Making Headlines

There are days I wonder what I’m doing, but then I get reminded how much I love my job when we receive such diverse types of calls. Not only that, but when you think you are going out on an ordinary call, it turns out to be anything but. San Diego has provided some interesting challenges for me including traffic, freeways, and parking, but you can’t beat walking the Ocean Beach Pier looking for an injured seagull. Unfortunately we were not able to find the person that called or the seagull, but it did make for a nice photo op.

Then we got called out for a raccoon that had been stuck at the top of an electric pole all night. The pole was in someone’s backyard and their dogs chased the raccoon up the pole. We thought it may not be alive when we first arrived, but then it turned its head and looked right at us. The poor thing was scared stiff. We contacted SDG&E to get a cherry picker or something to get the little guy down and I was getting excited I might be able to go up in one. They were busy at the time so we left and planned to return with them when they had time. I guess they showed up without us and decided they would not do anything and the raccoon would come down on its own. We went back to the property and thankfully it had come down somehow, we checked for footprints and possibly and injured raccoon (if it had fallen), but found neither. Hopefully he is doing well now.

Then we arrive for a basic dog running loose call at a park. The call had come in earlier in the morning so we figured the dog would be long gone by the late afternoon when we arrived, but it wasn’t. The dog was very skittish and would not let anyone near her. She was hanging out by a busy street and we were afraid she might get hit, or worse yet, get hit while we were trying to catch her. After twenty minutes of trying to win her over with hot dogs and wet food, we had almost given up and were going to return with a dog trap when the dog ran under a car parked on the side of the road. Two citizens had somewhat trapped her there. With help of a couple people surrounding the car and me and my trainer working together to get her on leash we were able to catch her. She was a still a little freaked out being on the leash and we slowly walked back to the truck. By the time we got to the truck she was willing to let us pet her. When we got her back to the shelter she became our best buddy. I would squat next to her and she would lean on me and jump on me. Here she is even performing sit and shake for her photo!

Okay, I know this is a long blog, but while planning out our typical day, we received a report for an injured duck that had arrows stuck in it at a local lake. When we arrived one of the park employees had the duck in a crate for us. We were amazed that despite the arrows the duck was standing inside the crate. We brought it back to the shelter and everyone was as surprised as we were. We took the duck to the vet where we got to watch as he removed the arrows and we collected them for evidence. Then we got to submit the arrows for evidence. It is pretty neat getting to investigate on a case like this, and hopefully we catch who did this. And to make it even better, the duck seems to be doing very well!

When we returned the crate to the employee, the news cameras were on scene and they got me and my trainer on camera. I’m the one sitting in the truck. It’s hard to see because of the glare though.
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-duck-shot,0,396264.story

I am still waiting for my next rattlesnake call, but for some reason I think they hide until I’m off shift. I haven’t had one in almost a month. Although, we did get a call about a king cobra and we were asked to go out and investigate with our public information officer as a news van was on scene. It seems that this was a hoax, but the camera got me and my trainer as we were standing in a parking lot nearby. I think they know how deathly afraid I am of possibly having to talk on camera, so they like to pick on me and make me go out on these types of calls. I’d rather of handled the king cobra than talk on camera! (and Karen, for obvious reasons, you may not want to watch this clip!)
http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11354683

Warm Fuzzies and Wild Things

When I heard that Buddy had gotten adopted, I was told it was to a great family. Today, I am certain that the family is not only “great,” they are amazing and spectacular! Apparently, Buddy’s new family wrote a letter to the county to help share his story. This story is now posted on the county website and I’ve decided anyone who wrote this must love him a lot! It’s so nice to know that he is being thoroughly spoiled and pampered like he should be!

Karen, I’m sure you’re already turning your head away from the screen in disgust, but I have gotten to play with lots of fun animals…just in the last couple of days no less. Yesterday we got a call for a boa in someone’s yard. Not expecting much we arrive and there is a 7ft (we think Columbian) boa in the guy’s front yard. He took pictures and said he would send us the pictures of me and my trainer handling the snake. Hopefully he does because I’m sure they are something to look at! Then we get a call for a sick skunk. The poor thing was sick enough to not be able to get away, but alert enough to give us a hard time. He sprayed several times, fortunately not on any of us, but enough that the smell lingered. I’m hoping the smell is out of the truck by tomorrow! Our last call for the night was for an opossum that was suspected to have been hit by a car. When we arrived the opossum was standing on the side of the road not moving. He was “playing opossum” and did not move except to teeter back and forth, leading us to believe was in shock. We did not see any injuries so we called a wildlife rescue and transported him to one of their foster homes to see if they could rehabilitate him. The rescue is based a lot of foster work, but don’t worry, I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of fostering yet! We haven’t heard anything about him yet, so I am hoping for good news! Then today, we picked up over 40 pigeons! It’s a sad story of why we had to pick them up as they were being cared for very well, but I have definitely improved my bird handling! Still not a master of catching them in a net as they are flying, but give it time :)

Unfortunately even after all of that, the only cool picture I have is of the snake.

Link to Buddy’s Story: http://pinalcountyaz.gov/Departments/AnimalControl/Pages/AdoptionStories.aspx

I Graduated!

I survived my 10 week training academy! I was even was the honor grad, meaning I earned the top total score on our tests and reports.

This past week I was with my training officer doing the actual job. I have had a blast catching rattlesnakes, raccoons, doves, cats, and dogs. The first rattlesnake call I went to this week, the people who called had chairs set up to watch and took pictures of me catching the snake. Then we got a call for two raccoons that had gotten trapped in a dumpster. The poor things were juveniles and had probably gotten left behind by mom when they couldn’t get out. They didn’t even pick a good dumpster as it was mostly empty and just had a flour package and some sunflower seeds in it. We were able to get the raccoons out and relocate them back into the hillside where they came from. Hopefully they were able to meet back up with mom, but they seemed old enough to survive even if they didn’t. I am hoping to get a pic of me catching a rattlesnake, but when we go out, I get so excited about the call that I forget to bring the camera!

I Got My Pants Dirty!!!

That is a first since I have begun wearing my uniform to work. Although, I am not excited that I get to do laundry, but that is superseded by my awesome day working out in the field. The day started out pretty normal and we had a list of calls to do, many of which had to do with skinny or injured horses. I definitely learned that I need to learn more about those magnificent creatures! I did get to interact with a couple, but I have no idea how to read a horse, and that is scary when they are bigger than me. As we were leaving the area we saw a small little critter running down the road following behind a lady that was also walking down the road. We stopped when we realized it was a little doggie and I got out of the truck and was able to pick up the dog. The poor little matted poodle mix was very friendly, but she had a bad skin condition where he was missing a patch of hair and had an open wound on his back. The lady the dog was following had no idea the little girl was behind her and it was not her dog.

Then we received another call about an injured baby deer that had gotten attacked by some dogs. We made it out there and the person who called it in had the deer in her bedroom. She said that she would go get it and carry it out for us. By the time she made it outside the fawn, who was probably about 30 or so pounds was kicking her back legs into the lady’s legs and throwing her head back into the lady’s head. I went up behind her and grabbed the rear legs as they appeared to have some force in those kicks and the other officer was able to come up and control the head. We got the deer into the truck safely. The poor thing had shallow wounds on his head and side, but obviously still had some fight left! We called about 10 wildlife rescues, but no one was able to help us with finding a place for the deer to go. We brought it back to the shelter and the vet (yes, there is a vet!) look at him. He thought the deer might be in shock, but did not feel the injuries were life threatening. The officer I rode with was able to find someone that would look after the fawn and had accommodations for it. So for now the little deer is there and will hopefully heal. Not sure yet on what will happen with him. I am hoping that they are able to keep him wild enough for release, but with him only being a month or two, and no one to learn from, I’m not sure what his future will be.

After that we received a call about an injured kitten and we went out to that call. There were three people standing around the poor kitten that was breathing heavily from the side of the road. The poor thing had probably been hit by a car and was obviously suffering, so the officer euthanized the cat quickly. Kind of a sad ending to the day, but the deer was definitely the highlight, and I got dirty :)

Zoey is training to beat Phelps

Again, I know I haven’t written in a while and I have some “old” news, but Buddy got adopted!!! I was so happy to get that news a couple weeks ago. So I’m 3/5ths of the way done with the academy (over halfway), and so far so good. I am taking A LOT of classes on law as well as some animal handling. Since we handle rattlesnakes for my job, we went to the San Diego Zoo and got to practice using a snake hook on a gopher snake. I got the snake in the bucket on my first try, but I’m still not sure I’d want to get that close to a rattler! We also got to go to a wildlife rescue and got to get within 15 feet or so of an African lion as well as mountain lions and bobcats.

So for now I am getting to enjoy having the weekends off and Zoey and I were sure to relax by the pool today. She is getting really good at swimming on her own as she used to want to swim straight for anyone in the pool. We also practiced lying on the floating mattress in the pool. She stayed on it for a minute or two, but I had to stay right with her holding the mat steady. She even went swimming in the pool without anyone else in the pool today. That was a first! And of course, Kahlua was nowhere to be found :)

I’m back in California!!

I know the blog hasn’t been updated in a while, but a lot has been going on! I am now going to be an Animal Control Officer for San Diego County and my first day is this Friday. I will be continuing my blog so be sure to check back and here about my adventures in San Diego, although the first 10 weeks I will be in training/academy. My last day in Pinal County was on the 9th and it was sad leaving, especially having to bring my foster kitties back before their time and leaving Buddy behind at the shelter. Well…actually he didn’t get left behind, another wonderful officer is bringing him home every night so he still gets lots of love! My parents came out that Tuesday and helped me pack everything up. Between the caravan of a U-haul, the suburban w/ flatbed trailer, and my car (hauling the 4-legged ones), we made it from Queen Creek to La Mesa on the 11th. It’s nice having family so close because I got LOTS of help getting unloaded and unpacked.

Where to Start!

I guess I'll start with the latest in foster updates… Buddy is doing awesome! He has no more scabs unless you count the healing from getting neutered and he has finally figured out the doggy door. Buddy attended a candlelight vigil for Crime Victim's Week. The Animal Cruelty Taskforce had a booth at the event and Buddy and I walked around to share his story and his bright future! He is currently available for adoption which I am going to try and do while still fostering him as he does not thrive in the shelter environment. Maybe I can bring him there during the day and take him home at night. I'm sure he will find a loving home very soon! I have also brought in two more kitties. I was asked to euthanize one of the kitties, but he was sweet and healthy so I said I would foster him. Then my supervisor asked about fostering a 2^nd, younger kitten, or it would be euthanized as well. I got suckered into that one, but I'm glad the other has a friend closer to his size. The young kitten is still bottle feeding so I am back to making bottles, but I'm hoping he'll be transitioning to regular food in the next few weeks.

So it's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy! I had my first dead body call. The coroner opened the front door for me and I walked into the trailer and approached the Sheriff's Deputy who was on the phone. While waiting for some direction I looked around and saw that the woman was been lying face down on the other side of the front door, I had walked right past her. Her skin looked dark, but I didn't think too much of it. The deputy (who was wearing heavy duty gloves and a respirator mask) showed me where the dog was as it had passed away as well. After picking up the dog, the deputy and I were talking, he said that the woman was a white woman, but she had been there about 2 weeks. He said that he had been on several scenes like this, but when they rolled the body over this was the first time he felt ill. He asked if I wanted to see a picture, but unfortunately (or possibly fortunately) the glare outside made it difficult to see. The saddest part was that the poor lady had been left in that condition for so long; I can only hope that when that time comes for me, or anyone I know, someone realizes it a little sooner.

Then I got called out by Florence PD because one of their K-9 officers had passed away unexpectedly. DPS was conducting the investigation and I had to get the body from the back of a police car and brought it to the shelter until she could get taken to the lab for a necropsy to find the cause of death. It was a pretty somber event with the other officers nearby. The dog, "Vysta" was only about 3 1/2 and they all said she was the greatest dog. Here is an article written in the local paper: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20315205&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=6

So keeping in mind that I got home at about 2:30am from that last call, I was paged at 5:30am to pick up a dog that was in a home where a search warrant was issued. When I arrived there was a special Sheriff's unit on scene. They were all in jeans and shirts and drove unmarked trucks. Some were wearing a ski mask type thing that only revealed their eyes. Last but not least they all had bullet proof vests and big guns (some were shotguns). I felt a little underdressed for the occasion. They said that they did not think the owner was home and had secured part of the trailer. The dog was in the living room and they wanted me to get it. I went around to the back door and about 5 guys with vests and guns followed me in. They pointed out where the dog was. It was dark in the room and I had my flashlight out. I spotted the dog, but she was very scared and did not approach me. While scanning the area with my flashlight I saw a person lying under a blanket pulling the blanket up over their head. All I remember is saying, "Ummm…," and being pushed out of the room. The guys raised their guns at the suspect and began yelling at him repeatedly to stand up or they would shoot. Needless to say I got out of there pretty quickly. Unfortunately while getting the suspect out of the home the dog followed and began running around loose on the property. The dog ran behind one of the men and he spun around and aimed his gun directly at the dog's head. I wanted to yell "don't shoot" so bad. The dog was not growling, barking or anything; just running around very scared. She ended up running under the trailer and I wasn't able to get her out, but fortunately a family member came by and said he would take responsibility for the animal.

And after that long day at work, I drove out to San Diego. A very big thank you to my mom and sister, Stacy, for coming to rescue me in Yuma to get me the rest of the way home! Sorry, I know that was a long blog, but that is just some of the exciting stuff that has been going on.