Gaines enjoys working animal control for Selma Police Department
Published 3:14 pm Friday, November 30, 2018
- Wendell Gaines leaves the Dallas County Courthouse after voting in the June 5 Primary election. Absentee voting ends July 16. James Jones|Selma Times Journal
The last thing Windell Gaines expected was to work Animal Control for the Selma Police Department (SPD).
Four years ago, Gaines said his brother, then-Lt. Curtis Muhammad of the SPD, recommended he apply for the position. At that time, Gaines was working for Aspen Tree Service in Camden.
“My brother told me about the job and I knew I wasn’t afraid of snakes,” Gaines said. “He said it’d be a good job for me. I love animals and it’s a smooth job.”
Gaines said he had another career path growing up in Wilcox County, becoming an artist. He’s a 1989 graduate of from W.J. Jones High School, located in Pine Apple. He was born in Snow Hill, a town that was referenced in the 1989 movie “Do the Right Thing.”
“I never thought I’d be doing this,” Gaines said. “I took up art when I was younger.”
Gaines gives a detailed description of his duties.
“I help keep animals off the streets and pick up the dead ones off the street,” Gaines said. “We pick up the animals without tags and bring them to the animal shelter where their owners can pick them up. Some of the animals have chips in them and we have to scan them.”
Gaines has four children: Rico Gaines, 28, Eric Gaines, 27, Justin Smith, 25, and Jordan Allen, 17.
