Typical Day
Kay Ninecatcher is woken up at 6:30AM by her dog, Bowser. He's licking her face. Classic Bowser. Kay's used to this kind of slobbery wake-up from her pitbull-pug buddy; she's gotten it every morning for six years, ever since she rescued Bowser from a storm grate when he was just a few hours old. She's also used to rolling to the left to get up, not the right. Her recently-rescued cat, Professor Snuggles, always sleeps on her right side—and Professor Snuggles hates being woken up early.
Kay pops in the shower for a quick rinse, then gets dressed in her khaki-colored animal control uniform. She pins her badge to her shirt, puts her hair back into a ponytail, and heads downstairs for some breakfast.
After a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, she scrapes the leftover egg into two dog food bowls—one for Bowser, and one for Sandie, the scruffy terrier mix that Kay is fostering for a few more weeks. Sandie was undernourished and too ill to be put up for adoption, but after daily doses of Kay's scrambled eggs and leftovers, she's finally putting some meat on her bones.
Kay grabs her rifle and hops into her white animal control truck, where the empty cages will be filled by the end of the day. She heads on over to the shelter.
At 8:00AM, Kay enters the Sunnyside Shelter and greets all the dogs and cats that are awaiting adoption. The shelter is brimming with sad-eyed pooches and soft, squishy kitties. The sight of all these animals languishing in cages, waiting for families to rescue them, used to break Kay's heart every day when she first started working as an animal control officer. She's toughened up a bit since then, but only a bit. It still makes her sad to think of all the love that these animals should be receiving and aren't.
Kay keeps some treats in the front pocket of her uniform. She gives them out to a few of the animals; then lets out a deep sigh, as she knows she's about to fill up even more of the cages in the place upon her return.
At 8:30AM, Kay gets her first call: There's a stray dog wandering around a strip mall parking lot. On her way to the scene, Kay sees a lump of fur in the middle of the road. It's a dead cat that has been run over. Kay puts on her gloves and picks up what was no doubt once somebody's beloved pet. There's no collar or license around the cat's neck, but she's well-fed and groomed, so she must have been a house cat. Kay puts the remains into a cage, where she will take it back to the shelter to be checked in and disposed of. Ugh, what a nasty way to start the day, Kay thinks. Nasty but necessary
At 8:45AM, Kay arrives at the scene and sees a medium-sized black-and-grey dog with matted, clumps of wiry fur and a bad limp. The dog's been injured, but Kay doesn't know how badly. Since it's important to play it safe when it comes to animals, Kay approaches the dog carefully and latches an apparatus like a fishing pole with a rope on one end around the dog's neck, making a quick collar.
Upon closer inspection, it's obvious that the dog is not only badly hurt, it's skin and bones. Since it appears non-threatening, Kay decides to pick the dog up with a big towel. The dog whimpers and cries in pain, but Kay reassures it. She sets the dog carefully in the cage with the towel wrapped around it and gets in her truck. She reports the dog injured and quickly heads to the nearest vet to get the dog treated.
Kay sits with the dog for forty-five minutes while the vet assesses it, treats it for dehydration, and puts it in surgery to repair its leg. Kay tells the vet she'll swing by later to check in on the dog, who she thinks looks a lot like a "Lucky." She wishes she could stay a bit longer, but she's got to respond to another call.
At 10:00AM, Kay arrives at the park where a dog has gotten off its leash and bitten a jogger. She immediately recognizes the dog; this is the second time it has bitten someone and drawn blood.
Kay gives the jogger some basic first aid and advises him to see his physician. Dog bites can easily lead to infection and it's always better to be safe than sorry. Kay saw a person come down with rabies once and the memory of it haunts her. Rabies can be fatal to people if left untreated—and the treatment shots are horribly painful.
The jogger does not want to press charges, but Kay still needs to quarantine the dog for eighteen hours. It's the law, and her job is all about enforcing laws. Before she can take the dog away, though, she has to argue with the dog's irate owner, who resents the idea that her fully-vaccinated pooch has to go anywhere.
Kay issues a citation to the owner of the dog and says the dog will have to be evaluated for safety back in the shelter. The owner starts screaming and calling Kay some pretty nasty names, but Kay is used to this kind of treatment. In her experience, those who break the law hate her, while those she helps—like the jogger—love her. It's all part of the job.
Once the dog has been dropped off at the shelter, Kay pays a visit to a house where neighbors have been complaining about a smell and a huge number of cats. The legal limit in this town is three cats, but judging by the smell of things, there's at least fifteen cats too many in this house. She issues a citation to the owner and warns her that she'll need to get rid of all but three of the cats by the time Kay comes back, otherwise she'll be facing jail time. The woman throws a few choice curse words at Kay and slams the door in her face. Kay knows she will have to come back with many, many reinforcements tomorrow. This woman is a cat hoarder; she won't be able to part with any of them.
Lunch is a hot dog with everything on it. In between bites, Kay calls the vet to ask about "Lucky." Apparently, Lucky really is lucky. He pulled through just fine. He will have to stay at the vet overnight, but then he will need a foster home to nurse him back to health.
Just a few seconds after she hangs up, Kay gets a call about a large snake that's roaming in the backyard of a frightened family. Kay hates snakes. She calls her friend and fellow animal control officer, Cory Anders, and asks him to pretty please go handle the snake for her. "No problem," Cory says, and he's off to it. Kay makes a mental note to bake him some cookies.
Six hours later, it's 6:00PM, and Kay has given out two citations for unlicensed dogs, picked up two more dogs for quarantine, rescued a litter of kittens that were born under a house not far from the shelter, and taken an injured owl to the local wildlife and bird reserve.
After making sure that the injured owl will be alright, Kay swings by the vet to check on Lucky. He barks and seems happy when he sees Kay, who takes a liking to him immediately. Kay tells the vet that when Lucky is well enough to be transported, she would like to foster him. So what if she's already got two dogs and a cat at home? There's always room for one more.
Back at the shelter, Kay delivers all the animals that she has picked up and—even though it doesn't look like there are any lost pets in this bunch—inputs their information into the computer so that their owners might be able to reclaim them. There's no harm in hoping, she tells herself as she treats the animals for fleas and ticks, immunizes them, and coaxes them to take their de-worming medicine.
There are eight more animals in the shelter since this morning. Kay says goodnight to each one and then leaves so that the shelter's volunteers can feed the animals and make them comfortable.
After a long day of helping animals, some people might be tired of it, but not Kay. There's nothing she likes more than going home after a hard day's work and taking care of her pets. She feeds them, walks the dogs, and then settles down on the couch to watch Hotel for Dogs with the cat on her lap and a dog on either side of her. It's a good feeling.