John Thompson is making sure animals in rural communities around Florence are being taken care of.
“Sometimes they’re on the chain and nobody pays attention so they get happy to see somebody,” said Thompson.
Every other day, Thompson has a route where he knows dogs and cats are not receiving the love and attention needed, especially during the cold winter days.
“I run into two types of people. Those that want to do the right thing but don’t have the resource and then those that really don’t want to do the right thing. Some of them just need help but they don’t have transportation to get them to the vet or they are on a monthly social security check and don’t have enough for the food,” said Thompson.
Thompson has been providing food, water, and supplies for nearly 12 years.
“There’s times when you’re feeding 50 dogs and it gets hard to come up with enough food. People know that if they don’t see me for two or three days that I’m out of food,” said Thompson.
People around the community are grateful for what he does. “One guy says you know I really appreciate what you do. So you know it makes you feel good. I would say for people to get involved and help these animals because they can’t help themselves,” said Thompson.
Thompson currently has 30 dogs at home, that he has either rescued or found and said he wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I didn’t want to get to the end of my life and figure that everything I had done was for myself so I’m glad God gave me a calling,” said Thompson.