When she announced her retirement on Facebook, the comments were flooded with messages of support, messages with thanks, and many, many photos of pets that have been adopted over the years from the Newtown Animal Shelter. Carolee Mason stepped down as Newtown’s Municipal Animal Control Officer a few weeks ago after completing 20 years of service.

Mason can only be described as a woman who loves her job, loves working with animals, and has done it with her whole heart. She described the position as “very interesting,” and that’s because it was.

Mason has gone out in the middle of the night to save deer, owls, and more, once even shutting down traffic on I-84 to rescue a fawn that wouldn’t leave its mother’s side after she had been struck and killed by a car.

She detailed a story about a skunk. “I remember a guy calling me up, he was on his way to New York … he said that he had a skunk in his pool swimming. The skunk was probably swimming for about three hours in his pool … So I went there and I got him, and the skunk was exhausted.”

Mason’s other experiences with skunks do include being sprayed, once even in the face after rescuing it from a soccer net.

Mason said that her job “was a little unique,” and that she “did everything.” She was willing to go out and rescue animals in the middle of the night, even venturing out to neighboring towns to save blue herons or bobcats.

“The kind of Animal Control I am, I just pick it up and just do it.” She detailed a story about a bobcat with a broken femur. “I took it to Wildlife in Crisis, and they had it for three weeks in a confined area. They called me up and released it right where it was. It had a limp, but it was fine … They were going to euthanize it right then and there … It’s a fine line [between] euthanize them or you could get them help.”

She even told The Bee about five horses that had escaped from a farm and were running up and down Platts Hill Road, and a horse that she helped capture that was running up and down Main Street — something that people would only see in a movie, unless they work in Animal Control.

The Newtown Animal Shelter is a “legit no-kill shelter,” as Mason put it, and she explained that she took dogs from other shelters to live here in Newtown. Mason said that a lot of city shelters, such as Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven, can have up to 40 dogs at a time.

Due to Mason’s kind-hearted nature, she helped as many as she could. Mason kept dogs in the Newtown shelter for 10-plus years, taking care of them and ensuring their comfort every day when she went into work.

She told a story about an Akita dog, Misty, who only had three legs. “We had her leg taken off. She was attacked from either a bear or a bobcat … Misty is another story that the guy took her to Newtown Veterinarian, was gonna have her euthanized. The girl at the vet called me up and said, ‘Carolee do you want this dog?’”

“I went there,” Mason continued. “I saw this poor Akita with the leg bandaged up. I took her to Mount Pleasant Animal Hospital and I asked if they could fix her. They looked at her leg and said, ‘No, we have to take the leg off.’ They took her leg off, put her through anesthesia, meanwhile, she was pregnant at the time.”

“We had 10 puppies. I slept at the dog pound for two days, on the floor of the shelter … she had [9-10] puppies and three legs,” Mason said with pride.

She said about Misty and her job in general, “It’s not always the law, it’s the heart.” She shared that the Animal Control officers she works with “know the compassion comes first.”

Her favorite part of the job, as surprising as it might be, was taking in surrendered animals. “When people came in to give them up, they were so depressed. Just giving them comfort, not just throwing them in the kennels, but putting them in the office, spending time with them, I think it was the best. The best part of my job was helping the animals.”

Mason said that she isn’t stepping away from Newtown Animal Shelter entirely. She will still help around the shelter as a part-time employee, and is planning to adopt Poppy, a Jack Russell that has been at the shelter for a long time. She said she doesn’t care how much he may misbehave, she is willing to be patient and put in the work to care for him (and he is a very good dog).

She said that “animals are just so innocent … they’re not born with hate in them.” Mason added that she is so grateful for the support of the town and police officers she received to continue helping these innocent animals.

“It was the best job I could have ever asked for,” Mason said. “I’m honored.”

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.