Randall Russell

Russell Leads Sebastian Humane Society Out of the Dog House

When Randall Russell came to the Sebastian County Humane Society in 1994 after working for the American Red Cross, the shelter was losing enough money that it could not have continued another year and a half.

Under Russell’s leadership, however, the Humane Society is running at enough of a profit to double its capacity and act as city animal shelter for Fort Smith. The city contract means that the facility has enough money for day-to-day operations – donations are used for improvements and expansions.

Russell says the two biggest challenges facing the Humane Society are educating the public about animal issues and keeping the facility, with 14 paid employees, fully staffed.

“We have an in-house surgical suite, and probably after college graduation this year we’d like to hire a newly graduated veterinarian part time,” Russell says. “That way, we’ll be able to perform many more health checks and do more spay and neuter operations.”

Of course, the shelter takes in pets and strays. Russell says the most rewarding part of the job is reuniting people with their lost animals.

“You can just see the joy on the faces of the people and their pets,” Russell says. “But, really, getting any pet adopted is good. We have a scholarship for some senior citizens, like a lady in a wheelchair who’d had to give up her cats when she left her house and moved to a home that didn’t take pets. We told her, ‘When you get to a place that allows pets, call us.’ She did, and we got her a cat, and we check back on both of them, because we want to make sure they’re doing all right.”

Russell’s future plans call for raising $200,000 for repairs and renovations and to continue to improve the facility’s pet cemetery.

“We’ve had it since the 1950s,” Russell says. “But we’ve rejuvenated that, offering granite stones and a new entrance … People appreciate that a lot more now, I think, since we’ve worked on it.”

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