Do you know what Animal Control does every day?
Working in the veterinary field for nearly 15 years I thought I had a pretty good idea.
Riding around town with Officer Quinn shed light on many more responsibilities.
While patrolling the city and responding to dispatch calls I peppered Officer Quinn with my usual curiosity. Here are some cool things I learned.
Did you know the Animal Control team came up with the Call of Doody-Brown Ops campaign? There are posters in veterinary offices, signs on trails, and even this cute video. As the video says, “An ounce of pet waste is home to about 23 million unhealthy bacteria.” Ew. Please answer the call of Doody.
My daughter once found an opossum hanging out in her garbage can, what a fright first thing in the morning! So, what about wild animals? The quick answer is “anything smaller than a coyote.” If it’s bigger then the call is passed on to another agency better equipped to handle it. It could be a national parks ranger or the state wildlife agency.
Are we on our own after hours? Our dedicated Animal Control officers are ready to help you 24 hours a day! Dispatch and trucks are manned from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Night hours are covered by the on-call officer. That’s service!
As most people know Animal Control enforces state and local animal laws and ordinances.
We spent part of the morning patrolling local parks. For everyone’s safety please keep your dog on a leash! From my personal experience not everyone at a park or on a trail is comfortable around dogs, no matter how nice your dog is.
Recent harsh winter weather can be dangerous for your pets. Gates can blow open letting curious noses sniff their way into the unknown. Animal Control officers will help find your pet’s way home. While on my ride-along a concerned citizen spied a little pug wandering around her neighborhood. She questioned the neighbors but couldn’t find her home. Upon arrival we immediately scanned her for a microchip and quickly checked her over all health. No microchip registered so we loaded her in the warm truck to take back to the humane society.
We checked-in on a woman who had been bitten by a dog while walking a local popular trail. She described the dog and the location so our next stop we patrolled that area in the hopes of finding the dog. Scanning the area for a while we decided to head to the next stop. Officer Quinn marked the trail with the dispatch crew and will patrol that area twice a day for the next two weeks.
Office Quinn warned me that our patrol would be pretty quiet with such cold winter weather.
Warm summer months find everyone and their dog outside enjoying our great state. That is when Animal Control receives the most calls. Active animals tend to wander off or get injured. Visitors may not know local ordinances. Small wildlife are out and about too and may need medical or safety intervention.
So my next ride-along adventure will be late spring, right before the busy time.
All of the staff were very welcoming to me. They are a fun crew who are serious about the humane treatment of our companion and wild animal population.
I look forward to volunteering and learning even more. If you want to know more about how Animal Control serves our community check out their webpage here.