Emily Burgess - Animal Operations Manager 

​Renea Brown - FOSS Services Manager 

Tonya Palmer - Kennel Assistant 

​Crystal Finney - Kennel Assistant

Erika Podhajser - Kennel Assistant​

FOSS Board Members

​​​​Lorrie Van Hoy Bennett

Katie Sands Winfrey

Cindy Taylor - Human-Animal Relations Coordinator

​​​Leslie Staples- Chair 

Mike Barsness - Vice Chair/General Manager

Leslie Staples - Treasurer

Tanya Gardner - Secretary

Fran Hollis - Facilities Chair ​

Kate Waterman - Fundraising Chair​

​Aaron Sisco

​Cindy Holby - Marketing Chair

Sherry Smith

Dr. Joel Fox - Vet of Record



​​FoSS Volunteer coordinators

​​​​FOSS Staff 

ABOUT THe friends of the stokes shelter inC. (FOSS)

​​​​​​A Better Future for Homeless Pets of Stokes County is OUR Mission.


     The Friends of the Stokes Shelter Inc. (FOSS) operates a no-kill Animal Adoption Center in the middle of Stokes County, NC at 1111 Dodgetown Road in the Meadows community between Walnut Cove & Danbury.  The physical & mailing address is 1111 Dodgetown Road, Walnut Cove, NC 27052.

     The goal is to provide a “fur-ever” home for homeless pets and relieve overcrowding at the Stokes County Animal Control shelter, thereby reducing euthanizations due to space.
     The 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization completed the building in the Meadows community through private donations. They raised $450,000 over six years from people in the community.  FOSS receives no local or other government funding.   FOSS is a separate entity from the SCAC shelter on Sizemore Road.  We rely 100% on private donations to operate.
     “It will help the animal control officers to do their job at the shelter, while we take care of adopting animals,” said Dr. Deborah Cowan, former Chairperson for The Friends of the Stokes Shelter. “We were having a real problem with a lot of euthanizations because we just didn’t have the money or the people to be able to adopt them out.”

     Friends of the Stokes Shelter Inc. opened the FOSS Animal Adoption Center on February 29, 2020.  As of 11/22/24, FOSS has saved 1,563 animals in Stokes County.  With your support, we will continue to save many more!