06/04/2026
North Mississippi Animal Care and Control Association – Plantersville Update 🐾
You hear a lot about cities in Lee County dealing with stray dogs or animals running at large. Back in 2021, the City of Plantersville recognized the need for change and took the step to establish a formal, structured animal control program 🐕🏙️.
Like many communities across Lee County, there was no certified animal control system in place at the time. Calls were often handled by individuals not trained or certified in animal control, or by police and public works doing their best with limited resources 🚓👷♂️. There was no consistent, organized approach to enforcement, education, or animal welfare.
Since then, North Mississippi Animal Care and Control Association has worked alongside the city to help build a real system from the ground up 🛠️.
That effort has included:
• Holding accountability when city ordinances were not being followed ⚖️
• Educating the public on local ordinances and Mississippi state animal laws 📚
• Partnering with Tupelo-Lee Humane Society when veterinary services and support were available 🏥🐶
• Helping coordinate free vaccine and outreach days for the community 💉🐾
• Developing and implementing a long-overdue dog registration program, updating records that dated back to the 1980s 📋🐕
That registration program has been a major step forward—helping reunite roaming dogs with their families more quickly and ensuring truly stray animals can be properly identified and entered into the shelter system 🏠🐾.
In 2023, through the continued work and efforts of our organization in support of the City of Plantersville, we were proud to help bring home the Mississippi Municipal League Public Safety Award for cities under 10,000 population 🏆. Our Chief, Jason Lessel, was honored to receive this award on behalf of the work being done through North Mississippi Animal Care and Control Association for the town.
Today, Plantersville continues to show measurable improvement in animal control issues, with a noticeable reduction in stray and free-roaming dogs compared to prior years 📉🐕.
This is what building a structured, accountable animal control program looks like—community education, enforcement, partnerships, and consistency 💪🐾.
We are also willing and ready to work with every city in Lee County to help achieve these same results and continue improving animal welfare across our entire region 🤝🐾
