Betsy Pratt makes it her mission to care for homeless and abused animals on a daily basis.

And size doesn't matter. The animals the manager of the Lincoln County Animal Shelter takes in come in all shapes and sizes, domestic and wild.

Take the incident of the baby black squirrel in Edgecomb last spring that seemed to have no fear of humans or dogs. A call was put in to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter and Pratt was there 10 minutes later with a small cage. She gently picked up the tiny squirrel, who nestled in her hand, and placed it in the cage.

Pratt said the little squirrel stayed at the shelter through last summer. At the beginning of September 2013, she performed what she called a “soft release,” leaving the cage open in a safe spot for a couple weeks, allowing the squirrel to come and go, until it felt safe enough to be on its own.

Pratt, who is from Boothbay, has been at the shelter for 30 years. She began by joining the board of directors when she was 17. When the new shelter was built, in 1987, she started working part time, and worked up to full time soon after.

Pratt's son and assistant, Ben Rand, has been working at the shelter for five years. Rand was there last Friday, Feb. 28, but had been out of work since Valentine's Day, when he lost the tips of two fingers down to the first knuckle in a snow blower mishap. He said the close working relationship with his mother makes for a “unique dynamic.”

“We agree and disagree, and she's quick to shut me down when she knows she's right,” Rand said. “It's been a good arrangement.”

Rand said all the dogs know him. “Before the injury, I was here every day, interacting with them, giving them love.” Rand's dog, Eve, an American bulldog, is part of the family team. She goes to work with him.

Pratt and Rand, who are also certified animal control officers, are on call 24/7. “We cover Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and sometimes Bath,” Rand said. Pratt's husband, David, a retired Waldoboro police officer, is also on call to help with animal control duties.

Pratt is also head of the Lincoln County CART (County Animal Response Team), a group of volunteers, including animal control officers and veterinarians, who help animals during crises and provide safe shelter for animals in need.

If that's not enough to make the rest of us feel like total slackers, Pratt is also a volunteer for the Boothbay Fire Department. She said the reason she became a volunteer was because there's always a chance of an animal being in a situation “like the one that just happened with the Marston family.”

She said they were called because there were animals involved. “But we were there to serve more than one purpose — for the animals and for the people.”

Asked if it was hard for her to see so many animals in need, Pratt was pragmatic. “If we weren't here the animals would have no food, no warm place to sleep and no interaction with people.” And she said a lot of the animals wouldn't know love. “This is what we do every day — we give these animals love.”

The main objective of the shelter is to find good homes for the animals. And Rand said that if the arrangement doesn't work out for one reason or another, the new owner agrees to return the pet to the shelter.

“We have an extensive application process,” he said. “All prospective pet owners have to be approved.”

But Rand said they don't get a lot of returns. “We've gotten so many into good homes, that's the reward.”

According to Pratt, this past year has been the best one in four years for finding forever homes for their shelter pets. “We're down to 40 cats and 16 dogs, and usually we're filled to capacity.”

“People and businesses in Lincoln County and elsewhere are so generous. People call from Massachussetts; someone called from Portland the other day and asked how much we needed for a particular dog to have surgery.”

When an animal is adopted shelter workers call it “going home.” On Friday, Feb. 28, two of the 14 dogs “went home.” Rio and Roxy, both 2-year-old mixed breeds, were adopted by families who will feed them, walk them, play with them, and most importantly, love them.

If you come across a baby squirrel, a lost dog, an injured bird, or any other animal in need, please call the Lincoln County Animal Shelter at 207-882-9677.