Meet Michael Gregory

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Michael Gregory.

Michael, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Working with animals has been something that I have wanted to do since I bought my first show heifer, Eliza, in the 3rd grade. As soon as I was old enough, I started working at the former Shelbyville Veterinary Clinic throughout high school and college.

From there, life took me to sales for a bit before I was named the first director of the newly formed Bedford County Animal Control. After being there for nearly seven years, I was named the director of Rutherford County PAWS in 2011.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing in animal welfare is smooth! Early on, it was a struggle just to maintain and stay afloat. The industry is constantly changing, so staying up to date with best practices is a must. When I started in animal control in 2004, the major issues were keeping up with the constant flow of animals into the shelter and a trickle of animals going out through adoptions.

We worked extremely hard to think outside the box and find ways to help solve this. Knowing that spay and neuter surgeries were the answer, we helped to form the Middle Tennessee Spay and Neuter Clinic in Shelbyville to assist. Coupled with being named a source shelter for animal transport programs, we say our live release rate has increased significantly in Bedford. Coming to Rutherford County PAWS was almost like being at Bedford again. Our flow of animals upon arrival was overwhelming, and we were constantly battling space, health, and behavioral issues.

We started again to think differently and started to implement animal transports, community cat programs, increased surgical capacity and programs to help us get to where we are today. This was no easy task for a government agency, but we have had lots of support along the way from our dedicated staff, citizens, Mayors, and County Commissioners.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your work next?
Our work at PAWS involves just about everything you can think of when it comes to animals. Many see the shelter and the work we do in a negative light; however, there are so many things that go on around here that are positive. We have been able to get our live release rate to around 90% each month, which is something we thought might never happen.

We have worked to start a free spay and neuter program for any resident of Rutherford County to help control the population of unwanted pets in our community. This has been a major collaborative effort and one that I am most proud of. I think it also sets us apart from others due to its openness to any resident. We wanted to remove any barriers to having a pet spayed and neutered – the biggest of which is cost. The team at PAWS is a group of compassionate, resilient individuals who come together to protect our citizens- both human and pets.

They are rock stars, and I have enjoyed seeing them grow together. In no way have we arrived at everything, there have been ups and downs to our work, but overall, they joy has been in the journey!

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share?
We are still learning from Covid. While Covid saw many shelters reduce their number of animals, the effects since have been very difficult. Adoptions have slowed, and demand for services has increased.

We are still working to manage the effects and move forward, along with so many other shelters across the country. It remains to be seen if sheltering returns to pre-Covid practices. One thing about sheltering and animal control is we tend to adapt to changes and go with the flow as best we can within our policies and existing laws.

Contact Info:

• Website: paws.rutherfordcountytn.gov
• Instagram: @rutherfordcountypaws
• Facebook: @rutherfordcountypaws