Berrien County Animal Control’s second annual “Carols for Canines and Cats” on Christmas Eve contributed an estimated ton of food and found new homes for two dogs and six cats, Director Valarie Grimes said Wednesday.

“We were packed. It was wonderful,” said Grimes, in her 14th year with the Berrien Center shelter, 9204 Huckleberry Rd., after coming from Cass County.

“I could never have come here first” without experience gained in Cassopolis, she said.

With a budget that has been shrinking for seven years while the weak economy left her department “swamped” with animals, Grimes’ wish list for the four-hour event was extensive.

Alongside the usual dry and canned dog and puppy and cat and kitten food, bleach, Dawn dish soap, liquid laundry detergent, brooms, towels, blankets, scrub brushes, collars and pet toys were hay and grain.

“People would be amazed” at farm critters which show up at her door, including chickens, rabbits and pigs.

Pigs? Grimes said people purchase cute pot-bellied piglets for pets, but when they grow up, “A pig is still a pig.”