It was bound to happen…

Yes, I’m in love with the little girl kitten I’m holding! She’s about 2 months old and so cute (in a weird way, she has some cool spots). She reminds me of a cow so I thought of naming her Bessie, but nothing permanent yet… She came in with 5 brothers and sisters and now it’s just down to her and her brother. I know that if it becomes just her that it is going to tug at my heart strings. And mom, Apryl already said she’d take care of her when I come back to San Diego :) We’ll see what happens, I’m trying to be good!
Okay, on to other things! It’s been kinda mellow lately, but I did get a truck assigned to me this week! So now I don’t have to drive my car much at all, but its weird having to drive myself into work. I’ve gotten so used to getting rides! On another note my training is continuing to go well. I’ve had to drive and map out our calls. I’ve also become more involved with the calls rather than just sitting back observing. Today my trainer just hung out in the truck while I handled a couple barking complaints. I think I did pretty well. I’m not sure when I will be out on my own, but I know there is still more to learn! Today I also had to watch the euthanasia videos, which was the precursor to having to actually do it myself. I have been okay watching others do the euthanasia and bagging the animals, but today I realized it’s going to be a whole other story when I have to do it. I have sedated a cat, but I knew it would wake back up. I’m sure I will be fine, but I can’t deny that it’s a little unsettling.
Also, animal control has another article in the local paper. I’m not featured, but just in case you are interested in some of the things that the shelter is doing. We were actually able to do this voucher program due to a $1000.00 donation made right after I started: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19511581&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=222087&rfi=6

Too many animals...and some cute puppies!

Goodness! Where to start? First of all, the two puppies that were brought in are still alive!! One of the kennel techs took them home and is fostering them! Here is a picture of me feeding the little boy Spanky, the girl is Sparkle! I even had to burp him! That was definitely the highlight of my day! Because hours after that I was inside a trailer filled with trash and dog poop… Yuck! We brought in 36 dogs and 1 cat. Some of the dogs were full sized Great Danes. There were some puppies too, but that’s a lot of dogs in one place. Of course, a couple of them lived under the trailer as well. Then today we went to a house with 23 dogs, but they were much more willing to give up the dogs and all these dogs lived outside. I didn’t see the inside of the trailer, but I’m sure that it was much more livable than the trailer previously mentioned. That couple learned a valuable lesson in spaying and neutering the strays that they like to take in. And for more places with lots of animals, I went out to a trailer with my supervisor (her second trip out there) and we caught 17 cats in a matter of a couple hours using traps. We probably could have caught more, but it was getting close to the time for me to off work. I guess this place had approximately 40 cats left in the abandoned trailer before we started coming out. Inside there were litter boxes filled to the brim and spilling over the sides as well as flies and other messes all over the house. No more dead animals thank goodness, but I do believe that one is on the agenda for tomorrow. It’s a call that we didn’t make it to today so it will be nice and ripe for tomorrow! Hopefully it doesn’t smell like the sheep that one of the ladies brought in this morning! She had picked it up this weekend and had it had been in her truck. As I walked up to her truck so she could give me a ride to work I jokingly asked if she had a dead dog with her (the smell gave it away). She replied, “No…just a dead sheep!” Not our usual agenda, but some people from out of town had found a severely injured sheep and the Wildlife and Game Department doesn’t work on weekends. Just another way we serve the community I suppose, Ha ha!
Also, I know many of you have already recieved this, but National Animal Control Appreciation Week was last week and we had an article put in one of the local papers. Here is a link to the story (including a picture): www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19493646

A success story!

I began my Monday morning at the shelter by going into the kennels to say hi to little Tiki and her Chihuahua friend. When I looked in the kennel there was the Chihuahua, but where was Tiki? My stomach dropped. I searched the vet room and another room that sometimes animals are in. Nothing. Where could she be? What happened to her? I asked some of the other officers and one of the kennel techs that were there over the weekend, but no one knew anything. Ahhh! Then one of the officers comes in and states that another officer is going out to the landfill. What? Did they put animals to sleep on a Monday (normally Tues-Thurs only)? No, turns out they just had to empty the freezer. So what happened to this dog? Finally I asked one of the front office staff and she said that she had been picked up by a rescue on Saturday!!! What wonderful news! I was soo happy to find that out! Then the remainder of my Monday and most of today were spent learning how to work in the front office and see how they take in animals, do adoptions, and connect with the public. I learned a lot about policies from taking phone calls and also learned how to navigate the computer system that we use. Today I got to leave the office a few hours early as the officer I carpooled with had some calls to do on the way home. After one non-eventful call, we decided to help out another officer pick up a deceased dog on the road. It was a large German Sheppard (from what I could tell). Just and FYI, I would not continue reading until after the picture of the kitties, unless you have a strong stomach, this was gross! The dog had been sitting there on the side of the road since this weekend. From a distance it looked like it had thrown up or had it’s tongue sticking out. No, on closer inspection it was a swarm of maggots in his mouth. Ewww, not to mention the intestines that were laid out behind him and the horrible smell that emitted from the carcass. As we were pulling the dog into the bag (with gloves) I tried grabbing the back of the dog to pull in. As I grabbed my finger went in to where his muscle and bone was. I thought I was grabbing where there was hair, but there was some muscle exposed. Then the clump of hair came off in my hand. Slowly, between breaks for fresh air, we worked the dog into the bag and I had to grab the loose intestines to throw in the bag with it. The sad part is that during all of this, the 2 girls and I could only laugh. I felt bad, but it was all I could do, got to make the best of the situation, right?

So then to continue my adventures for the day we responded to a barking complaint. Well I will keep this short and sweet, but there was a very strong difference in opinion among neighbors and the Sheriff’s office was requested to come out and handle the dispute. It was the first time for both the officer I was with as well as me to have the Sheriff’s be called out by us. Of course, this is the same day that she had told me on the drive in to work that she had never had to call them out before. Talk about forgetting to knock on wood!

Okay, now the explanation of the kittens. I was kind of naïve when I asked someone to take this picture, just thinking of how cute, fluffy, and little they were, but realized later that without a nursing mommy, they had no chance of survival with us…they, unfortunately, were put to sleep a few hours later. So here is my message again: Please spay or neuter your pets so that they don’t make unwanted babies that wind up in the shelter that I think are so cute and adorable and then have to find out that they are put to sleep. Unfortunately I have a feeling that these two brand new puppies (don't even have any teeth yet) that were brought in today with no mommy will meet the same fate…i'll find out tomorrow.

Play Time

Well it's been an interesting week and unfortunately I don't want to post all of it on the internet, but I did get some overtime out of it! On Wednesday we had a news reporter come out and take a picture of all of the Animal Control Officers, including officers from other cities in the county. I guess this upcoming week is Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week so our picture will be featured in the local papers. I should get a copy tomorrow so I'll try and scan it or something to share with all of you. It's so local that they don't even distribute it where I live as it is being published today! Well that and some other events caused me and my trainer to get a late start on our calls , so we didn't even leave for the day until 10pm and we were supposed to be off at 7pm. We brought in 12 animals total and I even had to tranquilize a feral cat in a trap so we could get it out (safely) and into it's kennel at the shelter. Then on Thursday the other trainee and I drove out to San Manuel where our other shelter is. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there, but it was neat getting to see how things work on the south east side of the county. There are two officers that work the entire east side of the county. It's a large area, but not as densely populated. It was neat seeing how they do things and how well they seem to know the neighborhoods, the people that live out there, and the history of the area. Of course one guy has been working out there for 19 years and the other 8 years, so they have had some experience in the field. Then came Friday… I'm learning that Fridays are pretty mellow days. We had two calls in the morning and that was it for the day. I did get some of the equipment I will need, so that is nice. Then I didn't have much to do so I figured I would say good bye to my little min pin for the weekend.
Well she came into the office for a little while and then I felt bad for the chihuahua so I got him out too. He had a huge engorged tick on him so I had to get that off, but then I took the two outside to play in the small yard at the shelter. I figured that both of them may have forgotten what grass is like being cooped up in the kennel all the time. Well they loved it! Tiki, the min pin, investigated every corner and would jump on my lap to get petted. The chihuahua just ran around, would jump on my lap, and loved getting belly rubs. Again, what a ruff job I have sometimes! We hung out for a little while, but I noticed a couple smaller ticks on each of them and I wanted to help them somehow. My trainer showed me how to spray them for ticks. The sad part was when I had to put them back in the kennel :( The picture is of me and Tiki, you can see her and the chihuahua in the picture below as well.

My day in court

Things are continuing to go well with the new job. On Monday I got to go on a few calls. We did go on a follow up for a home quarantine bite and I was even going to be the one to talk to the lady and observe her dog for signs of rabies. I was ready, knew what I was going to say and everything. Unfortunately she wasn't home. Oh well, I did get to ask another lady if she wanted a cat trap, but she no longer needed it. I even got to write my first citation for dogs not being licensed. Then yesterday was court day at the hearing office. I got to learn how the proceedings will go when I will have to present my case one day. I will have to go to court if someone wants to fight the citation I write them.

I do have a little girl that I want to foster. She is a sweet 10 year old min pin (pictured with the white chihuahua that also needs a home). Her owner was no longer able to care for her and now from her spoiled life as a lap dog she has to live in a cement box :( Although, she is lucky enough to get a bed. Yesterday my lil' injured Bubba was put to sleep. Sad because he was such a sweetie, but good because he's in a better place...

In Training

Yesterday I went out on some more calls with my supervisor. We did bring in a momma and her 4 pups. My supervisor has been looking for this dog since December and found her under a trailer. She climbed under the trailer and handed the dogs to me and the other trainee. (Climbing under trailers is at our discretion, not required!) When we made it back to the shelter I squatted down to pull the puppies out of the dog carrier. I picked one up and held it over my leg. Bad idea! The little thing piddled all over my pants! Only had to learn that lesson once, the next one piddled too, but on the truck instead of me!

Today was pretty uneventful unless you count going to home depot to pick up a new freezer. I did go over some of the equipment we use and paperwork that needs to be filled out. I also learned about what is used to euthanize the animals :( Then just before I was off, I helped put some dogs into kennels that someone else brought in.

The pictures are of my little pitty that we picked up on Tuesday with the paralyzed leg (you can see the sores poor thing) He is just the biggest sweetie that stands up, despite his leg, and wags his tail ever so fast every time I come up to say hi! He would need his leg amputated, but he would be the best pet ever! Unfortunately, that's an expensive surgery and he will probably be put to sleep :( The second is a boxer named Max that is 1 years old. He was an owner surrender and just needs some training. The officer that picked him up is going to try to get him to a rescue if he is not adopted (hint, hint!) He is good with children (lived in a home with children) and appears to be fine around other animals. It does sound like he would need some training though.

In the field

I just wanted to share a picture of me by one of the trucks that we drive. Today was pretty mellow; another trainee and I responded to some calls and got a tour of the county with our supervisor. We picked up 3 dogs today, none of which were related to the calls we had. One was a super sweet pit bull that's front leg was paralyzed. So sad, we had to carry him to the truck and the kennel. Then he pulled on my heart strings shivering on the concrete floor so I went and got him a blanket and hung out with him in the kennel for a few minutes. Tough Job!