Animal control officers struggle with heartbreaking jobs
If you think real animal control officers do not face the same issues as those portrayed on television, you would be wrong.
A white kitten with whiskers burned down to her face and singe marks on her nose ... a full-grown, mix-breed dog with a cloth collar embedded in his skin ... crawling under a house to capture a scared animal ... phone calls telling them they are nothing but murderers ...
Any one of these things can occur in a typical day for animal control officers.
They struggle daily with what to do with each dog or cat that comes in; they wonder if the adoptive home is a good one; they struggle, wondering what more they can do.
What do they do?
Care for all the animals surrendered ... clean throughout the day ... respond to animal complaints within the city ... issue citations for abused and neglected animals ... answer countless phone calls and questions ... adopt and euthanize animals ... house animals involved in court cases ... contact rescue groups to transfer animals ...
And the list goes on and on.
Jennifer Harris, animal services supervisor, said they recently received a complaint about a dog (apparently abandoned by his owners who moved) who was living under a house and creating a flea problem. They set live traps to catch the dog, but he would not cooperate. They finally had to tranquilize the dog to catch him. When they got close, they noticed a smell beyond what a normal stray dog should smell like. Upon closer examination, Harris realized the collar on the dog had never been loosened as the dog grew and was now embedded in the dog's skin. They would have to slowly remove the collar, shave the area and flush it daily with water and antiseptic. Since the dog was healthy in every other way and had a sweet temperament, Harris decided to give him time to heal and then put him up for adoption.
Zeek, as he is called at the shelter, is currently doing well but is still timid around people, especially children. He will be available for adoption soon.
"He is the sweetest, he walks in his cage and just prances and smiles," Harris said. "If I'm having a bad day, I just go in there and say 'Zeek,' and he'll jump, and he'll prance, and he'll smile."
Harris said this certainly is not the first dog they have found with an embedded collar.
"I wish we could save them all. I do," Harris said.
Harris said their priority is to enforce the city animal control ordinance and to encourage responsible animal ownership.
James Staves, the most recent addition to the animal control team, said an animal control officer's first concerns are the animals and the people.
"Our priorities are to protect the interest of all the animals within the city limits and the people," he said. "Protecting the interest and upholding the law regarding the animals (is what we do)."
Staves said he has difficulty when people label the officers.
"Whatever we are doing when people see us out there — we're just doing our job, and we're there to deal with animals. We get a bad rap a lot of the time. We're there as a direct result of the public and their responsibility and the things they haven't kept up with."
"My heart goes out to the staff because they work hard when they go out on calls," Harris said. "We get cursed out; people get mad. Police officers have told us they would never want our job because we're actually taking someone's 'best friend' away from them."
Misty Jenkins, who has been an officer for almost two years, struggles with people labeling her a murderer.
"No, I don't enjoy it (euthanizing animals), but I'd rather see them put to sleep than on the streets covered in mange and starving to death."
Putting down animals due to lack of space is hard on Jenkins, but she said euthanizing sick animals feels like she is giving them a release from pain.
"People don't understand that we don't enjoy killing anything. We hate it," Jenkins said.
"I have been called the warden of the death chamber," Harris said. "I laugh — because I have to laugh — but I don't want to be viewed as the warden of the death chamber.
"I think if the public would quit pointing fingers and realize where the responsibility lies, I would not be employed. That would be great. We wouldn't need to have animal control, because everyone would take care of their pets and get them altered."
Animal control officers go out on animal complaints daily. The calls range from reports of dog fights, to strays, to abuse, neglect or injury, to trapping wildlife.
"It's never a dull moment. It's pretty wild, but I like it," Staves said. "I like going on calls and catching animals. It is kind of fun."
"It has been a very interesting experience," Jenkins said. "I realized there are way, way more animals. I mean I couldn't imagine how many there were until I started working here."
What do they catch? Well, everything — dogs, cats, snakes, horses, ferrets ... even an iguana.
Staves said euthanasia is the hardest part of his job. Dealing with the pressure of euthanasia is one of the many concerns animal control officers face daily. Jenkins said she deals with it at home.
"I just suck it up (while on the job), but when I get home, I squall like a baby," Jenkins said. "I have to talk to my husband, and I drive him insane. That's all I talk about when I get home is my job. He deals with it, though"
Jenkins also said going home to her four cats, dog, two ferrets and a snake, all adopted from the shelter, takes away some of the pain.
"At least I know these are taken care of," she said.
Jenkins' most recent addition was a solid white kitten, with one blue eye and one green eye, brought into the shelter by a man who found him roaming near the SFA stadium.
"When I took him out of the box, I noticed that all his whiskers had been burned off, his nose was a little burnt, and his whole body was covered in some kind of cooking oil. So I don't know if they were starting with his whiskers and just going to finish him off and he got away, but as soon as I looked at his face I fell in love. He went home with me the next day."
Abuse of animals is another difficulty animal control officers face every day.
"When I see people abusing their animals, the first thing that hits me is: 'Do they have kids?'" Jenkins said. "How do they treat their kids?
Harris said the stress of the job is difficult to deal with, most of the time.
"I have to take everything in time," she said. "I have to sit back and realize why I'm here — and I'm here for the animals.
"Getting animals into a rescue (program) helps because I know I won't have to euthanize it."
The shelter coordinates with local rescue groups such as the local humane society to move animals into rescue programs.
"I would love for more people to realize that if you want (a pet), get it fixed (spayed or neutered). It is a little expensive, but it is a one-time thing. Once you spend that little chunk of money to get them spayed or neutered, it's over with."
Another piece of advice that Jenkins offers is to take your time picking out an animal before you adopt.
"There are so many people who adopt something and the next day bring it back. Make sure you are prepared, you have the money, you're ready for the animal. Plus, when you take it home, it's going to take more than a day for the animal to adjust. People don't understand that. It may take them a week to be fully comfortable."
On average this animal control facility euthanases 30 cats and 12 dogs daily.
The rest remain in the shelter in hopes of a positive outcome. The longer they wait, though, the more likely it is that the outcome won't be positive.
X-ed out: Who decides?
A selection committee of managers decides the fates of hundreds of animals every month. After receiving an "X" mark on their cage doors, which means they are marked for death, animals can still be reevaluated and moved off the death list. "We check and check again to be sure there is no interest in that animal," the customer service manager said. Managers make the ultimate decision to euthanize, to lessen the impact such decisions have on staff.
Factors the selection committee uses to decide which animals should be euthanized.
Deteriorating physical health - illness or injury (Diseases that carry a death sentence may surprise you: Ringworm and skin problems, such as mange, mean an automatic death warrant. Those conditions are difficult to treat and highly contagious.)
Cage space and overcrowding
Behavior problems, like biting, aggression towards people or other animals
Deteriorating mental health ("cage crazy")
What happens at ACC:
All personnel are certified by the Florida Animal Control Association. Florida State Statute 828.58 requires 16 hours of euthanasia training before any person can euthanize dogs and cats.
The ACC staff doesn't allow any animal to see another animal be euthanized. Also, once an animal has been euthanized, the body is removed from other animals' sight. This, staff says, lessens distress.
Animals are comforted and kept under observation until death is pronounced.
ACC uses sodium pentobarbital, the most humane means of euthanize unwanted animals.
Euthanasia is performed daily.
This duty is rotated weekly to prevent staff burnout.
1. Dogs marked for euthanasia by the committee are brought into Room 189, a 12-by-12-foot windowless room with a large walk-in freezer on one end. Counters and a sink line one wall and a medical table takes up a corner of the room.
Three staff members work together: One is the animal handler, one reviews the animal's profile and records the details of the procedure, the third administers the medication.
2. The dogs' tags are checked against the computer record for that animal. They verify they have the correct animal by its intake photograph. The three staff members review the information together and look for any last-minute changes that might postpone the euthanasia.
3. Dogs are scanned again for a microchip. Microchips can "travel" or migrate to other parts of the body so the whole animal is examined using a sensitive wand. Animals are scanned for a microchip at least a half a dozen times from the time they're admitted to ACC. The desired outcome is to return every dog to his home, if at all possible.
4. If nothing has changed, the staff proceeds. Throughout the procedure the staff offers comforting words, soothing and stroking the animal as much as possible. The dog handler holds the animal, carefully muzzling the dogs with its leash, if needed. The second staff member computes the amount of anesthetic needed, administering 1 cc per every 10 pounds of body weight, plus one extra cc, and draws the bright blue fluid into the syringe. Grasping the paw firmly, the staff member injects the medication into a vein in the leg. Aggressive or feral animals are often given a sedative prior to the injection so it can be done safely.
5. Ten to 15 seconds later, the animal slumps to the floor, unconscious. In some cases, it's the first time the dog's tail has stopped wagging.
6. The staff members wait for about 10 to 20 minutes for the heart to stop beating. Death is confirmed by the absence of a heartbeat.
7. The dead animals are placed in large garbage bags and moved to the incinerator waiting area.
8. The animal is cremated in a natural gas furnace that burns at 1,700 degrees.
The national numbers (US)
National euthanasia statistics are difficult to pin down because animal care and control agencies are not uniformly required to keep statistics. But the American Humane Association, one of the founding bodies of the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, gathered and analyzed data from 1,000 shelters in 1997.
2.7 million: Animals that are euthanized
71 percent: Cats euthanized
56 percent: Dogs euthanized
2 percent: Cats that are reunited with owners
15 percent: Dogs that are reunited with owners
24 percent: Cats adopted
25 percent: Dogs adopted
Source:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com
http://www.dailysentinel.com
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