This now famous line also from the "Mythbusters" applies to many things.
In animal control its an unavoidable idea, you are at a call in uniform so you are expected to have all the answers!
No matter what the problem, you HAVE the answers. At least that's what Mr. or Ms. John Q Public thinks and expects. And after a few years on the job you actually might.
Yes you had the laws to enforce and that's black and white, about the only black and white there is in any law enforcement job! And yes in the later years there came the "Standard Practice Manual" that actually didn't do much else but lay any blame on 'issues' that came up as the employee not following the manual.
Often there was a bit of "McGyvering" involved in many call situations. That was the fun of it. Especially in the first few years not much is really routine. New day, new calls, even if they're given out as the same kind every day. A 905-S or 'Sam' (stray pick up) could be as easy as putting the leash on the dog a walking it out. Or it could be a workout when you get there and find the dog is terrified of anyone and is loose in a half acre back yard. That happened to me many times.
Skunk calls were often a bit of a consternation for me, even after a few years of experience. In the days before it was so built up in the Rancho Cucamonga area, I would often relocate Skunks to the mainly uninhabited foothills North of the town instead of euthanasia on the spot.
There were a couple of houses that would lock down their traps to prevent theft. I remember several times driving from those houses to the foothill areas where I'd let them go with the captured skunk dangling off the control stick just outside the truck window. I got some strange looks and I imagine the skunk was scared, I'd be! But a few minutes of scared was better than permanent death I always felt. If I could take the entire trap I would and release the animal from that and return it emptied. I learned that if you picked up the skunk with the control stick, as long as you got the loop in front of the hind legs and picked it up off the ground, the skunk couldn't raise their tail and spray. And if they sprayed it could wreck every bodies day! After the building boom of the 1990's it was too difficult to relocated them so by then every skunk had to be destroyed in the trap and removed.
Over the years I learned by trial and error about ways to handle various animals in ways I hoped would be easier on them and on me!
Pick up a Opposum by it's tail, get the control stick around the middle of the body of a cat, then since they wouldn't be getting strangled, they would often, but not always, 'flip out'. Lots of little tricks you could learn over the years or from other people.
This challenge was something not all employees could conquer. They could try but some people just never got it and wound up hurting themselves or the animals.
I remember one guy, he was nice enough and tried his best, but he was getting bitten very often. For whatever reason he just could not figure out how to effectively use his control stick. He would catch and hold dogs or cats by their necks which is a giant mistake since in most breeds the dog can turn almost around in the loose neck skin. Cats usually being small were often too quick and could get him too. So he was getting bitten on his hands and arms. He wound up resigning after really severe bite wounds on both of his forearms from a call with an aggressive German Shepherd.
Bites, scratches, gouges, all awaited the unprepared or careless. These things could even happen to the experienced and prepared, just not as often then often worse!
More later, Tad
