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Animal control still answers 'nuisance' calls
Animal control will not reach its August goal for discontinuing the act of responding to calls regarding trapped "nuisance" wildlife. A definitive deadline has yet to be determined, according to a sergeant for the bureau.
Sgt. Linda Kauffman, a supervisor who also works on the roads responding to calls, said Monday that Master Det. Samson Newsome, who is in charge of the department, "hasn't given us the word on that yet and at the present time, we're business-as-usual.”
But she added that officers “are starting to advise people when we're out that it's likely to happen in the future."
Newsome was out of the area Monday and could not be reached for comment.
A typical animal control officer usually responds to about 10 calls a day, four to six of which regard trapped wildlife.
As reported in July, the animal control bureau of the Prince William County Police Department has been "overwhelmed" with calls regarding trapped non-dangerous animals on private property.
The number of traps issued by the county is backlogged due to excessive demand and county residents who do trap these wildlife are informed by officers that the trapped animal will likely be euthanized on the spot. The responding officer applies a drug to the animals that essentially acts as a form of lethal injection.
County taxpayers cover the costs of the service; there is no cost to the homeowners who trap the animals or call for their euthanasia.
Once animal control officers stop responding to the calls, citizens will have to rely on private companies to handle nuisance trappings because neither animal control or the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will provide the service.
"The citizen is responsible for their own nuisance animal control," said Randy Grauer, a conservation police officer with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries assigned to Prince William County. "It is against the law to transport a live animal from one area to another. So if they have a problem and they want to remove it, they have to kill the animal on the property."
Grauer elaborated further, saying, "Our department does not trap and will not trap. I want to make that clear. We don't have the manpower to do any trapping."
Without the county or state providing that service, "It would be left up to [residents to] find a solution and call a person who has expertise," said Kauffman.
She explained that the job of animal control officers "is to enforce domestic animal laws and to handle cruelties and vicious dogs and to pick up dogs that are running loose and things like that."
Capturing and euthanizing rabid animals, not garden-attacking groundhogs, is the job description for an animal control officer, according to Kauffman. Calls regarding trapped animals must be responded to immediately though as animals "don't do well in traps and will die in the trap," she said.
That means officers are spending more time on nuisance animals than responding to other calls, which creates backlogs of work.
"It can be stressful because we have to euthanize the animals. And a lot of these animals just happen to be looking for a free meal," said Kauffman. "We would like to see people learn to live with them and have a joy watching them because they're not out there to harm everybody."
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