It's a Wild Life

Here's a shout-out to Marshall's Animal Control Officers, Kenny Clayton and Marlo McFarland! Awww, come on, don't call them the "Dog Catchers". And really, they are not trolling the streets deliberately looking for YOUR dog just to cause you grief. They do a great deal to help keep the citizens of Marshall (both two-legged and four-legged) safe. But today I don't want to talk about the dogs and cats that they often bring us at the Shelter. No, today I want to talk about the OTHER kinds of calls they regularly receive. They go something like this:

Recently things got even fouler than skunk. Or should I say fowler?? Kenny comes walking into the Shelter and says "I've got eight for you". I laughed lightly; he's such a kidder, you know. I walked to the truck and looked in the back. There were eight, all right. Eight chickens. Fryers or broilers, by the looks of them. After some futile attempts to find their own roost, the decision was made to put them into one of the dog pens (sans any dogs, in case you were wondering). I tell you, the dogs in the next pen were practically salivating! Fortunately they only stayed in the Shelter for a few hours and enjoyed the pleasure of some cat food, but they certainly left behind the evidence of their presence.

The next day we received a call reporting a swarm of bees in someone's front yard. Bees? Really?? Kenny didn't really have the right equipment to handle those guys, so someone with bee experience was pressed into service.

A few days later someone walked into the cat room and said "Gina, there's a bite case up front". Oh, great. I walked to the office and looked around. I saw no bite case. I looked closer. I saw a small cage. With a rodent in it. A tame white rat, to be exact. OK, enough is enough. Marlo, get rid of this please!!!! She gladly complied, and Willard went home.

And there are stories told by those with lots of shelter history about ferrets, ducks, snakes, rabbits and more. As for me, if I can control it at all, I choose cats and dogs.