Conversations with Robin Lapre

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Lapre.

Hi Robin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Strangely enough, I am a resident of Williamson County who spends my time volunteering at Cheatham County Animal Control (CCAC). In fact, I got so involved with CCAC that I started a nonprofit dedicated to supporting it!

My initial foray into volunteering at animal shelters began in my hometown of Franklin, where I started walking dogs as something to do with my daughter in 2017.

I learned a lot and loved my time with the dogs, but I had a nagging feeling that maybe I should be helping other shelters that had less support and fewer resources.

After helping a little bit here and there, I settled into my role as a lead volunteer at Cheatham County Animal Control (CCAC). When I first stepped foot inside CCAC in 2019, there was no volunteer program. The dogs did not get walked, and there was a lone volunteer who helped with the cats and did laundry. So in May of 2019, we set in motion a volunteer program by recruiting, embracing, and training every single person who showed interest.

Three years later, we now have a vibrant volunteer community where dogs are walked at least three times per day, a thriving kitten foster program, and volunteers who dedicate their time and talent in a variety of ways including carpentry, gardening, and photography. One nagging issue was the lack of funding in the county budget to handle medical needs, or enough money to provide animals with enrichment such as toys or treats, or even items so basic as kitten food and collars.

That’s the reality of a small county budget, and we realized we needed donor support. To solve the funding issue, in May 2021, I started the nonprofit Saving Cheatham Animals Mission PAWSible (SCAMP), with the sole mission of supporting the animals of CCAC. Now in existence for one year, SCAMP has raised thousands of dollars from hundreds of donors to benefit the animals of CCAC.

We have worked hard to spread awareness about the need, and we highlight the great things happening at the shelter. We are still working on increasing our adoption rates through improved publicity, community outreach, and offsite events to get people familiar with Cheatham County Animal Control.

We have a positive message that CCAC is a great facility, and we hope folks will come in, get involved, support us, and most importantly adopt!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing is ever completely smooth when it comes to animal control facilities. In the three years that I have been involved at Cheatham County Animal Control, we have had 3 different directors and nine different animal control officers have filled the two ACO positions during that time.

Turnover is never easy in any organization and navigating those changes and keeping the volunteer program stable through periods of change had its moments. Right now, we have hit a period of stability with our current director Brittany Sellers, two experienced animal control officers, and a hard-working group of paid staff and dedicated volunteers.

From the perspective of starting and running a nonprofit with no prior experience, I would say SCAMP has done surprisingly well! One of my best decisions was to select a veteran accountant as a treasurer who helped immeasurably with the initial filing and organizational aspects. I have been very touched by the number of people who have supported SCAMP since its inception.

Turns out a lot of people like animals and are willing to donate to help shelter animals! I focus a lot on the number of donations rather than the actual dollar amount we raise, and right now we have had over 400 unique donors contribute to SCAMP, which is amazing considering our small size and recent inception. The struggle we face overall as a shelter is getting good local adoptions.

Cheatham County is a rural county with a population of just 40,000, and we have lots of animals needing homes. So right now, we rely heavily on rescue organizations, often from out of state, to help us by pulling animals from the shelter and adopting them out for us. This keeps us from filling up with animals, but it would be nice to not feel so reliant on rescues.

What we need is more people to come to Cheatham County Animal Control and adopt, and that means expanding our reach by tapping into more densely populated communities nearby.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Folks are often surprised to know that when I am not volunteering at Cheatham County Animal Control or running the nonprofit SCAMP, I practice as a physician at the Vanderbilt Walk-In Clinics of Williamson County.

I have worked part-time throughout my 20+ years as a physician, which has allowed me more flexibility in raising my family and now gives me time to pursue my passion for helping shelter animals. I have loved my role as a physician, just as I have loved my role as a mother and wife, and now animal shelter advocate.

Each aspect of my life feels very compartmentalized although occasionally I find myself answering a few medical questions at the animal shelter and answering a few dog questions at the medical clinic, which is always fun! I joke with people that anybody can become a doctor; they’re a dime a dozen.

But you have to be really nuts to dive headfirst into animal rescue in Tennessee! I have great admiration for my equally crazy and committed shelter and rescue peeps!

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
If you are thinking about volunteering at a shelter, just go do it! And please, please go where you are needed! Be willing to drive a little further, if it means you will make a bigger impact. Anything you can give will help. If you don’t go, you won’t help. You can make the day better for an animal. You can promote them and help get them adopted. You can make a difference.

If you are thinking about starting a nonprofit, go for it! It sounds daunting but really once you get the paperwork filed, you can run with it and do amazing things. One element that has made SCAMP successful in my opinion is that we have a very narrow mission. I resisted any suggestion to broaden the mission to include anything beyond Cheatham County or beyond the shelter.

I wanted donors to know exactly where their money would be going. I also keep donors, as well as the community as a whole, abreast of happenings at the shelter and I communicate how we have spent donations. We issue a quarterly report and I keep our website blog updated, so people can see where the money goes. Also, having a treasurer who is experienced with nonprofits really took that aspect off my plate so I could focus on the mission and running the nonprofit.

I would say keeping the message positive has been a successful strategy. I spend more time managing social media than I had anticipated, but it pays off in that I think people are comfortable donating because SCAMP is not a faceless entity. I am easily reached and responsive, and I think all of these elements, plus the simple fact that people care about the animals, have made SCAMP a success story for CCAC.

Pricing:

• Dog adoptions are $75 but we have frequent adoption specials
• Long-term dogs $40 and sometimes less!
• Senior dog’s age 10+ are half price for senior citizens
• Cat adoptions are $50 but often less at adoption events

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone No.: 615-792-3647
• Website: www.savingcheathamanimals.com
• Instagram: @cheatham_scamp
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savingcheathamanimals