Editor’s note: The Dart is a weekly feature in which a reporter and a photographer throw a dart at a map and find a story where it lands.

VIDALIA — Monica Hennessy is not your average animal lover.

The Vidalia resident is one who would go to great lengths to provide them a home.

“I just always had a dog, always,” Hennessy said.

When The Dart landed on Wallace Circle in Vidalia Wednesday, Hennessy was caring for her five dogs and cats — her family.

Hennessy said she once had a dog-named Bear, who she carried from Alaska, Colorado, New York and back to Louisiana.

“That dog would have been with me my whole life before he passed away,” Hennessy said. “He was my best friend.”

Hennessy now has a backyard full of dogs, and may get more.

“When I see a stray dog, I pull over and try to ease up to them,” Hennessy said. “I’ll sit there and let them come to me, and once they favor me, I snatch them up really quickly.”

Depending on what time of day it is, Hennessy would either take the dog home, or to see a veterinarian.

“You see a dog out there — you see it starving and you don’t want to leave it out there to suffer,” Hennessy said. “If I take them in, they’re mine.”

Stray animals can’t fend for themselves, so Hennessy hopes to one day save as many animals as she can.

“If I were to win the lottery, I would buy a huge chunk of land and make a pet sanctuary for strays,” Hennessy said.

Hennessy said she appreciates animal shelters that take dogs in. However, after a certain amount of time, she knows they will be put to sleep.

“It’s not the dogs fault that no one cares for them,” Hennessy said.

Hennessy tears up when she sees the television commercials narrated by Sarah McLachlan that urge people to help animals in need.

“It hurts every time,” Hennessy said.

The office manager at H&R Block in Vidalia puts on a tough façade with people, but animals bring out the best in her.

“I can’t explain it,” Hennessy said. “Animals make me feel a certain type of way.”

Hennessy said she will continue to take in as many animals as she can.