(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Columbia-Marion County Animal Shelter supervisor, Columbia animal control officer and dispatcher Amanda Bennett.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Pensacola, Fla., on Dec. 4, 1987.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to Pensacola High School until my tenth-grade year, then I moved here and went straight to Pearl River Community College.
Q: Where all have you lived?
A: Pensacola and Columbia.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I am the Columbia-Marion County Animal Shelter supervisor, and I’m also the animal control officer for the city of Columbia and in some instances for the county. I supervise inmate workers, they clean kennels for me. They do all the kennel cleaning, walking the dogs, giving them medicine and things like that. They all have their own jobs that they have responsibility for. I manage the office area, handling intakes, adoptions, appointments and answer the phone. Anytime I get an animal control call in city limits, it’s stray pickups and helping injured animals. For the county, the only time I take calls for the county is if there has been a bite or abuse situation. I do home checks, take the animals to the vet when needed and I do fundraisers and all of the events on the weekends. Anything that has to do with the shelter goes through me. I work part-time for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Columbia Police Department as a dispatcher, and also at the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: I always knew I wanted to work with animals since I was a child. I couldn’t tell you how many animals I’ve had in my life because I’ve picked up everything and brought it home when I was a kid. If there was an animal that needed help, I brought it home. I kind of just fell into it, though. I saw that there was an opening for a part-timer, and I spoke with the chief at that time, Clint McMurry, and he got me an interview. I was really glad to get hired on then and when the animal control officer could no longer be here, I took over.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: My favorite part is animal control. There’s two sides to the job — there’s the shelter and then there’s animal control. I like being able to help the ones that are being abused, neglected or just stray, and I like being able to see their progress, rehabilitation and their adoption. I love the beginning to end process and seeing them go to happy homes when I removed them from a not so happy home. There’s a lot of people where you can see an animal isn’t being taken care of when you come across and as a civilian, you don’t have the capacity to physically take the dog. I like being able to enforce the laws and ensure myself the animal is going to be taken care of.
Q: What was your first job?
A: My first job was working in the mail room at The Columbian-Progress.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: My momma, Donna Bishop, because she raised me as a single mother pretty much with my sibling, and she always made sure we had everything we needed. We didn’t come from much, but we never went without. She made sure, before anything else, that her kids were taken care of and also that our animals were taken care because she’s also a huge animal lover. I got her soft-heartedness for animals. She’s always gone above and beyond for everything and everyone. She’s always been there and been my best friend.
Q: What is your spouse’s name? What does he do for a living?
A: Scott Bennett, and he’s a firefighter for the Columbia Fire Department.
Q: Do you have any children?
A: We have three fur babies. That’s what we call our children. We prefer animal babies. We have three little girls, Sugar, Shortcake and Gingerbread.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: I like Asian food in general, so something Chinese.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: Ireland because it just looks beautiful. I have Irish on my dad’s side and I think it would be very nice.
Q: What hobbies/activities do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I don’t really get a lot of it with all of my jobs, and I honestly spend a lot of my spare time at the shelter. I’m such a control freak about this place, it’s my baby, so I want to make sure everything is still OK. As far as hobbies, I love to sleep. Also, I just joined a burlesque group in Hattiesburg and I love it so much. I love to dance with them.
Q: What do you enjoy most about living and working in Columbia?
A: I like that it is quiet for the most part. Where I grew up in Pensacola, it was definitely not quiet in the inner city and I was kind of a nervous child because of people and crime with break-ins and things like that. I like that it’s a slower pace here and you kind of get to know people. As far as the shelter goes, I know people’s animal history a lot of the time and it’s easier because it’s a smaller community to know this person is going to be a good adopter or this person probably isn’t. The community itself, because it’s a tighter-knit community, they are very helpful with donations and care about their local shelter.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: I’d love to have lunch with my grandparents, Justine and Doyle Oglesbee, one more time. I’d love to see them again because other than my mom, they were the biggest influence on my life. They showed me what actual love is. I got a lot of the animal love from my grandma, too. Everybody in the neighborhood growing up would bring their injured animals to her. A lot of me came from my grandparents.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I’d like to be remembered as making a difference for Marion County’s animals. I’d like to be remembered as someone who cared about the outcome of the animals that were brought into the shelter, who cared about the welfare about Marion County’s animals and someone that actually took action towards ensuring their welfare.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
A: Moving to Columbia in 2004 was the biggest change in my life. It definitely was a culture shock and change of pace, but I wouldn’t want to do this job anywhere else.
Q: Would you rather read a good book or watch a good movie?
A: I would rather read books. Books are always more detailed than a movie. Movies are over in two hours. With books, you get lost in them and kind of escape to that place for a little while.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: Amanda Bennett serves as the Columbia-Marion County Animal Shelter supervisor, Columbia animal control officer and as a dispatcher for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Columbia Police Department and Lamar County Sheriff’s Office. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
