When Precious, a 3-year-old pit bull who had spent her entire life on a 6-foot chain, walked into her new spacious enclosure Saturday afternoon, she seemed stunned.

The response is typical when dogs get their first taste of life beyond the chain, said Cappy Jeffers, founder of Helping Animals Reach Tomorrow, an organization that is supplying enclosures for animals whose owners cannot afford them.

“Sometimes we’ll let them loose and they don’t even know what do,” Jeffers said.

The pen was the sixth built Saturday by Jeffers and her family. In the past three weeks, with money from private donations, they have built 30 dog pens. Since July 10, they have also moved more than 100 dogs from short chains to 20-foot tie-outs, she said.

“Our hopes are to go back to the ones we’ve unchained and totally let them free with a pen,” she said.

The cost of each pen — including the fencing, hay to be spread throughout and a dog house for shelter — is about $700, but pet owners pay nothing as long as they agree to not chain up or mistreat the dogs.

“Payment for this is the chain. We leave with it,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers said she came up with the idea after driving through town and seeing so many dogs tethered with short chains.

“I realized that I needed to do something so I went and bought a dog house and some hay and asked the people if I could unchain the dog,” she said.

The pens vary in size, depending on space availability.

Precious’ owner, Sarah Conner, lives at Military Avenue and Franklin Street. She said she learned about the service from her son, and she and some of her neighbors have received pens for their animals.

“They did a good job for these folks and dogs,” Conner said.

While the pen was being built at Conner’s home, about six people gathered in the street asking about the service.

“We’ve got about 10 pages full of names, and every one I drive by, they need it,” Jeffers said.

Irrie Catchings received an enclosure for Mama, his 2-year-old pit bull, about two weeks ago. He was skeptical at first of strangers offering him a free dog pen.

“I heard about them way back, but I kind of shook it off until they came up here and finished it,” he said.

Catchings said he thought putting dogs in pens rather than on chains would be positive for the pets and their owners.

“She really likes to be off the chain and be free,” Catchings said. “I wish all dogs could be like that.”

For more information about Helping Animals Reach Tomorrow, www.facebook.com/HartFoundationHelpingAnimalReachTomorrow.