Lisa Gitersonke gets to know an eight-month old puppy named Eve that she later adopts Monday from Berrien County Animal Control. Leader photo/CRAIG HAUPERT

BERRIEN CENTER — The Gitersonke family planned on dropping off donations of dog food during the Berrien County Animal Control’s second annual Christmas Eve adoption event Monday.

They wound up picking a new member of the family.

“She’s a cute little thing,” said Lisa Gitersonke of her soon-to-be adopted puppy — an 8-month-old Chihuahua/miniature pincher mix named Eve.

“A puppy named Eve on Christmas Eve — boy, that’s appropriate,” said Lisa’s husband, Joe. “Were not going to change that name.”

The Gitersonkes adopted a puppy during last year’s Christmas Eve adoption event, too. It was just 6 weeks old at the time.

“I handed her to him (Joe) to put inside his coat and she fell asleep — that was it; we had to have her,” Lisa said.

“Now we can’t get her to fall asleep,” Joe said.

Back at their home in Benton Harbor, Lisa said they have three more dogs, a “small, medium and extra large” that all came from BCAC.

“They needed homes because nobody wanted them,” Lisa said.

The Gitersonkes also dropped off 200 pounds of dog food Monday.

“We gave 200 pounds last year, too,” Joe said. “It’s a good cause. They are desperate need of it with all the cuts and everything they’ve had.”

Carly Case, kennel technician for BCAC, said last year’s event raised enough donations to run the center for three months.

“It’s absolutely huge,” Case said. “The support we had from the community was fantastic.”

“They were parked literally on both sides of the street over both hills,” said BCAC Director, Val Grimes. “The parking lot was two deep.”

Grims said the BCAC is always in need of donations. The center is located at 9204 Huckleberry Rd., Berrien Center. Phone is (269) 471-7531.