Legendary artist Emmylou Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this year, a recognition she richly deserves for her long and lauded career in country music. But these days low-key Harris is more interested in her other calling: “Animals…that’s what I want to devote my life to now,” she told the Humane Society recently.

Harris operates an animal rescue/fostering organization, Bonaparte’s Retreat, which saves “unadoptable” dogs from the Nashville Humane Association and dogs who have run out of time at Metro Nashville Animal Control. “We don’t take puppies, we take the big black dogs and yellow dogs that to some people might seem ordinary—but those of us who know dogs know there’s no such thing as an ordinary dog,” says Harris.

Harris explains the origins Bonaparte’s Retreat, which is named not only for a famous folk tune but also her favorite canine companion. “I had this dog named Bonaparte that I adopted in ‘92,” she says. “He became my road dog — he went everywhere with me. When I lost him in 2002, I felt I’d lost my best friend, and I didn’t think I’d get another dog. But I started thinking that maybe I could foster some dogs. That way I wouldn’t be getting another dog, I’d be helping dogs, to honor the memory of my pal.”

Harris started slowly, taking in a few dogs in three dog-runs in her backyard. She now has several volunteers and works with other rescue organizations to find homes for abandoned dogs, no matter how long it takes. “We’ve had dogs for as long as a year and a half,” she says. “Sometimes there are problems with shyness. We have a dog now that has some fear aggression because he’s been hit so much. He’s coming around with a lot of training and love and regimentation. You just have to commit that however long it takes, we will find the right home.

“I would say we’ve had around three dozen dogs,” she continues. “We can’t do a lot, but we have a real good partnership with Happy Tails [rescue organization], which allows us to be kind of official, and we’re very committed to Nashville Humane and all the other wonderful organizations.

“The main thing on our agenda is to try and get mandatory spaying and neutering to cut down drastically the number of all these dogs and cats. Until we do that, it’s just going to be an endless tragedy. In 2006 there were nearly 11,000 dogs and cats euthanized, most of them just because nobody adopted them. Perfectly healthy, perfectly wonderful pets, and all they needed was a chance.

“We just encourage people, spay and neuter your pets,” she emphasizes. “And if you’re looking for a pet, please go to the shelters first. And I always feel dogs and cats are happier when they have a companion, so one is not enough!”