Special to the Tribune

To mark national Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week (April 7-13), Dr. Tresha Grissom and Dr. Christine Hobbs presented a gift to Marshall County Animal Control Officers Jason Williams and Willard Cates.

"Jason and Willard have a very demanding job, both physically and mentally," said Grissom. "They perform a difficult, but necessary, service for our local community, and we want to take the time to let them know they are appreciated."

The National Animal Control Association stated, "This week of appreciation will finally give some recognition towards the hard-working men and women of Animal Control that risk their lives and spend huge amounts of personnel resources, including time away from family and friends, while serving the public like all the other public safety and law enforcement agencies.

"We mainly just want to show appreciation to the ACOs for all the hard work that they do and to help people understand the good they do for the community," Grissom said. "We hope that it helps to shine a positive light on the otherwise emotionally and physically draining job that they perform day to day. We want others to understand that what they do is necessary because of lack of responsibility in community to spay and neuter."