My regular readers know that I’m interested in many topics, from politics to animal rescue. At times these topics fit together nicely and I’ve written a bit about various municipalities as they address animal control issues. People often look at animal control issues in the south and are horrified to find that states like Georgia put to sleep more than 100,000 animals a year.

Connecticut does a much better job, but still they put to sleep between two and three thousand animals each year. Waterbury has it particularly bad, receiving between 200 and 300 calls a month and putting to sleep between 20 and 30 animals each month.

The traditional goal of animal control officers is to keep the public safe from vicious or infected animals and to punish people guilty of cruelty to animals. However, some believe that is cruel to animals to kill them just because no one comes forward and adopts them within some legally defined brief period.

There are fiscal arguments about this. What is the cost of killing an animal? What is the cost of keeping them in a shelter? What are things that can be done to reduce these costs?

Perhaps the best way to reduce costs is to take ideas of community policing and apply them to animal control officers. The U.S. Department of Justice describes community policing this way:

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.

Some municipalities seem to take the exact opposite view when it comes to the animal control aspects of their police departments. The animal control officers take an adversarial position with local rescue groups. As these problems become more and more apparent, other municipalities are adopting wiser approaches.

Hartford animal control officer Sherry DeGenova is a hero among many animal rescue activists and her application of the ideals of community policing to animal control is one that municipalities across the state should be adopting. She works closely with local media, rescue organizations and anyone else that will listen or lend a hand to help adopt out animals from Hartford.

Yesterday, I received an email from the newly appointed Officer in Charge of the Waterbury Police Animal Control Shelter, Sergeant Rennee’ Harvey. This email is another great example of a local municipality trying hard to find more humane and cost effective solutions to animal control. I applaud Waterbury for these efforts and hope that members of the media, rescue organizations and other groups join in this Waterbury’s great new effort of applying community policing to animal control. Likewise, I encourage other municipalities to look at how they can apply community policing to animal control.

Here is the text of the email:

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sergeant Renee’ Harvey, newly appointed Officer in Charge of the Waterbury Police Animal Control Shelter. I wanted to reach out to you and hopefully open a door of communication as we are all in the business of saving the lives of animals. I am new to this arena having been a Police Officer for 13 years but have been a pet owner and lover of animals the majority of my life. I am striving to give the Waterbury Animal Control Shelter a more people and animal friendly atmosphere by re-directing our objectives and goals to start. I intend to accomplish that mission but Im sure that road will contain a few less bumps with your help and support.

We are making radical changes here at the Waterbury Animal Control Shelter for the betterment of animals and humans alike. Renaissance has begun and we are making it a priority to save and enhance the lives of our dogs verses the undesirable alternative. Officer Jen Binette and myself (some of you may already be familiar with Jen) are dedicated to giving our dogs a chance to be happy, healthy and adopted to good homes. On a personal note, both Jen and I are avid animal lovers as well as loving, dedicated and responsible pet owners.

Here at the Waterbury Animal Control shelter we have a dual mission. Our legal mission is to keep the public safe from vicious and/or infectious animals and to punish those persons guilty of cruelty, neglect or any crimes against/involving animals. Our humane mission is to provide food, shelter and medical treatment for homeless, sick or injured animals (and every now and then we throw in a hug and a treat!).

It is our goal to find good homes for our dogs! We are making every effort to keep our dogs alive and give them a fighting chance at happiness. We can only accomplish this by reaching out to the community, networking and partnering with other shelters and animal rescue organizations in the state.

We are open to and willing to help and support you in any way possible and hoping that we can count on your support for the little things such as good old fashioned friendly advise, to the bigger things such as providing shelter for some of our adoptable dogs if the need arises. We would love to assist or collaborate on any future events, activities or just coffee and good conversation to toss around ideas.

Thank you for your time and, if there is anything we can do to assist you in your efforts, please do not hesitate to call. I look forward to hearing from you!

Respectfully,

Sgt Renee’ Harvey
Waterbury Police Department
Animal Control
200 Municipal Rd
Waterbury, Ct 06706
203-574-6909 Office