That's probably because I prefer not to think about it while I'm off duty. Its healthier that way. My job tends to get inside your head after you've done it a while.
Still... I'm probably passing up opportunities for things to write about if I avoid the subject all together. So, why not?
I'm an Animal Control Officer, which is a fancy name for "dog catcher" - though I'd be careful who you use that term around. Its kind of like using the "N" word around a black person. I can call someone I work with a "dog catcher", but if you were to do so you just might find yourself in need of a dentist.
I work in the north Texas area, and have been doing this for the past 14 years, or so. At this point, for me, Animal Control can be summed up thusly: 75% boredom, 24% irritation, and 1% shear ball crawling terror. I work 12 hour shifts, with rotating on-call duty (which is part of the reason this blog is only updated a couple of times a week, if that).
Today was a pretty typical day. Ran a lot of calls. A couple of the high/low points:
Protective custody impound of cats from a house with a deceased person in it. Dealing with a skunk that had fallen down into an eight foot deep pier hole at a construction site. Loose cattle on the roadway. Dealing with an injured red tailed hawk.
The hawk was my favorite. Dove hunting is allowed in some areas of the town where I work. It would seem that some asshole got bored with just shooting doves, and decided to take a shot at a red tailed hawk. Red Tails are plentiful in this area. The Ass-hat was a bad enough shot that he only hit the bird with one pellet. Here's the bird after I got it to a local wildlife center:
The picture shows one of the workers examining the bird for injuries. We could only find the one entry wound in the leg, but that was enough to keep the bird from flying. Here's another pic of the upset bird in a holding cage.
This nature center is a centralized spot where different rehab specialists can stop by daily and collect the various wildlife that needs help.
Absolutely zero chance of catching the retard that shot the bird. I love to hunt, and 99.9% of hunters are responsible and ethical in their behavior - but there's always some jerk that has to screw things up for everyone.
2 comments:
Thank goodness you found this beauty. Hope it will heal & rehab well. Our neighbor's cat ended up with bird shot in the backside a few years back & it made me just as mad. People can be so irresponsible.
Agreed.. People make me nuts on a regular basis. Looks like the Hawk is going to be fine :)
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