I
remember the days (and I don’t mean they were necessarily the good old days)
when Animal Control Officers were called “dog catchers”. They had a
truck, picked up stray dogs, and did not try to help the dogs or reunite them
with their families. They instead took the animals to the “pound”, the
owners may or may not have been informed, and if the dog was not timely picked
up by the family, the dog was euthanized.
An Evolving Role
Animal
Control Officers’ roles have evolved quite a bit since that time and, in my
opinion, for the better. A “good” Animal Control Officer (ACO) will do
much more for a municipality than just keep stray animals off the
streets. An ACO can be a community relations officer for the municipality,
maybe even an educator, helping the community he or she serves understand their
obligations as pet owners – vaccination requirements, pet and kennel licensing
requirements, leash laws and the like. ACOs can help identify
community cat colonies, hoarding situations, and people in need of assistance
for the spaying and neutering of their pets.
Of
course, ACOs are also enforcement officers, and their positions are often
within the applicable police department. ACOs are not armed with guns, but they
do have the ability to request subpoenas and warrants working the District
Attorney’s office in their jurisdiction. ACOs can accompany police
officers on calls when animals are involved because ACOs are trained to deal
with animals in stressful situations.
Training in Maine and Beyond
In
Maine, ACOs must go through a four-day training program (about 4 to 5 hours of
training per day) and then are required to satisfy on-going continuing legal
education requirements. With the support of their municipality, some ACOs
will further their education by taking additional classes to enhance their
value to the community. Although this observation is mostly anecdotal, it seems
that there is a shortage of trained ACOs to fulfill the needs of Maine’s
municipalities. Positions are often part-time, with some ACOs being
spread thin because of having to serve multiple municipalities.
In The Neighborhood
Given
the current popularity of pets, my bet is that members in a community welcome a
well-informed, friendly ACO, ready to assist with helping them understand their
obligations as pet-guardians, but also looking to the ACO to be their eyes and
ears for cases of neglect, cruelty, and when other enforcement actions are
required.
Next
up – a discussion of the help available to municipalities to address community
cat colonies.
