Supporting the Daily Work Behind Rescue
Our connection with Southern Souls Animal League began in the summer of 2025. At the time, their Director, Anna Shepard, reached out to CATLINK to learn more about potential collaboration opportunities for animal shelters. Through our early conversations, we learned that Southern Souls Animal League cares for an average of around 20 cats at any given time. With that many cats, manually scooping litter every day takes up a significant amount of time and energy. Wanting to offer practical support, CATLINK donated three Scooper SE automatic litter boxes to help with the shelter’s daily operations.
Today, it’s a joy to see that the cats at the shelter have become completely familiar with the CATLINK Scooper SE as part of their everyday routine.
Whether or not you’re currently looking to adopt a cat, CATLINK hopes this story offers a closer look at the daily work of Southern Souls Animal League. Sometimes, a little awareness and care can help more cats find their forever homes.
Below is our written interview with Anna Shepard, sharing her experiences and insights from the shelter.
Could you tell our CATLINK community a little about Southern Souls Animal League?
Southern Souls Animal League is a nonprofit rescue based in Eufaula, Alabama, serving a very rural, high-need area. We primarily help cats and dogs that would otherwise have very few options—strays, owner surrenders, and animals coming from neglect or crisis situations. We focus heavily on lifesaving care, spay/neuter access, and keeping pets with their families whenever possible.
How many people are on your team right now, and how do you usually work together?
We have 2 dedicated staff for the care of the animals. I wear all the other hats.
About how many cats or dogs does each volunteer typically care for?
It really varies depending on the day and what’s happening, but one volunteer might care for anywhere from 10–20 animals during a shift. During high-intake periods, that number can climb quickly, especially on the cat side.
What kind of support do you need most at the moment?
Right now, consistent support is the biggest need—regular donations, supplies, and volunteers. Winter is especially tough, so food, litter, bedding, and funds for medical care make a huge difference. Ongoing support helps us plan and keep doors open.
Meet Spicy - Mysterious. Mesmerizing. Worth the Wait.
From your experience, what’s the biggest difference between rescuing cats and dogs?
It costs more to rescue cats than it does dogs. Cats are more likely to get sick or come in unhealthy. Cats will get sick just because their environment is too stressful. We have to go above and beyond for enrichment and stress reducing things for our kitties. We lose more cats to diseases than dogs. Cats are very high maintenance which I think surprises most people. We also work hard to make sure our cats are very social and friendly we want them to come and greet every visitor to their room. This helps them get adopted quicker.
Southern Souls Animal League shared screenshots of their cats using the Scooper SE on their profile.
Do you have any upcoming events or plans you’d like to share with us?
We have a few events scheduled and more in the planning stages. We’ll be hosting a workout class this month. We play bingo every month for the animals. We have a fishing tournament planned are are working on a vaccine clinic for the spring. We stay pretty busy planning and hosting events.
Could you introduce 1–2 cats who really need help right now? We’d love to help them find a loving home through this blog.
Lilly has been with us since 2023 she was so shy even with other kitties. We keep her in the kitten room cause kittens are less intimidating that adult cats. She has really opened up this past year and will often greet visitors to the kitten room now. We are hoping 2026 will be her year!
Spicy isn’t spicy at all she’s just scared. If you’re not one of her regular caregivers you won’t even see her when you enter our adult cat room. She’s absolutely beautiful with her eyes! But you have to earn her trust. It will take someone special to give this girl a home. She’s been with us since 2024. We have no time limit on our animals at the shelter. We make a commitment to them when they come through the door to care for them for the rest of their lives. Even if that means them returning to us after they’ve been adopted which has happened. We recently took a kitty back that had been in a home for over 2 years. His family was going through hardships and they could no longer take care of him. Luckily he quickly won over a volunteer and is now back in a home and happy.
**CATLINK: We’ve already included photos of the cats in the blog post. If you’d like to learn more about the cats at Southern Souls Animal League, you can visit their Facebook page or website.
Meet Lilly - The Quiet Beauty with a Heart Full of Love
How has CATLINK been helpful to you and your team?
Litter boxes are the biggest job in our cleaning routines for the cat rooms. They take the longest to do with all our kitties. With the automatic litter boxes is has made our clean up time so much quicker so we can spend more time with the cats and socializing them. It has also helped with accidents because there is always a clean litter box. It has helped with the litter box odors that always seem to linger with regular boxes no matter how many times we scoop. We have fewer upset tummies. The litter boxes have been a complete wonderful change to our shelters cat rooms! We’re beyond grateful!
Final Thoughts
At CATLINK, our mission is to use smart technology to “Link Everything for Cat’s Life.”
We also want to thank Southern Souls Animal League for taking the time to share their story with us. If you’re involved in shelter work, veterinary care, or any pet-related organization, we’d love to connect with you, feel free to reach out to CATLINK here.
And if you’d like to support the cats featured in this story, follow Southern Souls Animal League on their official Facebook page.
