Does it seem like animal welfare people across the state have gotten the idea that someone at the Lawrence Humane Society is a soft touch when it comes to animals in need?

If so, they’re right.

Once again, Executive Director Midge Grinstead and her staff have stepped in to take care of animals that others couldn’t handle. In the last two weeks the Lawrence Humane Society has taken in 50 dogs, including 15 Pekingese dogs rescued from a breeder and 25 dogs from two shelters in Hutchinson and Pratt. Changes left the Pratt shelter in need of some help, and a storm blew the roof off the Hutchinson shelter. No shelters in that part of the state offered to help take up the slack, so the Lawrence shelter opened its doors.

It could be argued that it’s not the Lawrence shelter’s job to take in dogs from halfway across the state, but that’s not how Grinstead and the donors who support the local shelter see things. Their attitude is more like, “If an animal needs a place to go, how can we say no?”

All those extra dogs are getting a lot of love out on East 19th Street, but they’d be glad to share some of that love in a home of their own. If that sweet picture on the front page of Friday’s Journal-World of a dog peering out of her cage or any of the lively shots on LJWorld.com pulled at your heartstrings, you might have a new friend waiting for you at the Lawrence Humane Society.