Frances R. Willis SPCA

Our shelter was established in 1972 to provide a safe haven for stray, abandoned, abused and lost pets. It’s named for Frances R. Willis, who brought the SPCA to Dorchester County and founded the shelter with the help of Dr. Brunson Westbury. Kapstone, the lumber company, donated the land for the current SPCA facility. The Frances R. Willis SPCA serves the lost, abandoned and abused animals of Dorchester County including Rosinville, Harleyville, Ridgeville, Oakbrook, St. George, Summerville, and Grover. Dorchester County neighbors Charleston County which is the home to Charleston, SC. The largest town in Dorchester County is Summerville, home to the World Record of the largest pitcher of sweet tea. The Frances R. Willis has 2 major fundraisers per year, the Downs Byrd Memorial Oyster Roast in February and the Pawker Run in September which brings in over 700 participants on all modes of transportation. The staff is made up of 12 full time employees and 3 part time employees working very hard to find homes for all the pets that walk through the intake doors.

To pull a pet from the FRW SPCA shelter, a rescue must provide copies of the 501 C status. In addition, we would need to be able to verify vet references. We have 2 types of foster programs; short term foster and long term foster. Short term foster deals with any animal up until the time of spay/neuter surgery. Long term foster is an animal after being spayed or neuter. For both programs the application is the same, however, the long term foster program requires a home visit before placing the animal.