Wednesday was a busy day at the Vicksburg Animal Shelter.

Six of the shelter’s pets found new homes including one who has been living at the shelter since October.

“It is awesome,” city of Vicksburg Animal Control Director Kacie Lindsey said. “It is amazing. I love it when they find people that give them a second chance.”

The day full of adoptions was just the latest success since Lindsey took over as the director of the shelter in November. When she was hired it marked the first time since 2014 the city had a full-time animal control director and in her first few months as director, Lindsey has worked to improve a facility that had received considerable criticism from the community. She has also worked to get more animals adopted from the facility.

“We have a washer and dryer now so we can wash towels and blankets, cleaning up the place, getting the animals out there on social media to get them adopted and trying to get the best pictures I can and sharing them on Facebook,” Lindsey said.

Wednesday continued that success and followed up a three-day period in December that saw 11 animals find new homes.

“Three days after Christmas, we adopted out 11 animals in three days,” Lindsey said. “I was winging it on my own. That was the first time I was completely by myself in the office and we were kicking butt that entire three days.”

Stepping in as the director, Lindsey said her biggest worry was the criticism that had plagued the shelter in recent years. Her fears have proved to unfounded thus far as she has seen a positive response to the changes she has made.

“I was really worried about that, but so far it seems to be going pretty smoothly,” Lindsey said. “I haven’t had anybody tell me I was doing a horrible job yet. I actually have had a lot of compliments so lets hope it stays that way.”

Lindsey said four volunteers assist the staff at the shelter and they have been very appreciative of the changes that have been made.

“They are loving it,” Lindsey said. “They thank me every day and I thank them every time they come in. They have seen big changes.”

Her work is far from complete though. Her goals for 2018 include continuing to help pets get adopted and working with the Board of Mayor of Aldermen on plans to add an expansion to the shelter.

“We weren’t able to wash anything that we use because we had no washer and dryer,” Lindsey said. “We are working on getting the building painted and some updates done and we are also working on getting an addition added on for some more dog runs and an adoption room. We are in the process of trying to do that.”

To help with adoptions, the board voted Wednesday to change the hours of the shelter to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on the first Saturday of each month.

“Tremendous progress,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said of the changes since November. “I am hearing a lot of positives about the adoptions and she is changing her hours where she can be more accommodating to the public. She’s made some great recommendations and I think her passion and her work ethic are unbelievable.”

In her role as Animal Control Director, Lindsey said she is also working to enforce the city’s animal ordinances.

“Making sure they have rabies vaccine, no dogs running off the leash, making sure they have food, shelter and water,” she said. “When it got really cold last week and before we had a lot of calls people saying they were outside. We had to make sure they had food, water and they did have shelter to get out of the cold.”

Pets available for adoption from the shelter can be found at www.facebook.com/cityofvicksburganimalshelter.