We typically tend to be seen by the public as just "dog catchers", but in reality, there is a great deal more to it than that! In addition to the stray or vicious dogs that we deal with, a lot of animals that are at our shelter have been generally abused, beaten and left to go hungry, this is a practice that is inexcusable and totally unacceptable.
I am your Animal Control Officer. I am not the dreaded "dog-catcher" or the "murderer" that some people call me.
I'm not the one who allows pets to breed, then dumps the unwanted puppies and kittens on roadsides and in the shelters. I'm the one who must find the tiny animals before they die of starvation, exposure or disease and, sometimes as an act of mercy, exterminate them.
It hurts me to be forced to kill hundreds or thousands of animals each year, but because of peoples irresponsibility, I have no choice.
I'm not the one who abandons unwanted animals on the farm roads, telling myself some friendly farmer will surely take them in and give them a good home. But I am the one who picks up the frightened animal who waits in vain for it's beloved master, wondering why it has been abandoned. I am the one who must help that friendly farmer trap, tranquilize or kill that animal because it has begun to roam in packs with other abandoned hungry animals, killing livestock, fowl and game.
Don't you know all creatures have a survival instinct, we all will one way or another when our bellies are empty and bodies are weak.
I am not the one who breeds and fights dogs in the name of "sport". But I'm the one who fights the breeders and participants, and must pick up the dead and dying animals that have been left behind.
So, remember the next time a stray dog bites your child, your trash is dumped and scattered, your pet is lost, stolen, poisoned or hit by a car, that it is the Animal Control Officer you call not the "dog catcher".
If your pet is picked up, or you are cited for neglecting or abusing your pet, remember that I am only trying to get you to fulfill your responsibility to your pet, your neighbor, your community and yourself.
Do not scorn me, Respect me, for I am the product of peoples irresponsibility.
I love animals, I care and that is why, I am here.
