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Shirley Lynn Mashburn: sometimes ‘nice doggie’ doesn’t work.
Animal control officer
Going to dogs her job
Shirley Lynn Mashburn doesn’t mind
going to the dogs one bit. She even
enjoys it.
While most other working girls are
sitting behind a desk, Lynn is outdoors,
running all over town chasing dogs.
She’s Griffin’s first female animal
control officer, more commonly
referred to as dog catcher.
The job includes several duties that
would make most people want to quit
before they begin.
Every morning the first thing she
does is to hose down and deodorize the
cages where up to 25 or 30 dogs are
kept. That needs doing about 3 times
daily. Even then the odor is pretty
unbearable, but Lynn doesn’t seem to
notice. She goes about it as if it were
fun.
Another unpleasant chore is
collecting dead dogs.
If one gets run over by a car, she dons
her gloves and with pitch fork and
shovel loads the carcass onto the truck.
“It does get kind of gory at times,’’
she admitted.
Lynn is a real animal lover and she
understands how people feel about her
job.
Contary to what most people think,
animal control officers don’t go around
picking up every loose dog they find.
If she spots one running around a
neighborhood, the first thing she does is
try to locate its owner. Usually
someone recognizes the animal and will
tell her where it lives.
Lynn then goes to the owner and asks
him to keep his pet on his own property,
either penned or tied to a rope or leash.
If the dog is not wearing a tag, she asks
the owner to buy one and to have his pet
inoculated.
“I try to be real nice about it. I don’t
want any trouble, but some people just
won’t cooperate. As soon as we drive
away, sometimes the dogs are back on t
the streets again. People also let them
out early in the mornings or late at
night when they think we’re not
patrolling,” she said.
Lynn said she and her co-workers
always try to give owners three or four
warnings before making a case against
them. When an owner is given a ticket,
he can either pay a $27.50 fine or choose
to take the case to court and hope the
judge will be sympathetic to his side.
If the dog is found out roaming again,
the fine doubles and continues to double
each time an additional ticket is given.
Lynn picks up an average of seven or
eight animals each day.
GRIFFIN
DAI NEWS
Daily Since 1872
Dogs are the top priority, but cats are
not immune.
“Most cats that we pick up are wild.
We usually find them hanging around
garbage cans. They’ll tear your hand
off, so usually instead of picking them
up, we use a loop,” she said.
T he loop is a long pole with a loop of
wire around one end which can be
slipped over an animal’s head and
tightened around its neck, enabling the
officer to handle the animal at pole’s
length, she explained.
Lynn’s work takes common sense.
“The dog is more afraid of you than
you are of him. Most dogs are not as
mean as you think. They can smell fear
and sense you ate afraid. Smaller dogs
are quicker to bite than the larger
breeds,” Lynn said.
Lynn has not been bitten yet. She has
had several close calls, however.
The Country Parson
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“Given enough income,
modern man will double at least
two things — his indebtedness
and his chin.”
40 classes of Douglas County first graders
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) - For 40
classes of Douglas County first
graders, Equitta Price was as much a
part of school as reading, writing and
arithmetic.
And that is what the 65-yearold Mrs.
Prices has been teaching since the days
when schools were heated by coal
burning stoves and restrooms were out
side.
She has taught school for 41 years —
40 years on the first-grade level — and
Mrs. Price says she plans to teach in
the county school system for some time
to come.
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Monday Afternoon, September 19,1977
She teaches because she loves children
State estimates show
how Spalding grows
Spalding County’s population con
tinues to grow steadily, according to
new estimates from state officials.
The latest as of Julyl, 1976, estimated
Spalding had reached 42,200. This
showed a 6.8 percent change from the
1970 census report listing Spalding with
39,514.
State officials based estimates on
income tax returns, school enrollment
and other data.
Fayette County went from 11,364 in
the 1970 census to an estimated 16,800.
Henry County grew from 23,724 in the
1970 census to an estimated 28,500.
Clayton County zoomed from 98,126.
to an estimated 127,900.
Butts County edged ahead from 10,560
to an estimated 12,800.
Lamar County was listed at 10,688 in
1970 and the latest estimate put
population at 10,600.
Pike County went from 7,316 to 7,500
while Upson went from 23,505 to 25,200.
Statewide the population reached
5,011,300, according to the latest
estimates. This was an increase of
about 82,000.
Fulton remained the largest county in
the state with 585,700 and DeKalb was
next with 470,000.
Cobb went to 250,100 and Chatham
reached 186,300. Muscogee was
estimated to have 186,500.
Recently while going after a small
Pekingese, she heard something behind
her. There was no growl, but a large
Collie was heading her way and paid no
heed to her “nice doggie” calls.
“He chased me all the way back to
the truck,” she laughed.
Animals are kept at the North Hill
street pound for 10 days. If their owner
has not claimed them by then, an ad of
their description is run in the
newspaper offering them for adoption.
If someone does not adopt the animal
after an additional 5 days, it’s put to
sleep.
Dogs wearing tags have a better
chance of getting home early. City
employes check their tags to determine
the owners who are then notified.
The city charges a $5 impoundment
fee, plus one dollar per day room and
board. Os the 90 dogs and cats picked up
in July, 11 were reclaimed, 12 adopted
and 63 destroyed.
The more valuable breeds are never
destroyed and always are held for
adoption.
Lynn’s favorite breed is Doberman
Pinscher. She has two.
“They are super intelligent and are
obedience trained. I keep them at a
friend’s house in Hampton who has a
large fenced in back yard. I buy them
about 150 pounds of dog food per week,”
she said.
Lynn is the daughter of Mrs. Dorothy
Thomas who owns the Comer Lunch
Room in Experiment.
She has a 7-months-old son and
recently lived in Atlanta and Athens
where she worked as an LPN at a
hospital and at a veterinarian clinic at
the University of Georgia.
“There are people who say to me
each year, ‘Are you still here? I thought
you would have retired by now,”’ she
said with a smile, adding, “I just tell
them, ‘Come by anytime, and this old
grey-haired woman will still be here.’”
But she doesn’t continue to teach just
to prove something to her questioners.
She is dedicated to her job.
“I love the contact with people and
being with children. I think at times I
want to quit. But then I say, ‘No, I want
to be with the children.’ So I come
back,” says Mrs. Price, a widow.
When she began teaching, Mrs. Price
Presbyterians all set
to begin construction
Construction is expected to begin
within 30 days on the First
Presbyterian Church complex at Old
Highway 41 and East College.
Reddick Construction Company of
Thomaston has been awarded the
contract of about $560,000.
The congregation approved plans of
architect Bob Cunningham of Atlanta
Sunday which cleared the way for
construction to begin.
The congregation voted several years
ago to relocate.
The new complex will include
educational facilities as well as a
sanctuary and fellowship center.
Long range plans call for con
struction of a separate sanctuary.
Hubert Sullins, chairman of the
Building and Planning Council,
First Baptist Deacons ask
building plans be delayed
The First Baptist Church board of
deacons has recommended to the
congregation that building plans be
delayed.
The church will vote on the matter at
a conference Oct. 5.
Lee Roy Claxton presented the report
from the board of deacons during the 11
a.m. worship service Sunday.
Pruett proposes charter change
to assure option money for cut
Carl Pruett, former city com
missioner, today asked that the Griffin
charter be changed so that money
collected from a local option sales tax
would go first to cut property taxes and
secondly, garbage fees.
He said he thought such a pledge to
seek the charter change might support
efforts to get the local option sales tax
passed.
Griffin voters will cast ballots for or
against the local option tax Sept. 27.
Pruett in a letter to them commended
the commissioners on an earlier pledge
to channel sales tax revenue toward
cutting property taxes and garbage
fees as long as they hold office.
The commissioners said they could
not bind future commissions to such a
pledge. Pruett contended that a charter
change would make the pledge binding.
He said he would support the
proposed local option tax.
If something is not done to stop the
continued tax increase, Pruett said he
feared a tax payer’s revolt would
develop.
He pointed out that if local assess
ments do not meet state standards, then
the state steps in and makes the county
says, she was paid SSO a week to walk
several miles to. her job, stoke the fires
in the coal-burning stoves and then drill
the youngsters in the basic subjects,
stopping only for the students to eat
their brown-bagged lunches.
For other breaks, the children had to
excuse themselves to the outhouse,
about which Mrs. Price tells a
humorous story.
“One day a little girl in my class
asked me if she could go outside and use
the bathroom. Well, she was out there a
long time and didn’t come back. I went
out there looking for her and found her
Vol. 105 No. 222
reported to the congregation on plans.
Sunday.
Elected to a Building Commission
were Doug Tingle, Frank Tardy,
Arthur Forrer, Frank Bums, Ivan Betz
and Lizanne Hall.
The group will elect its own chairman
and organize its work.
Trustees elected to handle the
business details of the program were
Harold Tonkin, Tom Lewis and Arthur
Forrer.
The Rev. Forest Traylor, Jr., pastor,
who likes to put one-line sermons on the
message board of the downtown church
said today’s message was
“Presbyterians Go!”
The pastor said the downtown
property bounded by Taylor, Eighth
and Meriwether is on the real estate
market.
He indicated the board felt the church
was not unanimous in its support of the
program and recommended plans be
delayed.
The pastor, the Rev. Bruce Morgan,
is on tour in Egypt. He plans to make a
state of the church report on Oct. 2 and
discuss the building program.
come up to the required level.
Pruett pointed out the county is in the
process of a revaluation program which
could lead to an increase in property
taxes in many instances.
He said even though the city reduced
its millage rate last year, tax bills went
up because of increased evaluation.
Passing the sales tax here would
mean many people who enjoy city
services but who do not live in the city
and do not pay property taxes, then
would share in the cost of services
through the local sales tax, Pruett
argued.
“We have the opportunity in the
upcoming referendum to let others who
use our services, help us to pay for
them; and at the same time we have the
opportunity of reducing our taxes and
monthly service costs to Griffinites. I
hope our people will take this action and
cut the costs of ever increasing ad
valorem taxes,” Pruett wrote the
commissioners.
Many who opposed the local option
tax in the past did so through misun
derstanding and some for political
reasons, Pruett said.
dipping snuff. A first-grade girl dipping
snuff!” she recalls.
However, she does not pretend to
remember the many events or names
associated with her four decades in the
classroom.
“I’ve often found myself teaching the
children of former students. This one
woman came up to me just a few weeks
ago and told me that I was her teacher
once and now her son was going to be in
my class.
“I had to tell her, ‘Sorry, I don’t know
you.’ There are just too many names to
remember. You just can’t keep track of
Weather
FORECAST FOR GRtFFIN AREA —
Partly cloudy with good chance of rain
through Tuesday. Low tonight in mid
60s; high Tuesday in low 80s.
LOCAL WEATHER - Low this
morning at Spalding Forestry Unit 68,
high Sunday 86, rainfall .75 of an inch.
M; . it
- St
Elliott Harwell
Cub Scout
recruiting
set Thursday
All boys in Griffin and Spalding
County, eight, nine and 10 years of age,
are invited to the Spalding County
Annual School Night for Cub Scouting
Thursday at7:3o p.m. in all elementary
schools.
Griffin Christian School and Griffin
Academy also are included.
Parents who would like their sons in
Cub Scouting were asked to accompany
them to the elementary school nearest
their home.
Volunteers will be on hand to meet
with and explain the program. Parents
may register their sons.
Businessman Elliott Harwell will
served as chairman. He is cubmaster
for Pack 3, Cub Scouts at Third Ward
Elementary School.
The following schools will par
ticipate: Atkinson, Beaverbrook,
Crescent, East Griffin, Fourth Ward,
Jackson Road, Moore, Orrs, Third
Ward, West Griffin, Griffin Christian
School and Griffin Academy.
Griffin Academy also will be
organizing a new pack Thursday, Sept.
22.
Any church, civic group, PTO, PTA,
school or group of interested citizens
desiring to organize a Cub Scout pack
for boys 8-10 or a Scout troop for boys,
ages 11 and older, may contact the Boy
Scout Office.
People
••• and things
Officer directing traffic around
wreck, using one hand to motion to cars
and the other for the ice cream he was
eating.
Employee driving car with “Super
Boss” sticker.
Umbrella that had seen its best days
getting soaked in trash can.
them all. The years tend to blend
together,” she says.
Yet, over the years, Mrs. Price says,
she has noticed some subtle changes in
her classes — the children are in
creasingly less disciplined, for
example.
Mrs. Price insists her chosen career
has had some very rewarding
moments.
“Having someone read just thrills
you to death. When you have reached
someone and they can read a word they
never knew before, those are the times
that mean the most to me.’’