First Generation
South Mississippi animal rescue was founded by John Billingsly dealing mostly in small animals found on the roadside in need of help. Animals of both domestic and non-domestic found the nourishment and health care they needed. If they were wildlife they would be rehabilitated and returned to the wild. However, if they were domestic they would be rehabilitated, and a home would be found for them or ,being that it was 100% no kill, they would reside at the refuge until the natural end of their lives.

Second Generation
Jonean Crowle  continued where her father left off, rescuing animals in distress from anywhere they were found from the roadside to animals shelter cruelty cases. She would take the police to back her up as she would attack animal cruelty cases at individuals homes, no one was safe from her wrath when it came to animal care. Jonean was noted for raiding one animal shelter back in the late eighties a number of times walking away with as many as 65 animals each time. They were handed over to her by the animal control officers reluctantly by orders of the chief of police.

Third Generation
With Jonean at the helm, the family pride marches on, taking things to a new level, oldest to youngest, J. Billingsly, Nikki Billingsly, Colt Billingsly, with John Crowle (Jonean’s husband) and Roxanne Smith (J.’s fiancé) . The family has moved along with the future holding onto age old morals. Forming S.M.A.R.T.R. (South Mississippi Animal Rescue Team & Refuge) the team has taking an inkling to “extreme” animal rescue. S.M.A.R.T.R. takes on everything from disaster recovery to dog fighting rings, and has even taken out a puppy mill or two. However, they still will not pass up an animal found on the side of the road or rummaging through a parking lot for food. Still holding to the 100% no kill policy, the population has increased drastically, especially after hurricane Katrina where the team was able to rescue nearly 500 animals and return more than 150 to their loving families. The low reunite level is due to the simple fact that S.M.A.R.T.R.  is not in it for the money, whereas most rescues or shelters rescue animals according to ability in replacing them with their owners so they can collect the “re-unite” grants, S.M.A.R.T.R.  is in this for the salvation of the animal, so we rescue everyone we see, not just the ones in someone’s backyard.

The Refuge
Prior to Katrina S.M.A.R.T.R. primarily dealt with “special needs” animals. These are animals with severe personality flaws, illnesses, disfigurements, old age cast-aways, in other words animals that would have been put down in an instant if taken to the humane society. However, things have changed, when the hurricane hit we evacuated the entire refuge of 86 animals, no one was left behind. Upon setting up at the Jackson Coliseum where they had a location for people and their pets, (they gave us our own section being that we are a refuge and have a larger number than most evacuees) they did a large study on our animals to ensure we were on the up an up, and that we weren’t “collectors” and found our animals health to be in perfect condition. Within a couple days we were having people begging for teams to go in and rescue their animals that they had left behind thinking it wouldn’t be that long that they were away. Larger organizations than us were soliciting us to go in and rescue these animals for people knowing that we were supporting the refuge with a private bail bonding company owned by Jonean and that we might be able to get into places others could not. As a result the team found themselves in parts of New Orleans that was sealed off from everyone except National Guard, local police, F.B.I. and U.S. Marshals. The S.M.A.R.T.R. team was pulling animals out of S.W.A.T. standoffs, HazMat clean ups, and even rioting areas of desperate Katrina refugees. Being the only animal rescue team to make it as far into the stricken city as we did, the national guard gave us freedom to take whatever measures were needed to procure the safety of what ever animals we could get, as a result we were able to use the funds given to us for the “private” rescues, in order to pay for fuel and supplies and turn the “private” rescue into a mass-rescue operation, bringing not only the target animals out, but any animals we came across, and what ever animals the national guard located for us to get. As a result we returned to pass Christian Mississippi (our refuge home) with nearly 300 animals, not counting those we were able to re-unite along the way. Upon getting back to pass Christian, the U.S. marshals gave us jurisdiction over the animal control for the Pass, so that we could get where we needed to be to get the animals to safety. We rescued a large number of animals from the local area, as well as brought in veterinarians to administer vet care to the locals, and distributed more than seven physical tons of dog food to the community.

Betrayal
After operation as animal resource, animal control, and local animal shelter on an un-official, the City of pass Christian came and was elated to find our proficiency level so sound, and begged us to do this for them officially. It was agreed upon that S.M.A.R.T.R.  would continue to do as they had been doing on a official level, but without compensation due to the fact that the city could not afford to pay for the service from the humane society of south Mississippi. As a result our numbers swelled at an awesome rate, however, we had a great adoption level, so the swelling didn’t have a detrimental effect on us. However, after 18 months the city decided that there was no place in pass Christian for us, even on a level that we were operating on prior to Katrina. After a long legal battle S.M.A.R.T.R.   was forced out of their home. Loyalty was discarded as soon as the city was able to afford to start paying the humane society again, which was at a discounted rate due to the fact that we had literally brought the city of Pass Christian to a 0% stray population. In order to survive and maintain the 100% no kill standard and prevent the slaughter of so many innocent lives S.M.A.R.T.R. relocated to an abandoned gravel pit that someone was good enough to donate the use of on a temporary basis, so S.M.A.R.T.R.  has resided in this gravel pit for over a year now, having to truck in water, use propane for lighting and heat (there’s no electric) and when it rains we have to hoof in with the supplies, as the roads are made of mud.

Future
S.M.A.R.T.R.  is trying to purchase a new home, a place where the animals are safe and won't have to relocate again. (unless adopted). We have been trying to arrange financing for a parcel of 200 acres with 72,000 square feet of building space where all of the animals could be set up with indoor/outdoor runs, a fine medical wing could be provided for anyone who turns up sick, or needs heartworm treatments or such things. Also, a physical rehabilitation center for those animals who need hydrotherapy and certain types of exercise and minor mental rehabilitation, and a center away from the rest where we could have a rehabilitation center for aggressive animals such as former fighting dogs who need a special kind of rehab in order to bring them back to being loving caring pet quality animals. However, keep in mind even if a fighting dog never crosses that bridge to adoptability, they will always have a loving home with people who understand them and are prepared to avoid the triggers that cause ill behavior with these animals.  If this land and building package can not be obtained, then S.M.A.R.T.R. intends to purchase raw land and start building from scratch, however, this will cost a lot more in the long run, it will be cheaper to start with, the land and building package spoken of is 1.2 million dollars, whereas to build an equivalent in buildings and land, it would run about 17 million.

Goals
South Mississippi Animal Rescue Team & Refuge has set many goals. Once established in a permanent location, we intend to branch off into wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, large animal rescue and rehabilitation. And incorporate many programs that will include working with the elderly and special needs children at the refuge facility, giving need and value to those lives who feel they are without such. Also, we intend to start an animal education program where rehabilitated animals will be taken to schools and functions showing what not to do to animals and how to care for them properly. Overall, our goal is to continue to give refuge to those souls who otherwise be euthanized or worse, and provide a better quality of life for animals who just want to be able to enjoy life and share love.