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Portfolio
Hey, Oprah, Gimme Shelter
Mayor Frank E. Willis brings Star and Major to work, and the two Labrador retrievers help guard the premises.City government in Florence has gone to the dogs.
If you cross paths with Mayor Frank E. Willis on any given day, chances are he’ll have his two yellow Labrador retrievers in tow.
“I’ve had them since they were born, and they’re brother and sister,” Willis says of his beloved pets, Major and Star. “I bring them to work with me every day. They have a fenced-in pen behind my office where they play and sleep.”
Major and Star serve as guard dogs for the mayor’s Willis Construction Co., which employs between 50 and 60 people.
The dogs have even played important roles in some civic causes.
“We’ve done a number of things with them, but the most public was when we had Star write Oprah Winfrey’s dog, Sophie, a letter asking if she’d help us get funding for a new animal shelter,” Willis says. “We didn’t hear from Oprah, but it was in the local media and brought funding for the animal shelter more publicity. It created a lot of interest – people would stop us on the street to ask if we had heard from Oprah yet.”
Florence’s existing animal shelter, operated by the Florence Area Humane Society, is outdated and overcrowded. “It’s just a little block building with no amenities, and it’s way over capacity,” Willis says. “It doesn’t allow us to take care of animals like we should.”
The Humane Society has raised several thousand dollars toward the new shelter, and architectural drawings are in the works. Willis says the city hopes to have the new facility built – with the community’s help – in 2008.
“A lot of people in Florence have cats and dogs and love animals, and we have a very active Humane Society,” he says. “Florence is an animal-friendly place.”
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Ian Curcio
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