Kathy O’Shields reflects on 28 years of animal advocacy

For nearly three decades, Kathy O’Shields has been the steady hand behind the Stephens County Humane Society –a volunteer-run non-profit organization dedicated to providing a helping hand to animals. 

As president since its reorganization in 1998, O’Shields has been at the forefront of its transformation and continues to lead the way in ensuring that all animals in need of help get the chance to be fostered, rehabilitated and rehomed. 

“When we started, there was a lot going on with the old shelter,” O’Shields recalled. “There were a lot of things going on and people in the community were really upset.”

The unrest led to a pivotal meeting which people in the community asked her to attend, in which she and others chose to reorganize the old Humane Society while retaining the same name. 

The original Humane Society had been founded by Ruth Hilgenburg and Gary Fambro is the only living member of the prior organization, and he is on the current board. 

The new board, which now consists of Tom Echols, Gary Fambro, Stacey Donaldson, Chastity Blevins and Stacy, Michelle and Lucy Whitmire, reapplied to use the same name, filed for nonprofit status and began working with the city to improve animal welfare. 

O’Shields gave credit to numerous people who have helped her along the way the past 28 years, stating that she couldn’t do everything she does without those people. 

“The Humane Society isn’t just about being here for 28 years, it is about all the people that help me do what I do on a daily basis,” she said. “It is about Stacey Donaldson who is always my go to person and always willing to help. It is Robin Heidelberg who has faithfully fed and watered the dogs on East Elliott since the middle of June and helped transport them. It is about Chasity Blevins who helped catch the dogs and is always here when I need her. It is about Dana and Burrell McKelvain who helped get the volunteers to get the dogs vaccinated and ready to go to the rescue and helped transport.

O’Shields also added that Dana McKelvain helps coordinate all of their “wonderful volunteers” that help at the Resale Shop and also helps with their Facebook page. 

“At the time we restarted, dogs were euthanized by method of gas chambers,” O’Sheilds said. “We did get that stopped. We were able to work with them to stop that and they began using the injection method of euthanization.”

The group then turned its attention to building a new shelter. 

“The county and city each put in $10,000 and we raised the remainder of the money to build the shelter,” she explained. “I believe it was approximately in the neighborhood of $65,000. Some of the work was done by the prisoners at the Walker Sayle Unit.”

The city shelter was closed in 2020 due to the pandemic and management of the facility transitioned from the Breckenridge Fire Department to the Breckenridge Police Department, under the direction of then-Chief of Police Bacel Cantrell.  

“He had one person and everybody was trying to do the best they could with the animals,” O’Shields said. 

The shelter eventually partially reopened, with BPD working on many animals which were running loose and animals attacking and killing other animals and biting people.

“It was quite a mess,” she said. 

About a year later, the shelter fully opened back up, with two employees. BPD continues to work on improving the facility and is fully staffed. 

“We have an amazing team from the city manager down. We work well with the police department, all the police officers work well with us and each one of our officers on the animal control side work well together,” said Stephen Sharp, the newest animal control officer at the shelter. “It’s just a great environment; it’s great for the animals. We’re making progress that hasn’t always been seen and we’re going to continue to improve that everyday. That’s our goal, is to go in every day and leave it better than we found it the day before.”

O’Shields spoke of the work that Sharp has done at the shelter. 

“He’s doing a really good job in stepping up and trying to do what needs to be done,” O’Shields said. “Posting the dogs when they adopt them and stuff like that…he’s helped me tremendously. We’ve talked, we’ve worked together and that’s what it takes. It takes a village.”

O’Shields added that if anyone sees anything not right with animals, that they should report it right away. 

“That’s a huge issue right there,” she said. “If I see something posted, I feel like it’s something we can help with.”

Today, the Humane Society operates without a physical facility, relying entirely on foster homes and rescue partnerships. While they used to board dogs, they now depend on fosters, recently moving dogs to Wichita Falls, Granbury and Abilene – wherever space is available.

“Probably 10 to 12 dogs have been moved from the shelter to rescues through us,” O’Shields said. 

One recent flashpoint involved the seizure of 17 dogs from 1226 West Sixth Street by BPD and the potential euthanization of two puppies. 

“My phone started ringing off the wall,” O’Shields said. “People kept calling asking, ‘Can you not help these puppies?’”

O’Shields intervened, contacting the shelter and eventually speaking with Police Chief Blake Johnson. She was able to get the dogs out of the shelter and into a specialized foster home to get their weight back up.

“They’re doing well,” O’Shields said. 

The Humane Society also has a strong working relationship with the Stephens County Sheriff’s Department. Back in June, about 30 dogs were found at an abandoned house on East Elliot that were in various stages of neglect. 

While three to four of the dogs died, O’Shields said that 24 of them were moved to Rescue the Animals in Abilene. 

She also recalled a recent rescue of five starving puppies. 

“We lost two, but saved three,” O’Shields said. “They’re healthy now and in a specialized foster home.”

Another strong partnership is with Second Chance Farm in Granbury.

“Her name is Sandy Walker. She does a wonderful job, and she takes quite a few of our dogs,” O’Shields said. “She’s able to rehome them and she has a wonderful group of followers.”

Funding remains a constant challenge. 

“Everything we have is dependent upon donations,” she said. “We have no paid employees. We’re all just volunteers and we do everything we can to help the public.”

The Society hosts an annual 5k run in the fall, sends donor letters in December and operates the Stephens County Humane Society Resale Shop as various ways to raise funds. 

“It is done through various donations from the public,” O’Shields said. “We’re open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and it’s usually pretty busy.”

“This is about Sarah and her husband Brogdon who spend hours putting out donations and making our Resale Shop always look inviting,” she added. “It is about all of our wonderful fosters who love and care for our dogs and help transport.  It is about all of our volunteers and donors, because without them none of the things we do would be possible.

After 28 years, O’Shields remains committed to the mission. 

“We try to help the community the best we can,” she said. “If people need help, if they’ll just call and ask for help… we’ll see what we can do.”

O’Shields added that adopting an animal should be a lifelong commitment, but if certain situations arise that they will always take them back. 

“We’ve always had the policy that if you’ve adopted from us, you call and it will come back to us,” she said.