment.

Even if you can’t adopt or foster, you can still help by sharing this post. The right person might see it because of you.

Today, the need is clear. The shelter is full. Animals are waiting. And PAWS is asking the community to step forward once more.

Adopt if you can. Foster if you can. Share the message if you can. Support the shelter however you can.

Because PAWS is a promise that Dearborn County made to its scared, sick, rejected and abandoned pets - no matter how many arrive at its doors, the care will be there.

Fulfilling that promise depends on all of us.