DOWAGIAC — The best part of Jennifer Davis’ day is seeing the different animals that are brought into the store in which she works and getting to interact with them.

“There are always dogs and puppies that come in,” she said. “I love animals. I have horses and chickens and all sorts myself.”

Davis is a team lead at Tractor Supply Company, located at 56418 Pokagon St., Dowagiac. Recently, her workplace allowed her to get even more involved with local animals.

Last week, TSC donated 41 bags of dog and cat food to Cass County Animal Control in order to help care for the animals in the shelter’s care. Animal Control officials said the food donated by TSC will feed the shelter animals for several weeks.

“We gave a big mix of different types of food,” Davis said. “It’s always good to help out in the community and with the shelter. There’s a lot of animals in need.”

Since transferring to the Dowagiac store from Paw Paw last year, donating the food to the animal shelter is one of the first community service projects she has done within Cass County through TSC. She called the experience “awesome,” adding that her ties to Cass County have made her more excited to participate in projects like this one.

“I live in Decatur, but my children go here to Dowagiac schools. … I grew up here and am a Class of ‘96 Dowagiac graduate,” she said. “I’m happy to give back.”

More than just her own personal enjoyment of giving back, Davis said that the donation will benefit TSC by showing its customers that the store is dedicated to the community.

“It’s important to stay involved in the community no matter who you are, but being a bigger corporation, it’s more important,” she said. “We want to get the TSC name out there and show that we support the community in more than one way. We aren’t just here. We are here for the community, too. It’s just good community service. We want to be involved in the community and show that we care.”

Cass County Animal Control Director Ron Butts said the shelter was grateful for TSC’s donation.

“Donations like this really help the dogs and cats at the shelter,” he said. “Local businesses and people who support causes like the shelter are great. Here, [in Cass County] we are fortunate to have a lot of those types of businesses that help promote our cause.”

Davis said she hopes to be involved with more community service through TSC, and said the store is currently looking into donations for the Cass County Fair and the school system.

“This [donation] makes me very proud of my job,” she said. “I hope to do more.”