Andrea Cassman knows the names of all of the dogs at the Clay County Animal Shelter.
Some were brought in as strays, others were dumped, and many have been surrendered by their owners.
Cassman has been a volunteer at the shelter for the last 5 years and commutes there at least 3 times a week.
"I live in Fleming Island, I actually haven't done the mileage but it takes me about 30 minutes to get here," said Cassman.
Cassman said the location of the shelter is just one of many things that the county needs to address, so she started an online petition which has more than 2,000 signatures.
"We need a better surgical area, we need isolation areas we need basic things like drainage and laundry," says Cassman.
She said the shelter cannot get a commercial washer and dryer because of septic tank issues.
She also says space is limited too. Quarantined animals have to stay in pens next to animals that aren't.
Cassman said the hours and the location are an issue for people who want to adopt, with the shelter being far away from the populated areas of the county, as well as only being open until 4 p.m., a time when most people aren't even done working.
Cassman said that they have brought their concerns to County Commissioners.
County Commissioner Ronnie Robinson sent Action News Jax a statement about those concerns.
"I have worked very hard toward making animal control better since 2008. We need a new animal control facility more central to the population areas of Clay County. The ideal place would be on 220, the county owns this property. This would make a great location for a new facility. We have operated on very limited revenues since 2008."
Robinson also brought up the issue of the importance in continuing the sales tax in the county.
"It's also critical that the citizens understand that we don't want to raise the sales tax, but just leave it the same as its been for the last 15 years in order to do these type of projects. If the citizens don't want to leave it at current rate then Clay County will have approximately $16 million less a year to work with for the these type projects."
Cassman said in the meantime, she is doing everything she can to help the shelter. She started a non-profit called Friends of Clay County Animals Inc., which pays more than $6,000 a month for extra things that the county can't pay for at the shelter.
They cover anything from heartworm treatments, to surgeries, anything extra the animals need in order to be adoptable.
Cassman hopes Robinson can encourage the support of other leaders.
"I think most of them are on board there may be one or two that aren't but it's OK we can sway them," says Cassman.
We also spoke with Alan Altman, the County's Director of Environmental Services. He said marshland that backs up to the property where the shelter is prevents them from being able to expand there. He said that they could use more room but his staff does a tremendous job with what they have.
He said there was a point when they were euthanizing nearly 4,000 animals annually, but that number has decreased significantly in the last 5 years. He said he knows that the County has a lot of projects to manage and hopes that one day they will be able to upgrade the shelter.
READ: Letter from Clay County Animal Shelter volunteer Lindsey Meyers