FROM HSEC
HUMANE SOCIETY OF ELMORE COUNTY
This is National Animal Control Officer (ACO) Appreciation Week, and we ask everyone to thank and acknowledge the important job our ACO’s do for our communities. Each of our towns and the county are lucky enough to have ACO’s dedicated to enforcing state and local animal related laws, helping animals in need, protecting the health and safety of people, and resolving issues involving animals. We have counties near us with no Animal Control resources for their citizens and we can tell you that often places people in challenging situations. ACOs are important to public safety as they interact with people and animal alike, often in risky situations involving injured, scared or aggressive animals.
Animal Control Officers respond to many different situations – animal bite/attack cases, mediating disputes between neighbors over animal issues, rounding up loose livestock that have gotten out of pastures, investigating animal cruelty and neglect cases, helping injured animals get to care, working with other law enforcement when animals are involved in larger criminal cases, etc. City noise ordinances and barking dogs often present challenges and some towns have limits on the number of pets in city zoning ordinances. All areas of Elmore County have a containment law for dogs and Wetumpka & Tallassee add to that with a “leash law” for cats. And some, but not all, of our cities restrict livestock within city limits.
Our Animal Control Officers are dedicated professionals who deserve respect from the public they serve – some have attended specialized animal control training at the state and national level to learn about things like safe capture techniques, animal identification, disease issues, legal issues, investigative techniques, court proceedings, rabies control, public education, wildlife and exotics, and so much more. Animal issues often put them in harm’s way from both animals and people and their call volume often means they have to triage cases to deal with the most serious, or potentially serious, the quickest. Please understand that their call volume often greatly exceeds their ability to get to some calls immediately. So please help us thank all of our Animal Control Officers as they work to help animals and people alike.
