♪♪ Bartels: Three of us down here used to work at the Clinton Humane Society, and what we saw while we were up at the Humane Society were quite a few older people, elderly people, would come in literally in tears and say, "We have to give up our animal because we can't afford to feed both the cat and ourselves," or the dog and ourselves.

You could not walk into any animal shelter at this time and not hear the same stories of, you know, "Fifi, great dog.

We've had Fifi for 17 years.

We just can't take care of her anymore.

We can't afford it.

We can't afford the food."

My mom passed away seven or eight years ago now from Alzheimer's, and she had a cat named Smokey.

And, I mean, that was why she got up in the morning.

It was because Smokey needed her.

And I think that's the case with so many of these people.

I mean, once that animal's gone, their whole life is gone.

They're done.

That's how Midwest Pets came about.

We decided we were going to do something about that.

We were going to help feed these animals, to keep them with the people that loved and needed them most.

Jessica: I have been involved since it started, so back in 2014.

I love animals.

[ Laughs ] I think anybody who does this job just loves animals.

Bartels: We used a little building up in the north end of town called the Train Depot, and it was just a little building, but they let us use it for nothing.

And we did low-cost spay/neuter up at the Train Depot.

And so, I mean, really from there it just grew.

It started out feeding animals, and then it went to adding spay/neuter.

And then we added vaccinations and microchips.

And I mean, look at us now.

We're taking up this whole building.

It's 7,000 square feet.

This is the warehouse.

♪♪ It doesn't last very long.

It goes pretty fast.

Kennels to help.

These are two big traps that we use when we get called to try to catch dogs that are loose, left, or dumped off.

How I first got into it, I seen people just dump their dogs out in the country and it just, like, ripped my heart out.

Bartels: Sometimes that's all they have left, these homeless people that come in here.

They don't have anything, but they've got their dog, or some of them have a cat.

And I just -- it would break my heart to see some -- I start crying for this stuff.

[ Sniffles ] It breaks my heart to think they'd have to give it up.

Man: He's a rescue.

The Humane Society.

And I actually did get his backstory.

More than likely outside all the time.

He don't like getting wet.

He hates the rain.

He don't bark, so he's actually low maintenance.

Good dog.

They told me to get rid of him -- go to a shelter, go door-to-door, or take him out in the country and just shove him out.

I told them, "He stays with me."

But for mental-health purposes, very important.

That may be the only thing that they have, the one person or animal that they can connect to, to talk, to where nobody else is listening, but their cat or dog is always listening.

And they're truly family.

There is a misconception that we are a vet clinic, which we are not.

You might have heard today where I was talking about rabies vaccines and that we do not have a vet on site and we are not allowed to do rabies vaccines, that they could come to our vaccine clinic, which is quarterly.

We do work with a vet from DeWitt.

She is the one that comes in and does all of our vaccine clinics.

I always see people that are very grateful, very happy that we're filling this void.

So people truly care for their animals and they're trying to do best by them.

And if this is the most affordable way for them to do it, I'm glad I can help.

Jessica: Kim and Sandi are very persistent.

They -- They would go out to the community and they would just be like, "We need this.

The community needs this."

And the community agreed.

I'll take it.

Thank you so much for the donation.

Kim: Are we financially secure?

I don't know that any nonprofit is.

But we're funded only by donations, so it does take a community to get to where we are today.

You know, so it's fundraising, it's getting out into the community and taking Lindsey -- taking them out into the community, talking about responsible pet ownership.

Because the pig is what gets you in the door.

It gets you the show.

[ Notes playing ] Yeah, she's our spokespig.

We call her the MPFL spokespig.

She is really smart, isn't she?

16 might have been when I got my first pig, so I got Annie Oinkley first.

Maybe a few months later, I think Frank Swineatra came.

And then Ham Solo came.

And, yeah, it just went on and on.

Hohrman: I absolutely love the spokespigs.

They are a great addition.

It's nice having them, especially most of them coming as rescues, especially like Lindsey LoHamm, who is an adorable little thing and just wants attention and to be loved on.

What could go wrong there?

Bartels: I don't know.

I got so wrapped up in it.

I didn't mean to ever be a hoarder.

But I think I kind of am now.

You know, I've got 11 pigs.

God.

Who does that?

Can you sit?

Sit.

Kim: Honestly.

Yeah, that opened the door for a lot of programs to get out in the community.

Bartels: What do I get out of what I do?

Nothing.

[ Laughing ] I get absolutely nothing.

But what I mean is, I don't get a paycheck.

But you know what?

I do get satisfaction out of it.

I go home so many times happy with what we've done for the community.

And I mean, we're taking care of, I think, five counties.

It does bring me joy.

Thank you.

You have a good day now.