After getting approved for a six-month contract in early November, MS Critterz has finally gotten established as a no-kill animal shelter with full-time staff members.

During the Board of Aldermen meeting on December 4, shelter director Gail Brown was able to give the board a detailed animal report and announce her full-time hires to the board as well.

Brown introduced Zack Hetrick as a full-time Animal Control Officer, and also said she was still looking for more part-time help with animal control as well.

Along with Hetrick, MS Critterz has three kennel attendants, as well as a receptionist and an adoption transport coordinator,

After the Lafayette Board of Supervisors approved MS Critterz’s six-month lease on November 6, Brown spent the month of November cleaning and renovating the facility on McElroy Drive. Now, the shelter has 60 animals that are ready to be adopted as of December 4.

In total, the shelter has taken in 79 animals in the month October, and 73 animals in the month of November.

There are also 30 animals the shelter has on hold, which means they are either too young to be adopted or were brought in as strays. Stray animals are required to be held for 48 hours before being put up for adoption.

Brown said those who are looking to adopt an animal are required to bring a driver’s license, utility bill or a lease agreement to show they’re a resident of Oxford or in Lafayette County.

Ms Critterz is also making animal laws well known around Oxford and Lafayette County, as the shelter partnered with the Oxford Police Department to publicize an Oxford city ordinance that was passed on October 2.

This ordinance states that it’s illegal to drop off an animal at MS Critterz when MS Critterz is not open to receive animals.

“It is our goal to inform our community of the proper procedures required by the City of Oxford,” the release says, “and to ensure the safe and humane intake of animals to the shelter.”

MS Critterz is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m., and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.