There are lots and lots of doting, responsible pet owners. You know them. I know them. My husband and I are OF them. We’re not cat people, but we understood the passionate cat lover, a Maine woman, who, when she learned about a cat, Bridget, that fled a pickup truck, jumped off a bridge and swam to shore – and rescue – decided she had to have that West Coast cat.

We’re dog people, crazy about our 7-month-old golden retriever, despite her destruction early on of four pairs of prescription glasses. Lyly is the offspring of Bailey, a blond retriever whose mistress, Mt. Valley High student Megan Jones, decided we were “right” for the puppy.

Maybe it was the West Coast cat epic that moved me. No matter, one cold, rainy noontime last week, I headed up Hall Hill Road to McKennel’s, the River Valley’s one and only animal shelter.

Marsha McKenna “always wanted to work with animals.” Her two jobs – the boundary between them is blurred – are Rumford animal control officer and owner/manager of McKennel’s. While I talked with Marsha, a pleasantly-plump springer named Kobe was dropped off for grooming.

Marsha abandoned me instantly to welcome him. Her gift for animal gab is obvious.

An exotic stray dog

She built the shelter back in 1987. She’d been working for vet William “Doc” Hersey in Rumford Center. He had very limited space for shelter, and so “every Friday was layaway day.” The demand for animal shelter was high. It’s even higher today.

Cats far outnumber dogs in need of shelter. Commonly, a mother cat and her litter, minus one kitten the owner kept, are delivered to the shelter. Few will be adopted. Marsha said she is constantly amazed at the number of dogs – even golden retrievers! – who are never reclaimed. “They come in and you see they’ve been cared for, and people just never come for them. Right now I have a neutered male beagle and a shepherd mix.” Both have been at McKennel’s for a good while. The day I visited, Marsha awaited the arrival of a Shih Tzu – a pretty exotic stray dog.

Till last week on Hall Hill Road, I’d not understood the difference between animal control officer and animal damage control operator. As animal control officer, Marsha is charged with the rescue of abused, injured or stray animals: dogs, cats, rabbits and birds, so long as the animal is not a protected or endangered species. (In that case, a game warden takes over.) She issues warnings to owners whose pets are annoying neighbors. Sometimes she goes to court to remove a pet from the custody of an abusive owner.

Squirrel pests

In contrast, Paul Cayer, our area’s animal damage control operator, traps and relocates nuisance animals. My confusion may stem from the fact that Paul rescued my husband and me from horrible gray squirrels who spent the winter of 2002 between our ceiling and our roof.

Animal control officers are trained and certified by animal welfare in the Maine Department of Agriculture (Sue Milligan is training to serve as backup for Marsha), while damage control operators are tied to the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department.

Marsha advocates spaying and neutering because of cat and dog overpopulation. Layaway is shelter lingo for the fate of a huge number of animals, put down because they are unwanted, unhealthy or neurotic. Too many dogs come to the shelter totally unfit for adoption because of negligence. Discouraging.

Still, Marsha enjoys the rewards “whenever you help an animal in any way,” she said.

She can be reached at 364-7176.

Linda Farr Macgregor and her husband Jim live in Rumford. She is a free-lance writer and the author of “Rumford Stories.” Contact her at [email protected].