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69 08

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BHHS
cosmetology
career tech
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

HeraldPalladium

Berrien Countys Noahs Ark

$2

Number of animal calls handled

by Berrien County Animal Control in 2014:

WILDLIFE
POSSUM (45)
RACCOON (220)
WOODCHUCK (39)
SKUNKS (25)
DEER (30)
Two fawns rehabbed
COYOTES (2)
BATS (17)
SNAKES (6)
GULLS (2)
SALAMANDER (1)
0

110

220

DOMESTIC
Photos by Don Campbell / HP staff

RABBITS (29)

Val Grimes, director of Berrien County Animal Control, stands at the construction site of the departments new headquarters at
South Euclid Avenue in Benton Township. The department is one of the few in Michigan that continues to respond to calls about
wild animals and domestic farm animals, a practice Grimes wants to continue. A new barn will make it easier to handle some of
the animals the department shelters, such as horses and goats.

DUCKS (15)

Animal Control
takes in a wide
variety of critters

HORSES (3)
GOATS (2)
CHICKENS (3)

By JOHN MATUSZAK
HP Staff Writer

GUINEA PIGS (6)

If it has two legs, four

legs or six legs, if it has
feathers or fins, if it flies,
slithers, swims or runs, it
has probably gone through
the doors of Berrien County Animal Control.
A log from June shows
that animal control officers
handled calls about 55
woodchucks, 33 ducks, nine
skunks and one guinea pig
not to mention dogs and
cats.
Later in the summer they
received a report of 154
abandoned chickens.
Try taking in 154 chickens 154 starving chickens, said Animal Control
Director Val Grimes, who
gave the birds a temporary
home at her property until
they could be sold. Nothing is turned away from the
shelter.
With a new animal shelter being built, and its car-

PEACOCK (1)
0

15

30

To trap or not to trap?

Construction continues last week at the Berrien County Animal Controls new headquarters on
South Euclid Avenue in Benton Township.

bon monoxide gas chamber

being scrapped in favor of
euthanasia by injections,
questions are being raised
about animal controls mission.
Grimes is adamant that
animal control should continue to respond to requests
from residents to rid them
of some wild animals, as
well as sheltering domesti-

cated animals.
According to Grimes,
Berrien County has one of
the few animal control departments in Michigan that
still takes in animals other
than cats and dogs.
Its a service to the community, said Grimes, who
has been with the department for 35 years. The
animals deserve it, as well

as the people.
Lisa Howe, who has been
with animal control for 21
years, including many years
as an officer handling animals, agreed that they cant
turn their backs on the animals that, in many cases,
have been abandoned by
their owners.
See NOAHS ARK, page A4

DNR says Berrien

staff more than
qualified to
handle wildlife
By JOHN MATUSZAK
HP Staff Writer

Jim Sheffield, a licensed

animal trapper, thinks that
Berrien Countys Animal
Control Department is
killing with kindness.
And when you do that,
Mother Nature takes over
and not-so-nice things can

happen, according to Sheffield, who operates Awesome Critter Gitters in

Niles.
Theres more to it than
hooking up a trap and setting it out, Sheffield said.
You cant go into someones house with pets and
children and not know what
youre doing. And I guarantee that no one in the county
knows what theyre doing.
Lt. Joe Thayer, with the
Michigan Department of
Natural Resources, disagrees, and says that Berrien
See TRAP, page A4

Parrots and pit bulls and cats, oh my!

Santa helps raise funds
to rescue animals
By LOUISE WREGE
HP Staff Writer

BENTON HARBOR
Santa received more than a
few wet kisses from furry
friends Saturday at Wolfs
Marine in Benton Harbor.
It was all for a good cause,
said store manager Richard
Boston, who played Santa
during the Pet Pics with Santa event, a fundraiser for
Adopt a Friend for Life of
Southwest Michigan, which
is based out of Bostons Paw
Paw home.
Boston especially got kisses from Cole, a 99-pound
black lab-boxer mix.
He just cant control his

50645 49086

licker, said Coles owner,

Ron Myers of Stevensville.
Over the past eight years
of getting his photo taken
with Santa, Cole has built
quite a reputation.
We used to have a little
stool and one year Cole sat
on it and broke it, said Burton with a laugh.
We bring (Cole) every
year because we like to see
(Boston) fall on the floor,
said Myers.
MacKenzie MacMillan, 9,
of Coloma said she came to
get her photo taken with her
blue pit bull, Benny, because
other Santas dont allow
pets.
But Benny had other
ideas.
He was scared of Santa,
said MacMillans mother,

The Newspaper
for Southwest Michigan

Krystal Rickers.
So Boston got on the floor
to calm Benny down.
Im glad (Santa) got on
the floor and petted him. It
made him feel good, Rickers said.
She said a lot of people
are scared of Benny because
hes a pit bull.
Theyre misunderstood,
she said. Hes a big baby.
Boston saw a variety of
animals Saturday.
Today we had a first we
had a parrot, said David
LaLiberte of Schoolcraft,
who founded the nonprofit
with Boston 10 years ago.
But weve had mice, chickens, snakes the snake actuDon Campbell / HP staff See more photos:heraldpalladium.mycapture.com
ally bit Santa.
Richard Boston plays Santa as he poses for a portrait with MacKenzie MacMillan, 9, her mother, Krystal

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delivery problems,
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Rickers, from Coloma, and their pit bull, Benny, Saturday at Wolfs Marine in Benton Harbor. Proceeds

See PETS, page A4 from the Pet Pics with Santa event benefit Adopt a Friend for Life of Southwest Michigan.

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