ROSEBURG, Ore. – Casey Thorp knows all about getting down anddirty. Not as marketing director of Cascade Community Credit Union,but in her other incarnation as a livestock brand inspector for theOregon Department of Agriculture. She's juggled the dual life forfour years. “I'd ship cattle from 5 in the morning until noon, thenrun home and get the cow smell off me,” she said. “Then I'd comeinto the (credit union) office in my heels and suit from 1 p.m.until 6 p.m.” Thorp, who graduated with an agriculture degree fromthe University of California at Davis, said she missed working withlivestock when she moved to Oregon. “I wasn't getting any horseriding or any poop exposure,” she said. “I was dying to get alivestock fix and I just wasn't getting dirty enough.” So sheapplied for and landed a job as a livestock brand inspector withthe state, moonlighting during the summer cattle shipping seasonand then on weekends at the local livestock yard. Thorp explainedthat whenever cattle are sold or shipped to feedlots, or horsesleave the state for a show or to race, a brand inspection isrequired. A brand, which has to be registered with the state,identifies the owner of the animal. Thorp said her many of thecattle producers she came in contact with were also members of thecredit union. They often had a difficult time placing her when shefirst showed up. “I guess it was hard to recognize me in a baseballcap, Carhart jeans, covered in cow manure,” she said. But ever themarketing person, Thorp often would ask them about the creditunion's promotional materials which she crafted. Thorp recentlytook a hiatus from her livestock work – although she remains oncall with the state – to spend more time with her family. She saidshe eventually intends to return to livestock brand inspection workwhile still working at the credit union. Thorp said her livestockwork may have helped get things moving along at the president'soffice at the credit union. “The joke is I'm going to bring mycattle prod in and electrify him if he doesn't do the things thatare on his list of things to do,” she laughed. “That's always agood incentive not to get shocked.” – [email protected]