It has been said that every person has a story to tell, and that is surely true also for all the homeless animals at the Dillon County Animal Shelter. But occasionally the most heartbreaking stories have happy endings. One sweet pup named Bear has a story which is particularly heartbreaking, but it also serves to affirm that there are still some truly good people in the world.

Last year on July 8, 2015, two scared five-month-old puppies named Bo and Bear were dumped at the Shelter by their owner.
No one knew the reason. Both frightened little puppies were unaware of the long, lonesome months they would spend in the cold, noisy kennel, surrounded by so many other big, barking dogs.  During the spring of 2016, they had hopes for a better future. They were chosen to attend an adoption event in Florence, and both were adopted by one person who promised to give them a good home. Sadly, that was only true for Bear’s brother. Bear was unceremoniously returned to the Shelter several days later, where day after day, he watched other dogs get chosen for rescue or adoption, but never him.

Then a miracle happened when a person with a generous and caring heart saw his picture on the Shelter’s page on Facebook®, and contacted the Shelter and also one of her friends whom she knew would transport and foster him until she could get him. These two ladies immediately began the process to get Bear to safety.
On the one-year anniversary of this sad pup’s entry into the Dillon Shelter,  he watched trustingly as a tall, blond, tanned lady from the beach filled out his paperwork to gain his freedom! Little did this grateful dog know the backstory of the kind lady with the gorgeous smile. He did not know that she, too, had grown up in Dillon, and still felt strong ties to her hometown and its Shelter.
The kind lady holding his leash was Shawn Chandler Seddinger, now a seasoned real estate agent with Grand Strand Real Estate in North Myrtle Beach. The daughter of Sam and Marcia Chandler, she had a history of helping Dillon dogs find good homes. Sweet and trusting Bear did not know that her story began years ago when a little black lab mix, Rue, came into her life from death row in Horry County.  Her puppies were adopted and she was left behind.  Rue was sick and very weak, but she healed.  Shawn saw the transformation.  Rue showed her so much appreciation and love that Shawn wanted to save another dog.  That led to dogs in the Dillon Shelter.  When Shawn saw Jessie’s picture, he caught her eye because he looked so much like Rue, and she knew she had to help him.  Although his was a convoluted trail to freedom, she eventually got him into a good home in Lumberton, and thus began her rescue story. One of her favorite rescues also came from the Dillon Shelter. Beauty, a black lab, was a hard-to-place girl who eventually went into service training and is now a legal certified service dog for a veteran. But Shawn had her for six months. In addition to fostering dogs, Shawn owns three of her own, all of which are rescues who came from Horry, Marion, and Dillon Counties.
In addition to rescuing Bear on his one-year Shelter anniversary, Shawn also obtained freedom papers for a sick little black lab mix named Kallie. Poor Kallie would not have made it many more days in the harsh Shelter environment. She was suffering from infection, parasites, a shrunken eye, and also heartworms.
The truly joyous part of this story is that even though Kallie and Bear did not know one another at the Dillon Shelter, now they are the best of friends. Shawn reports that Kallie, through some intensive and expensive vetting and care, is regaining her strength, and they are fast friends.
With the addition of these two Shelter dogs, Shawn now has five dogs in her home. Anyone with the care of one pet knows the hassle and work that one pet requires. But Shawn charmingly downplays the sacrifice she is making, and she reports that all the dogs are doing well. Bear and Kallie will go to their forever homes in several months, but their miraculous freedom story emphasizes the importance of fostering.
The Shelter environment is harsh and threatening, and because of over-crowding, lack of personnel and time, dogs and cats do not receive enough human contact to make them adoptable.
Rescues prefer animals to be out of the Shelter for at least two weeks for health reasons, also.
Being in a foster home helps the homeless animal get acclimated to loving humans, and oftentimes is their first experience with kindness and love.
Shawn’s story of one person’s willingness to sacrifice her time and energy to foster dogs for her hometown’s Shelter will hopefully inspire the people of Dillon County to step up and help the sad, abandoned animals at the Dillon County Animal Shelter. Fostering is short-term, but the effects are so long-reaching for the animal and the human.
If you feel that you would be willing to foster a cat or a dog, please call the Dillon County Animal Shelter at 843 841-8884. Like Shawn Seddinger, you can make such a difference in the life of a hopeless, homeless animal.