By Max Nickel
Becky Gifford has been the Monroe County Animal Shelter Director since 2020, and was originally led to the field of animal services after becoming a volunteer at the shelter. She was appointed as an administrative assistant in 2019.
Gifford provided some insight into the day to day responsibilities attended to by the department.
“The average day here consists of cleaning and feeding about 25 dogs. Once all of the animals are taken care of and fed, we go out and do our welfare checks, do any pickups, and all of our calls.”

Becky Gifford with one of the dogs currently in the care of Monroe County Animal Services.
The department proceeds to tend to nuisance/stray dog reports, dog bites, and impounding dogs on a daily basis.
“We respond to nuisance and stray dogs every day. This morning, we’ve had 6 so far, and it’s only 12 PM. If you wanted me to average, I’d say we deal with 5-7 a day.”
Dog bites that occur during business hours are to be responded to by calling the Sheriff’s Office.
“Usually we come out, as does the Sheriff’s Office or police department, and get both sides of the story.” Animal Control then contacts the Health Department, and an Environmental Health Specialist investigates the situation.
“It just depends if the offending dog has an owner or if it’s a stray. If it’s a stray, we will take it to the shelter and quarantine it for 10 days. If it’s an owned pet, the owner can quarantine it for 10 days.”
Dog bites that take place after hours are to be responded to by calling 911. A deputy will investigate the incident, and in some cases the on duty Animal Control Officer will be contacted to pick the dog up immediately.
Gifford reported that an average of 3 to 8 dogs are impounded a day. The fee to reclaim an impounded dog is $60 the first time, but the fee increases by $60 each time the same dog is involved. The holding fee is $10 a day.
Dogs will be impounded if found on a complainants property, on the Public Right-of-Way, or caught in an animal trap. These animals can be reclaimed at the Animal Control Shelter located at 157 L. Cary Bittick Dr, Forsyth.

Several dogs in the outdoor pen at Monroe County Animal Services.
Animal Control can also be contacted if one desires to adopt a pet. “The adoption process includes filling out an application, which takes me about 24 to 48 hours to process,” Gifford explained. “The adoption costs $200, and the fee covers spay and neuter procedures, heart worm testing, vaccinations, microchips, deworming and de-fleaing.”
Those looking to adopt dogs, cats, puppies or kittens can go to the Animal Control Center to visit the available pets. Animal Control can be contacted at 478-993-1032 for further information regarding adoption.
“It seems like post-COVID, we are having more and more stray, homeless, and dumped animals in the county,” Gifford explained regarding the importance of these tasks to the community and public safety.
“This does pose a threat to the public because our county is growing, areas that are typically rural are being used to make more homes. (Animal services) are important because our county is growing in population every day.”
When asked about the best and most challenging elements of her job, Gifford said, “My favorite part is getting the updates from all the amazing rescues and adopters on all the animals that have gone on to live wonderful lives better than we ever imagined for them. The most challenging part of this job is the emotional toll it takes on you. It’s obviously a very emotionally taxing job. Abused, neglected, abandoned animals, that takes an emotional toll on anybody.”
“The biggest mis-conception about the department is that people see that dogs are held on a 5-day stray hold, and then assume that we euthanize them after those 5 days, and that is absolutely not true. All that 5-day stray hold means is that if the animals are not reclaimed within that time, they now become property of the county. That’s all that means. There’s a ton of misconceptions about what we do, and I can only encourage somebody to come by here and see what it’s like.”
A large amount of the work the department does requires cooperation and collaboration with neighbouring services. “We most often collaborate with the Sheriff’s Department or the Police Department in certain criminal cases. We are at their beck and call and there to serve the public just like they are. If the Sheriff’s Department or Police Department goes out and makes an arrest at a house that has animals, we are right behind them. We all work together to make sure that our community is aware of and observing the laws.”
When asked about any improvements she feels like could be made to the department, Gifford replied, “Most importantly, last November, the taxpayers voted to allot a million dollars for us to build a new shelter, and that’s what we’re going to do, the biggest improvement we can make. It will be a larger shelter that can also take cats in.”
Gifford wanted readers to know that the department is open to the public 6 days a week with the exception of Thursday, and that they are open to adopters, rescuers, volunteers, or anybody that wants to visit to come and see what a day at the Animal Shelter is like.