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Last week was both National Animal Control Officer’s Week & National Dog Bite Prevention Week® and THIS week (and every week honestly) we want to honor our Animal Control Officers (ACO)!
We ask everyone to thank and acknowledge the important job our ACO’s do for our communities. Here in Elmore County, we have ACO’s for the County (also covers Elmore Township, Coosada, Eclectic), Wetumpka, Millbrook & Tallassee. These officers are dedicated to enforcing state and local animal related laws, helping animals in need, protecting the health and safety of people, and resolving issues involving animals. ACOs are important to public safety as they interact with people and animals alike, often in risky situations involving injured, scared or aggressive animals.
Animal Control Officers today deal with far more than just stray dogs as they respond to animal bite/attack cases, mediate disputes between neighbors over animal issues, round up loose livestock that have gotten out of pastures, investigate animal cruelty and neglect cases, help injured animals get to care, work with other law enforcement when animals are involved in larger criminal cases, etc. All areas of Elmore County have a containment law for dogs and Wetumpka & Tallassee add to that with a “leash law” for cats. City noise ordinances and barking dogs often present challenges and some towns have limits on the number of pets in city zoning ordinances. And some, but not all of our cities restrict livestock within city limits.
All of the above mean that ACOs must have a working knowledge of a myriad of laws, when they apply and when they do not depending on jurisdiction. They have to develop skills at animal handling as, very often, the animal needing help is scared, perhaps vicious or injured. And besides focusing on animal in distress, they often also have to deal with a bit too much help from us humans who might be actually making the situation more difficult.
Our Animal Control Officers are dedicated professionals who deserve respect from the public they serve – some have attended specialized animal control training at the state and national level to learn about things like safe capture techniques, animal identification, disease issues, legal issues, investigative techniques, court proceedings, rabies control, public education, wildlife and exotics, and so much more. Animal issues often put them in harm’s way from both animals and people and their call volume often means they have to triage cases to deal with the most serious, or potentially serious, the quickest. So please understand that their call volume often greatly exceeds their ability to get to some calls immediately.
In recognition of the challenging work they do, please thank all of our Animal Control Officers as they work to help animals and people alike.
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