Paws4Ever in Mebane is launching a program called “Legacy Care,” helping pet owners make sure their pets will be cared for when they’re no longer able to care for them.

Often when pet owners die or become ill or disabled – or even simply when they age – they become unable to take care of their pets; and in the absence of a plan, those pets often wind up abandoned or in shelters. Legacy Care, says Paws4Ever executive director Laura Griest, is a better alternative – and it’s also a good backup, in case you do have a plan in place that falls through.

Legacy Care is a home-based program: Paws4Ever has constructed a 2000-square-foot home for pets on its facility in Mebane, large enough to fit eight animals, with a full-time caregiver on site. The animals are cared for there while staff members search for a permanent adoptive home for them.

There’s no other program like it in the Southeast, Griest says – and very few like it anywhere in the country.

Griest joined WCHL’s Aaron Keck on “Aaron in the Afternoon” this week to discuss Legacy Care.

Paws4Ever is holding an open house on Saturday from 2-4 pm to show off the newly-built Legacy Care facility. It’s located at 6311 Nicks Road in Mebane. For more information on the facility, visit Paws4Ever.org/legacy-care.