To Animal Control Officers & Dog Wardens, From Those You Serve

To Animal Control Officers & Dog Wardens, From Those You Serve

Thank you for loving your job, which means loving the animal that cannot defend themselves against abuse, neglect, etc. We understand that yours is often a thankless job, but we appreciate you more than you will ever know!

Thank you for looking past our shivering, frightened, lost, injured, aged, abused, abandoned, or ill countenances, to the one-of-a-kind animal soul within that was NOT born dangerous or contagious to others.

Thank you for harboring no ill will toward us if we, out of terror from our past experiences with some people, growl or snap at you. You know we don't mean to hurt you. You know we are out of our minds with the baggage that has been heaped upon us by the thoughtless, ignorant, uncaring people we've had as "owners." You do your best to seek justice for us, though you are hampered at what seems like almost every turn by toothless laws and an overwhelmed, understaffed judicical system. We understand, kind sir or ma'am. We love you because of all this, and more. We just cannot say so in words, but we are so grateful, just the same!

Thank you for being there for those dog lovers who trust you to try to help them when unforeseen things happen to their pets and doing your best to reunite us with our people.
Thank you for the professional way in which you do your job, yet for still having the kindness and maturity not to judge things by what they may appear at first glance.

Thank you for all you do that no one will ever know -- from those like the poor, expectant dog abandoned in a rural roadside ditch, who owes her life and the lives of her puppies, in no small measure to your solicitous actions -- to the abandoned litter of newborn kittens left alongside a rural road. Each of us animals that you help, adores you and thanks you from the bottom of our grateful animal hearts!

Thank you for having heart, soul, manners, and the indefinable "something" that makes you shine at your work and truly love it.

Thank you on behalf of all those dogs you've yet to meet, who will trust you to do your best for them.

Thank you from each of us that have been helped in some way by your kind actions -- even if it meant helping us over the Rainbow Bridge to a place where there is no pain, aging, illness, injury, or suffering. We understand and we love you, even though we cannot tell you in words. It is not your fault, the circumstances that brought our paths together at that place that was at the end of our earthly lives.

Please know that, when you visit us one day at Rainbow Bridge, we will cover your face and hands with kisses, romp with you in heavenly meadows of the most beautiful flowers and soft grass, and tell God that you're the angel we met on earth!

Puppy's story stresses need for responsible pet ownership

Puppy's story stresses need for responsible pet ownership


“People portray Animal Control as being the bad guys, but in reality the bad guys are irresponsible pet owners.”


"The U.S. Humane Society discourages people from giving pets as gifts this Christmas, because the recipient may not be ready for the commitment. The Humane Society encourages adoption from a local animal shelter, where the recipient can be involved in the selection process."


December 16, 2009


By Jay Jones jay.jones@rockdalecitizen.com or 770-483-7108 Ext. 249



The Rockdale Citizen

969 South Main Street

Conyers, Georgia 30012

770-483-7108 (Editorial: Ext 226 or 252)

Fax: 770-483-5797

http://www.rockdalecitizen.com and http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/contact and http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/editorialcontacts

To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@rockdalecitizen.com (400-word limit) or http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/editorialforms/misc/63775667.html (website form) or alice.queen@rockdalecitizen.com or julie.wells@rockdalecitizen.com


Conyers, Georgia - In biblical origins, “Gabriel” was an archangel known as the messenger of God, and that seemed to fit a little stray puppy being nursed by Lori Todd.

“He really is a miracle puppy, and it was a blessing that he survived,” said Todd, who is a teacher at Young Americans Christian School.

Gabriel, along with two siblings, was found when just a few days old by Rockdale Animal Care and Control. The puppies were stuck under a tool shed on wooded property in north Rockdale County.

Gabriel’s siblings did not survive, and there was not much chance of Gabriel making it, either, without his mother or finding someone who would bottle feed him.

Animal Control Shelter Manager Ciji Baker contacted Todd, who is a co-founder Hometown Animal Rescue Inc., a local rescue organization.

Todd said the puppy had not yet opened his eyes when she took him in. She did around-the-clock feedings in the beginning and took the puppy to school to make sure he was well fed.

Her students took to the little puppy and named him Gabriel Susej. “The last name is Jesus spelled backward, because dog is God spelled backward,” Todd explained.

Gabriel is now 4 weeks old and full of energy, just like any other puppy.

And as the Gabriel in the Bible was God’s messenger, Todd said the little puppy also has a message to tell.

“I hope his story helps to educate people to think before they get a pet and about the obligation that is involved,” she said.

Gabriel’s mother is a stray dog that the property owner discovered several years ago, but never could capture her to bring her to Animal Control.

“It turned into a nightmare of having puppies, and the ones he was able to catch, he would get rid of, but he could never get all of them at once,” Baker said. “So the female would get older, get pregnant and have another litter.”

Gabriel’s mother remains elusive, as Animal Control officers and the property owner are still attempting to capture her, Baker said.

Todd said her fear is that pets will be given as gifts this Christmas without much consideration of the responsibility of pet ownership. Consequently, the pets will either be abandoned or dropped off at Animal Control.

“Within the week after Christmas, Ciji is going to get tons [of them] back in the shelter. Then about the June time frame, people will have a 6-month-old puppy that nobody has taken the time to train, and those will show up in the pound, too,” Todd said.

“People portray Animal Control as being the bad guys, but in reality the bad guys are irresponsible pet owners.”

The U.S. Humane Society discourages people from giving pets as gifts this Christmas, because the recipient may not be ready for the commitment. The Humane Society encourages adoption from a local animal shelter, where the recipient can be involved in the selection process.

Both Animal Control shelters in Rockdale and Newton counties offer pet adoption.

Rockdale County lists animals available on its Web page at http://www.rockdalecounty.org under the Emergency Services Department section.

Information on pet adoptions at Newton County [Georgia] Animal Control can be found at http://www.co.newton.ga.us or by calling the shelter at 770-786-9514.


Copyright 2009, The Rockdale Citizen.


http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/headlines/79463782.html

I am your Animal Control Officer

I am your Animal Control Officer


Undated


Author Unknown (but owed a great deal of gratitude)



I am your animal control officer. I am not the dreaded "Dog Catcher" or the "Murderer" you call me.

I'm not the one who allows your pet to roam the streets, to contract diseases from other free-roaming animals, to be hit by passing motorists or poisoned by rotting garbage. I am the one who must look into those sick, pain-glazed eyes, try to remove the animal without causing it further pain, and then humanely "put it to sleep" to end its suffering.

I'm not the one who allows your pet to breed, then dumps the unwanted puppies and kittens on the roadsides and in shelters. I'm the one who must find the tiny animals before they die of starvation, exposure or disease, and as an act of mercy, exterminate them.

It hurts me to be forced to kill hundreds of animals each year, but because of your irresponsibility, I have no choice.

I'm not the one who abandons unwanted animals on farm roads, telling myself that some friendlier farmer will surely take them in and give them a good home. But I am the one who picks up the frightened animal who waits in vain for its beloved master, wondering why it has been abandoned.

I am the one who must help that friendly farmer trap, tranquilize or kill that animal, because it has begun to roam in packs with other abandoned and hungry animals, killing livestock, fowl and game.

I am not the one who breeds and fights dogs in the name of "sport." But I am the one who fights the breeders and participants, and I pick up the dead and dying animals left behind.

I'm not the one who keeps a pet confined in an area too small -- without food, water, shelter, or exercise. But I must deal with the irresponsible owner that does.

I'm not the one who refuses to spend time and money to keep up with regular inoculations that all pets require. But I am the one who must pick up a sick animal that is dying from a preventable disease.

So remember -- the next time your child is bitten by a stray dog, your trash is dumped and scattered, your pet is lost, stolen, poisoned or hit by a car -- it is the Animal Control Officer you call, not the "dog catcher."

The next time your pet is picked up, or you are cited for neglecting or abusing it, remember that I am only trying to get you to fulfill your responsibility to your pet, your neighbor and yourself.

Do not scorn me. Respect me, for I am the product of your irresponsibility.