San-Lee Humane Society Before shelter was built, an agreement with CCCC was made to allot two runs in their Vet Med facility for their cause of homeless animals in Sanford. The Myres', Sprouse, Cohans', and the Harrils' had an arrangement to use the runs to house the animals and do adoptions two nights a week. But, the arrangement was not ideal, so the original 7 were determined to continue working together to start a Humane Society to help homeless animals in need. They began to accumulate donations and meet with the County Commissioners and other influential community leaders to help them meet their goals. BBQ fundraisers, Pet Fairs, and other events were held to build funding. Sissy and Poly Cohen secured a bank loan and arranged for Lee Brick and Tile to donate land located at 42 Deep River Road where the facility was built and is still in use by CARA. Heritage Concrete next door pitched in to maintain the road to the building.
Newspaper clipping from first meeting of the newly formed San-Lee Humane Society in 1983 The San-Lee Humane Society was born out of the love and devotion Dr. Ron and Gail Myres, Sissy and Poly Cohen, Diane and Rodney Harrill, and Pat Sprouse had for the area’s homeless animals they could not ignore.
Per Gail Myres, “we never lost focus on the animals. People came and went and there were obstacles galore, but we kept pushing on.” Dr. and Mrs. Myres sat on the board of directors for San-Lee Humane Society for several years before passing the torch to fellow animal lovers but continue to support CARA as well as numerous other animal welfare organizations. The non-profit humane society had lots of supporters and board members who actively made it a success over the years. But it was this team of seven that made it their mission to educate the public about the plight of abandoned animals and the importance of spay and neutering to control the stray pet population. For nearly 20 years San-Lee Humane Society was a joint agency with Lee County and assisted with the care of thousands of homeless animals. In the early 2000s, several San-Lee Human Society board members approached the county about becoming a freestanding no-kill facility. The organizations began moving in different directions, with animal control building its own facility on North Horner Boulevard, and San-Lee Humane remaining at the current facility as a separate nonprofit entity. But without county funding, the humane society was forced to close its doors in mid-2002. About a year later in 2003, the organization regrouped, adopting the more encompassing name of Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption, also known as CARA. |
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