The Bollinger County Stray Project (BCSP)

Our Mission

Our mission is to help people help strays, thereby reducing the suffering of unwanted strays in our county and district area through education and by our actions. We are not extremists, nor are we blind to the problems of our communities. We are considered animal welfare advocates.  We are equally compassionate about the people in our community and the critters.

Our Works

Our group works to successfully place strays in forever-homes by matching pets to the right family. Only about 10% of our animals are adopted to homes in our area. About 80% are adopted in the St. Louis area (which is 2 to 2.5 hours from Bollinger County). About 10% are re-homed all over the USA, transported by volunteer drivers, air or professional ground transport.

We help families with strays and those families who can no longer keep their pets.

We also help families who have failed to spay their females and are taxed with a litter of unwanted puppies. We require that those families have their females spayed in order to receive our assistance so that this circle of unplanned and unwanted reproduction is closed. We realize that no pet owner is perfect (who among us is), and so we want to assist the very people who ask for direction. This passive approach is working. Many who have had litter after litter are changing and becoming part of the solution.

Our Beginning

Developed in 2007 by Bollinger County Veterinarian Service and area rescue/foster volunteers because there were no shelters in Bollinger County.  Assisting strays was very taxing for the families that cared for the countless strays in this county. It seemed no mistake that stray after stray showed up at the same doors of these animal friendly families.

Our Director

BCSP Director, Marilyn Neville, is a large part of BCSP’s success. She is a retired dog breeder having bred and placed a rare Japanese mastiff breed named Tosa. She also taught dog obedience for over 13 years, using positive reinforcement techniques. She currently teaches dog obedience at the Charleston, Missouri prison in the “Puppies for Parole” program.

She understands temperament and knows how to read an honest dog. She will not accept dogs with aggression concerns. She is honest about the temperaments of the dogs: no sugar-coating.