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Thanks to Rachael Stinnett, animal control officer

On Friday, Sept. 20, just as dark was beginning to settle over the area, a neighbor in a Nicholasville neighborhood witnessed an animal abandonment.
A male subject driving a black sedan pulled into the dead-end street and dumped off two frightened young dogs.
The dogs were dazed as they each yelped while scrambling to find a hiding place. One ran to a backyard grove of thick evergreens and hid far back under the sticky mass of pine branches, close to the tree’s trunk. The other terrified dog ran to a small rocky-banked creek bed and wedged himself far back into the creek’s drain pipe, which magnified his petrified cries for help.
The neighbor who witnessed this called the local police department who then contacted animal control. Once on scene, each department worked as a well-trained unit to ensure these abandoned dogs were no longer out there, scared and alone.
Rachael Stinnett, local animal control officer, was the hero of the night.
Without hesitation, she crawled on hands and knees into the sticky, low-lying pine branches and with as much stealth and steel as a brain surgeon, stuck her hand into the mouth of the shaking, screaming dog. She then gently pulled him out to safety. Stinnett never lost her balance or her determination to complete the rescue as she, like a well-trained soldier for battle, maneuvered from under the pine branches still gently carrying her bundle of canine.
Once that dog was secure, Stinnett went for the one who was now wedged tight, far back in the drain pipe, which continued to magnify his torturous cries.
Without concern for her own safety, Stinnett walked down the rocky embankment, and with the stealth of a navy seal, she crawled several feet into that drain pipe and rescued the petrified dog with the same tenacity she displayed while rescuing the first animal. Stinnett managed to crawl back to the entrance of the drain pipe where she took the outstretched hand of a police officer and then ascended the rocky hillside, still carrying her catch in her arms as she climbed. Just as the first one quieted from Stinnett’s calm, caring demeanor, this dog also quieted as Stinnett gently carried him to safety.
The Nicholasville Police Department were there with flashlights, helping to locate the dogs, and they stood guard on perimeter, making sure the dog Stinnett was after did not run off, or out of reach. They too were our local heroes as they stood to assist Rachael who rescued two abandoned terror-filled dogs.
We, the neighbors, were thankful the dogs got the care they needed and we didn’t have to continue to endure the cries of animals who were too afraid to allow humans to come near.
Thank you Rachael Stinnett! Thank you Nicholasville Police Department!
You are our local heroes.

Tammy Fenster
Nicholasville