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Warren County Animal Control looking to change name
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County Commissioner Linda Jones was involved in her first committee meeting Monday. The meeting was held at Warren County Animal Control rather than the administrative building. Under consideration is renaming the facility to Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Center because the majority of animals taken into the facility in 2015 were adopted or rescued.
Lisa Hobbs
Updated: Jan 13, 2016, 12:03 AM
Published: Jan 13, 2016, 1:04 AM

Warren County Animal Control could be looking at a name change to include the fact its focus now includes saving animals.
Animal Control director Kim Pettrey would like to rename the facility Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Center. The suggestion was made during the county Health and Welfare Committee on Monday before members Michael Martin, chair, Linda Jones, Teddy Boyd, Tommy Savage and Blaine Wilcher.
Wilcher says Pettrey and her staff have worked hard to increase the number of animals being adopted and rescued and reduce the number of animals being euthanized and he supports the name change.
“I pulled the numbers from last year,” said Wilcher. “Of the 856 animals taken into the facility in 2015, 710 of those were adopted out or sent to rescue groups. That’s 83 percent. Only 51 animals were euthanized. Kim and her staff have worked hard and I think we should rename the facility to better fit what they do here. I think we should rename it Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Center.”
Of the 51 animals euthanized, 11 of those were due to an outbreak of distemper. The facility was closed for one month, from September to October, in an effort to stem the spread of the disease.
Pettrey says the new name will help change public perception and make more people aware they are an adoption center.
“In the three years I’ve been here, the numbers have changed dramatically, from almost euthanizing everything that came in here, to almost everything that comes in here now gets a home,” Pettrey said. “It either gets a home through rescue or through adoption. That needs to be made clear to the public because I get probably five to six calls a week with people saying, ‘Is this where I call to adopt an animal?’ People just don’t know we do adopt out animals.”
In the last month of 2015, the facility picked up 78 dogs, returned one to its owner, 11 dogs were adopted, 32 dogs went to rescues, and two dogs held for quarantine have since been returned to their owner. The facility ended the month of December with 50 dogs.
That same month, 15 cats were delivered to the facility. Twelve cats were adopted, six cats were sent to rescues, six cats died of natural causes and four cats were euthanized by a veterinarian. The facility ended the month of December with 31 cats.
The measure will be sent to County Executive Herschel Wells for his consideration with the county’s legal counsel. Renaming will require a resolution and full Warren County Commission approval.
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community