RALEIGH, N.C. — Many animal shelters across the country continue to have too many animals and not enough adoptions. 

The organization, Shelter Animals Count, which has a national database on shelter animal welfare, said this is leading to a rise in euthanizations. A local nonprofit called Halo Paws is trying to change this. 

Two high school girls, Sarah Pazokian and Saesha Agarwal, started the initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Sarah was my neighbor and we started researching all these dogs that were not as lucky as ours, and I wanted to help them. So me and Sarah decided to start this nonprofit to start to raise money for dogs in danger of euthanasia,” Agarwal said. “We reached out to a local animal shelter called CrisisDogsNC and they kind of told us some little missions that they needed help with and we started from there, and now we are doing lots bigger missions.”

Pazokian and Agarwal have raised more than $2,000 to cover the medical and shelter needs of different dogs. To help raise those funds, they make rings and sell them at different events. 

“I think at the time these rings, especially were becoming very popular online, and me and Sasha, because it was COVID, we didn’t have much to do, so we were like, we can pick this up as a little craft,” Pazokian said. 

Over time, their missions have gotten bigger and bigger. They needed to add another member to their team, and that ended up being Grace Wang, another high schooler. 

“I still can hardly believe that it’s two high school students running it because just the way that they operate this organization is just so well thought out and amazing and the impact that they are making on the community was insane,” Wang said. “Like, I remember telling them that I have never been a part of an organization that’s been so successful.”

The girls said as they continue to keep working hard, they’re hoping to serve even more dogs. 

“A lot of customers say they’ve had their dog experience similar things of medical issues that the dogs we’re raising money for had and that they themselves struggled with paying for it, so it’s really great to know that we are helping with something that not a lot of people are able to provide,” Pazokian said. 

Right now, the girls are working on raising money for their seventh fundraising project for a dog rescued by CrisisDogsNC. The goal is to raise $1,400 to help cover the costs of the dog’s medical bills.