ENLARGERose Lovelace holds a dog brought in for adoption at the Florence Lauderdale Animal Shelter.
Lovelace stays busy all day responding to calls, often about stray dogs and cats. Sometimes the calls are quite interesting, though, when she or one of the other officers has to catch a snake, a chipmunk or a cow that has gotten out of its fence.
The animal shelter is operated by four officers, a supervisor, a secretary and volunteers. One of Lovelace’s duties is to evaluate the animals when they are brought in to see if they are adoptable. With so many animals brought in and picked up every day, Lovelace said the shelter stays overcrowded.
“There are 20 kennels, 10 on the ‘unwanted’ side and 10 on the ‘stray’ side, that are supposed to only hold one dog each. Right now, each kennel holds two or three dogs,” she said. The Florence animal shelter accepts animals from Lauderdale County, but Lovelace and the other officers patrol Florence, checking to see if residential conditions are adequate for the animals and if there are strays roaming the streets. Lovelace also helps with adoption events, which the shelter frequently puts on at various locations. In between calls and her regular duties, Lovelace took a little time to describe a typical day.
4:30 a.m.: Wake up; feed my seven dogs and take them outside. Then I get ready for work.
7 a.m.: Time to leave. I live in Cherokee, which is about 30 miles away. On the way to work I pick up our secretary, Jeanie Poole.
7:30 a.m.: Arrive to work and start cleaning before we open. All the employees try hard to keep the shelter sanitary with a nice, clean smell. Since there are no designated jobs, everyone helps clean. And with dogs and cats all around, this part of the job never ends.
8 a.m.: The shelter opens, and the calls start coming in. Many of them are reporting animal abuse/cruelty or an animal that is sick or injured. Since Florence has a leash law, we often have to go pick up dogs that are running loose. We don’t pick up cats, but we will accept them if they are brought in. Also, in the summer, we get numerous calls from people reporting that an animal has been left in the hot car while the owner is in a store.
Noon-1 p.m.: It is finally time for lunch.
1-1:30 p.m.: During this time we clean some more (spray down the back, clean the kennels, mop the floors, etc.) before the doors are unlocked.
1:30 p.m.: The shelter reopens. During this time I’m either out on a call or am helping clean the shelter. Aside from the dog kennels, there also are the cat and the puppy rooms to keep clean.
3 p.m.: It’s feeding time for the animals. We keep their water bowls filled at all times, though, and the volunteers take the dogs out periodically.
5 p.m.: The shelter technically closes, but I may stick around to help with any unfinished business or cleaning. Each month, a different officer is on call 24 hours. So, if it’s my month to be on call, 5 p.m. does not mean much.
6 p.m.: I usually go to my mother’s house and eat dinner with her.
7 p.m.: Clean up and take care of my animals. I also have four daughters, with four grandchildren between
them, so I like to go see them as much as I can.
9 p.m.: Time for bed.
