Animals

Animal Law Enforcement Academy, Class of 2011, Ready to Respond

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Ten new animal control officers are on the job after a Friday training academy graduation in which they received badges, swore a solemn oath of office, and absorbed the pragmatic yet inspirational counsel of Animal Services Director Dawn Danielson.

“You have a tough job ahead of you… we expect you basically to be super-human,” Danielson told the graduates, who wore the neat khaki uniform of the County’s animal control officers.

In a room at the County Administration Center packed with about 60 of the graduates’ family members, Danielson detailed the difficult realities of the job.

Animal control officers are charged with responding to new calls, educating the public on and enforcing animal-related laws, helping animals in danger, investigating criminal animal cruelty or neglect cases and more… all at the same time.

With about one animal control officer for every 65,000 people in San Diego County, the new graduates have their work cut out for them.

However, Danielson told them, they may find it’s extremely satisfying work.

“This job is a passion and a calling, and there’s never a dull moment,” she said.

The Friday graduation was the culmination of a ten-week intensive training academy for the ten new hires, plus two civilians who attended to get more experience in the field.

All new animal control officers must enter the County’s Animal Law Enforcement Training Academy. The new graduates are the academy’s 34th class, and 2011’s only class.   

Academy topics included rabies control, animal related law-enforcement, animal welfare, report writing, investigative techniques, animal emergency preparedness and response, proper animal handling techniques, and much more.

During the ceremony, Lt. Harold Holmes projected some photos from the academy. In one, a recruit seems to have an extremely tentative grip on a pig’s hind-hooves. In another, a trainee smiles while lifting an oversized dog.

“This may bring back some painful memories,” joked Holmes, who oversees the academies.

The culminating academy exercise saw the recruits bust a mock cockfighting ring. The student officers responded to a rural property, where, according to the drill, there was a complaint. After establishing suspicious facts, the officers wrote a search warrant.

Then they searched the property, documenting plenty of “evidence,” including equipment and magazines associated with the cruel sport. Officers interviewed the “suspect” and built a case that they ultimately forwarded for prosecution.

“I’m really jealous,” said Danielson of the in-depth training the new animal control officers got. The department director started her career as an animal control officer over three decades ago and said her training was just a fraction as organized and comprehensive.

County Animal Services has three shelters in Carlsbad, San Diego and Bonita and handles animal control for San Diego, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Solana Beach and the region’s unincorporated communities. Some 26,000 animals arrive at the shelters each year.

Unfortunately, some of these animals come to Animal Services because they’ve been abused.

“You’re going to see some horrible things people do to animals,” Danielson warned the recruits.

 “But you’re going to be able to make a difference,” she assured them, noting that their investigations would help send some of the worst abusers to jail.

Danielson also cautioned the recruits that they would see terrible, heartbreaking harm done to humans by animals, particularly biting dogs.

“Almost all of these things could be avoided if the owners took responsibility for their animals,” Danielson pointed out. “About 75 percent of bites would be avoided if people followed the leash laws.”

Making sure the public follows these, and other animal laws, is one of the animal control officer’s jobs.

“Handle most of your cases through education,” Danielson told the graduates. “Most people want to do the right thing, they just don’t know what that is.”

The director concluded her remarks by reminding the officers that they must always be moral and ethical.

“Do the right thing, and you know what that is,” she said. “Do the right thing when no one’s watching.”

The graduates swore an oath of office and promised to follow the code of ethics for County Animal Control officers.

And when they received their graduation certificates and pinned on their badges, the room was all smiles and applause. 

The new animal control officers now start field-training, spending ten weeks on duty with a mentor officer before they’re ready for solo work.

I feel great; I feel really prepared,” said 27-year-old Ashley Springfield, who was named the top of the class for having the highest combined test scores on academy tests.

Springfield said she’s looking forward to getting in the field, and she hopes her work will ultimately help unwanted or abused animals end up someone’s happy pets.

Another new animal control officer, Monica Fontanoza, said she couldn’t wait to work. The 30-year-old graduate who previously worked as a Community Service Officer for the Sheriff’s Department said she hoped more experience would prepare her to work coolly in the emotionally grueling settings she knows she’ll encounter—for example, a bad car accident with injured humans and animals.

“I need to be able to take that…I want to be able to react quickly to save an animal’s life,” she said.