Make the phone stop ringing

Tradition has it that when a new officer begins the stand-by rotation, they have to do so for 2 weeks. After that you have the choice if you want it again (as long as someone is willing to cover your rotation, and there usually is). My two weeks began on Friday the 4th. The first week went pretty smoothly with me saying “it’s not too bad,” and knocking on wood each time. I had only been called out once per night for a sick or injured animal and two nights I didn’t have to go out at all. Then Saturday the 12th I only had 4 calls, but spread out so I would return home settle down and get called back out. That night I only got an hour of sleep. My alarm clock on my cell phone went off to wake me up for work that day while I was still out on a call.

Fortunately that Sunday, I got a break from my normal routine which helped me survive the day…caffeine free! Agencies including the Humane Society with their humane officers and volunteer rescue team, a local rescue group, and some officers from our department joined forces for a fire rescue. We practiced with the FEMA Incident Command System and had a whole entire plot in place. We had teams put together to respond to requests to evacuate owner’s “stuffies” aka their animals. I suited up into my full fire gear, glad my first time was for pretend, I was having all kinds of issues getting it to fit right. Finally we waited till we had an assignment. Our first call was to rescue 22 horses, some goats and sheep, and some cats and dogs. I drove with a group of horse trailers to our destination and impounded a koala bear and a vicious dog (that my partner and I had to muzzle!) We brought them back to the base camp and dropped them off at the intake area, then waited again. We got called out to another call, but we had to turn back as soon as we got there as the “fire was too close.” Then we met back up to review how the day went. It was a chaotic day, but so neat to see what I’ve learned in a classroom come to life. And dressing up like a fireman was kinda fun too!














So after that long day, I was off of work at 4pm and in bed shortly after 5pm. I was completely out until I was called out at 9:30pm. Fortunately that was the only call I had to go out on. I got a reprieve for a couple nights only having to respond to one call each night, but last night/this morning was busy again. My first call started at about 9:30pm again, only to respond for a skunk that was no longer there. She said it was hanging out in the bushes for over an hour and it wasn’t moving. When I was looking for it I found an avocado that was half eaten, I think I figured out why it was staying there! I guess it decided to leave before I arrived, which was fine by me. Then I was called out at about 2am by the campus police at a college. There was a dog tied up outside a vehicle and they wanted us to respond. By the time I got there the responding officer’s shift had ended so no one was there. I saw the dog and the car. I shined my flashlight into the car and saw lots of bags and stuff. I decided to try knocking just in case before I impounded the dog. I tapped lightly on the window and I heard a high pitched scream and someone popped up on the other side of the car. I think I may have jumped too; I was just as surprised by the response. I quickly announced who I was as she was obviously startled. Anyway, she ended up bringing the dog in the car with her. I made it back home, just to be called out again at 5am for a dog that bit someone and was still running loose. By the time I got there filled out the reports and got the dogs impounded, I didn’t get home until shortly after 8am. No sleeping yet…had people coming over to clean the carpets. Hopefully I can catch up on some sleep tonight…two more nights!!