Over the years we got better trucks, cloth seats, AM/FM radios, a few even with cassette players. With the county upgrade to 800 MHz radios the field officers all got portable radios (HT's). We still had On Call pagers though, all the way up to when we left in 2006. By then several area agencies had gone to a more cell phone like way to communication with dispatch doing away with in truck radios almost all together and relying on a removable radio that only had a charging station under the dash.
Back when we first got the 800 radios they had quite the abilities! You could even make phone calls from your truck through the radio and an all county access number. With that number people could call you too but that more often didn't work well due to the number being used by so many people! Although the phone calls were just like a talking on the radio and so were 'simplex' and not 'duplex' like a phone call is, even a cell phone call. So you had to talk, wait.......... and listen for a response then talk again. Most people you'd try to talk to couldn't get the hang of talk, listen, talk again and so it made for difficult to impossible communicating, so the novelty wore off quickly for me.
I remember listening to my scanner and hearing the Sheriff department employees, street patrol and detectives both, calling in orders for food, calling home and friends and other types of "personal" calls with their county radios. Soon our department had the radio shop 'turn off' the abilities for the valley trucks and cars to make phone calls, not the supervisors though. And I'd still here Daryl or Steve making their personal calls along with the Sheriff's employees. Just no longer the valley field staff of Animal Control. Turns out the cell bills were too high with all the calls that were being made through the radios by various ACO's who were saving minutes by using the new toy of the radio/phone or didn't have cell phones yet. Not everyone did at that time, not like they do now.
To be continued again...........
Friday, May 6, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Patrolling areas I liked, or didn't like
The number one thing all ACO's did and must still do, is drive.
One of the duties listed in the old job description and maybe still listed even with the cost of fuel was (is) "patrol geographic areas".
That could be incredibly boring or incredibly fascinating and fun! There were areas I really liked driving in and areas that really sucked.
My 'worst' areas, the areas I would have rather been almost anywhere else?
Number one would be when we had the city of Ontario. I drove that area for 5 years as it was included in one of three areas that split the "West End" of the San Bernardino Valley from Fontana to the Los Angeles and Riverside county lines. I didn't care for the predominantly gang areas that were located at the time between Holt Blvd North and the 60 Freeway South and from Grove, East to Ramona, West.
For Animal Control lots of cruelty calls came from the area for the "gangsta's" pit bull or pit bull mixed dogs. Often just being there where the public could see them or the gang kids would threaten people with the dogs or attack smaller dogs in the area to prove their dog was the "baddest". And if not those dog calls then it was most often the staked out fighting birds (Roosters) in the back, or front, of peoples yards as bird fighting was big business back then.
Number two area was Lytle Creek. I used to say and I imagine it still would be, "the armpit of the valley". A small village with only one way in or out back up in the foothills it was split into two sections, the lower canyon and the upper canyon. The expensive homes were the upper canyon and most calls there were loose dogs and leash law complaints about neighbors. The lower canyon was the less expensive homes to downright and literal shacks. And getting cooperation was almost never easy. Often the dogs the upper canyon complained about were following the 'creek' up from the lower canyon.
Third would be Bloomington and Fourth would be Muscoy. And Fifth of the bottom five would be Fontana areas we had then didn't then did again as the contract with the city came and went and came back.
My favorite areas were usually in the deserts with hours of long drives which I especially enjoyed when I was involved in a good audio book. When we started getting XM satellite radio the Christmas of 2003, then it was listening to old time radio shows, movie themes or such that I wouldn't want to stop and do the call and have to miss something! Stacy and I both did and still do love the ability to listen to great music or whatever, wherever you are with XM.
In the valley though, and most of my years in the department were in the valley, I liked working in the "Alta Loma" and Rancho Cucamoga areas. Another 5 year stint area but a few years after working in the Chino and Ontario areas, I liked the definite "higher income" level of this area. I was working Sunday to Wednesdays then and with hardly any calls on Sundays it was often just driving around, patrolling and just being seen. I liked seeing all the very expensive collections of autos out on their "Sunday Drives".
One of the most interesting things I used to see often, and in many areas, was as I was driving around in the residential blocks, people would, even if they were in their own yards, pick up their dogs and take them inside when they'd see the truck. Always funny to me!
I got to go to the 1984 Summer Olympics as the shooting events were done out in the Chino area and people would go to see the events and bring their dogs and leave them locked in their cars. As it was summer and hot, the security would find the cars with dogs in it and call for a pick up. We'd make the security break into the vehicle and we'd take the dog. I did that twice in a work week. That kind of call also became a standard summer call in the many restaurant and mall parking lots as the population boomed.
Years later at the Fontana Speedway I was given an all access tour of the facility, got to drive on the racetrack and go see the "executive" and Press viewing boxes as well as got to be in the infield for a race event walking and patrolling with Stacy for our shift of the event. Million dollar RV's and in the middle of the race.
Oh well, more memories later!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad2
One of the duties listed in the old job description and maybe still listed even with the cost of fuel was (is) "patrol geographic areas".
That could be incredibly boring or incredibly fascinating and fun! There were areas I really liked driving in and areas that really sucked.
My 'worst' areas, the areas I would have rather been almost anywhere else?
Number one would be when we had the city of Ontario. I drove that area for 5 years as it was included in one of three areas that split the "West End" of the San Bernardino Valley from Fontana to the Los Angeles and Riverside county lines. I didn't care for the predominantly gang areas that were located at the time between Holt Blvd North and the 60 Freeway South and from Grove, East to Ramona, West.
For Animal Control lots of cruelty calls came from the area for the "gangsta's" pit bull or pit bull mixed dogs. Often just being there where the public could see them or the gang kids would threaten people with the dogs or attack smaller dogs in the area to prove their dog was the "baddest". And if not those dog calls then it was most often the staked out fighting birds (Roosters) in the back, or front, of peoples yards as bird fighting was big business back then.
Number two area was Lytle Creek. I used to say and I imagine it still would be, "the armpit of the valley". A small village with only one way in or out back up in the foothills it was split into two sections, the lower canyon and the upper canyon. The expensive homes were the upper canyon and most calls there were loose dogs and leash law complaints about neighbors. The lower canyon was the less expensive homes to downright and literal shacks. And getting cooperation was almost never easy. Often the dogs the upper canyon complained about were following the 'creek' up from the lower canyon.
Third would be Bloomington and Fourth would be Muscoy. And Fifth of the bottom five would be Fontana areas we had then didn't then did again as the contract with the city came and went and came back.
My favorite areas were usually in the deserts with hours of long drives which I especially enjoyed when I was involved in a good audio book. When we started getting XM satellite radio the Christmas of 2003, then it was listening to old time radio shows, movie themes or such that I wouldn't want to stop and do the call and have to miss something! Stacy and I both did and still do love the ability to listen to great music or whatever, wherever you are with XM.
In the valley though, and most of my years in the department were in the valley, I liked working in the "Alta Loma" and Rancho Cucamoga areas. Another 5 year stint area but a few years after working in the Chino and Ontario areas, I liked the definite "higher income" level of this area. I was working Sunday to Wednesdays then and with hardly any calls on Sundays it was often just driving around, patrolling and just being seen. I liked seeing all the very expensive collections of autos out on their "Sunday Drives".
One of the most interesting things I used to see often, and in many areas, was as I was driving around in the residential blocks, people would, even if they were in their own yards, pick up their dogs and take them inside when they'd see the truck. Always funny to me!
I got to go to the 1984 Summer Olympics as the shooting events were done out in the Chino area and people would go to see the events and bring their dogs and leave them locked in their cars. As it was summer and hot, the security would find the cars with dogs in it and call for a pick up. We'd make the security break into the vehicle and we'd take the dog. I did that twice in a work week. That kind of call also became a standard summer call in the many restaurant and mall parking lots as the population boomed.
Years later at the Fontana Speedway I was given an all access tour of the facility, got to drive on the racetrack and go see the "executive" and Press viewing boxes as well as got to be in the infield for a race event walking and patrolling with Stacy for our shift of the event. Million dollar RV's and in the middle of the race.
Oh well, more memories later!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad2
Saturday, March 5, 2011
ACO 'Tech'
I was thinking back to how things had evolved over the years, tech wise.
When I started with the department back in 1981, the field officers basically got a citation book, a Thomas Guide map book of San Bernardino County, a rope 'leash', a 'control stick', and a set of keys to a regular Chevy 1/2 or 3/4 ton standard cab pick up with the bed removed and cages welded on the frame instead. Back then we didn't have "HT's" or Handy Talkies, or any cell phones (yet). The only radio in several of the trucks was the VHF radio that in the cars/trucks that was a 'head' unit with a channel selector and a microphone under the dash area with the main radio box that was the size of a large briefcase behind the seat in the trucks, in the trunks in the cars and in the very back in the station wagons the department had.
When 'on-call' each person was given a numerical pager. You'd get a page and have to hunt down a pay phone booth and call in. At least there was the '800' number so it usually didn't cost the quarter to call.
As the years went by most ACO's would acquire or make equipment that would help make the job easier for them.
Pet stores, no Petsmarts yet, could provide decent quality leashes and such. And there were a few companies around that could be found that you could buy equipment from. I located a company in Texas, now long gone, that I spent over $150.00 on for a different kind of control stick and a smaller cat sized model too. Everyone thought I was crazy to spend that much of my own money, but I liked them! The issued control sticks made the 'noose' smaller by pulling the wire from the back. This new type had a tube within a tube with an offset cam to lock it in place. The larger dog sized control stick had the feature of a pull to release "bite bar" that opened the noose and released the animal. Great for very aggressive dogs. I still have the dog control sticks, the cat one failed and could no longer be repaired since the company had gone out of business.
We did start to get better vehicles and by the late 1980's and dual gas tank trucks were in the "fleet" purchases that our department got. Good range but still only AM radios and those lousy vinyl covered seats. Guaranteed to cause a sweaty butt and back!
Before the county upgraded to the 800 megahertz "trunked" systems the VHF radios sent out a tone with the radio signal. After few months it was easy to hear that tone all over the place! Our dispatchers also had to say the station ID at various times during the day.
In those VHF days we had to share the frequency with several other agencies. It could often make it a bit difficult to get a word in edgewise too!
With the trunked radios the stations were all still there but the computer could keep them separated so it seemed like the radio was all ours then.
By the late 1980's even though there was no Internet yet, there were companies springing up that catered to the Animal Control field.
More later........
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
When I started with the department back in 1981, the field officers basically got a citation book, a Thomas Guide map book of San Bernardino County, a rope 'leash', a 'control stick', and a set of keys to a regular Chevy 1/2 or 3/4 ton standard cab pick up with the bed removed and cages welded on the frame instead. Back then we didn't have "HT's" or Handy Talkies, or any cell phones (yet). The only radio in several of the trucks was the VHF radio that in the cars/trucks that was a 'head' unit with a channel selector and a microphone under the dash area with the main radio box that was the size of a large briefcase behind the seat in the trucks, in the trunks in the cars and in the very back in the station wagons the department had.
When 'on-call' each person was given a numerical pager. You'd get a page and have to hunt down a pay phone booth and call in. At least there was the '800' number so it usually didn't cost the quarter to call.
As the years went by most ACO's would acquire or make equipment that would help make the job easier for them.
Pet stores, no Petsmarts yet, could provide decent quality leashes and such. And there were a few companies around that could be found that you could buy equipment from. I located a company in Texas, now long gone, that I spent over $150.00 on for a different kind of control stick and a smaller cat sized model too. Everyone thought I was crazy to spend that much of my own money, but I liked them! The issued control sticks made the 'noose' smaller by pulling the wire from the back. This new type had a tube within a tube with an offset cam to lock it in place. The larger dog sized control stick had the feature of a pull to release "bite bar" that opened the noose and released the animal. Great for very aggressive dogs. I still have the dog control sticks, the cat one failed and could no longer be repaired since the company had gone out of business.
We did start to get better vehicles and by the late 1980's and dual gas tank trucks were in the "fleet" purchases that our department got. Good range but still only AM radios and those lousy vinyl covered seats. Guaranteed to cause a sweaty butt and back!
Before the county upgraded to the 800 megahertz "trunked" systems the VHF radios sent out a tone with the radio signal. After few months it was easy to hear that tone all over the place! Our dispatchers also had to say the station ID at various times during the day.
In those VHF days we had to share the frequency with several other agencies. It could often make it a bit difficult to get a word in edgewise too!
With the trunked radios the stations were all still there but the computer could keep them separated so it seemed like the radio was all ours then.
By the late 1980's even though there was no Internet yet, there were companies springing up that catered to the Animal Control field.
More later........
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
This Job BITES! Me and others too!
If you have worked with animals, what do you expect? I actually don't recall anybody that wasn't bitten at least once during their time with animal control. The worst was an older gentleman (remember I'm talking about 1986 or '87 or so, so probably about my age now, then) that was working during the departments experiment with volunteer "reserve" Animal Control Officers.
This was Pat's play at trying to get something for nothing by attempting to get people that could cover for the Counties lack of funding to fill positions. Nothing ever changed either in all 25 years! We were more often than not too few people to too many calls.
This guy was very enthusiastic and volunteered more hours than most employees worked! All the volunteers worked with the goal in mind of being hired on full time- paid- when that could happen and the department could actually hire again. I remember only 1 of the 2 or 3 people that were 'reserves' actually being hired. But that was the goal they all had to be hired on. Problem with this guy was he couldn't figure out how to competently and safely use the 'catch pole' or even just a rope or leash. He'd get frustrated and just go and grab whatever dog or cat he was trying to catch bare handed. That really isn't a good idea and he continued to get bitten worse and worse. It culminated with a call he went to in the Running Springs area I believe. He was so badly bitten up and down both forearms that he had to go to the hospital and get checked out. Unfortunately he wasn't around much longer after that, the old "liability" thing came up. He was one of the most enthusiastic people I remember in the department at the time though.
In all my years there I was bitten three times pretty badly by dogs. Each worse than the other. That doesn't count the few cat bites I got, darn sharp teeth that could bite right through gloves! A couple of gopher snake bites, even a couple of bites, pecks, by chickens and other birds. and many scars on my arms from the metal dog and cat traps.
First dog bite was a pick up of a Golden Retriever that had actually bitten the people's new child, so they called, paid the money to have the dog picked up and destroyed. Now I picked up the dog from their house in Chino Hills, then an unincorporated area of the County. But the dog wound up staying in the truck for the entire day as I didn't need to drive to the then new Devore shelter and impound. The dog had gotten into the truck without any difficulty and seemed friendly enough during the day as I checked on it. When I got to the shelter that evening though and opened the cage door to get the dog, it was right there and forcing it's way out. As it was pushing out at just opening the door an so I wasn't quite ready for it I tried to push it back inside to keep it there until I could get a leash out for it. The dog didn't like that though and I was holding the dog by the "scruff" of it's neck it just turned in the loose skin of the neck and bite me in my right hand. And I'm right handed. As this was the first time I'd been bitten I at first wasn't sure how back it had been. I felt more like my hand had been smashed in a vise.
The dog jumped out of the cage and took off running in the shelter yard and I looked down to see blood everywhere and see my index finger joint moving as I moved my finger. As my daughter would say, ew.......!
The dog was caught by other people at the shelter and it got 10 more days of life in quarantine for the bite to me. I got my first visit at a hospital emergency waiting room.
Next bite was several years later and I was doing a quarantine health check on a pit bull in Bloomington California. I was at the house and after talking with the dog's owner I asked her to show me where the dog was so I could see he was "normal and healthy". During a dog bite quarantine we needed to visually inspect the dog under quarantine at least twice during the 10 days period. It was usually at the initial visit and quarantine at the owners house and then about a week later.
The dog had bitten the local mail carrier and it was the 7 day check that I was there. So I'm walking to the carport side of her house and the owner had said the dog was chained up "out back" so I did not expect it to be chained up at the side of the house and in the carport area. We're about half way down the carport and THERE is the dog! He sees me, I see him and then he's charging at me. He is chained and I hope he runs out of chain before he gets to me so I'm running backwards away from him. He gets to the end of the chain and I thought he'd just bumped my right knee area but not bitten. In a few moments I found out I was wrong he got me. I felt warm fluid running down my leg and looked to see a "Z" shaped tear in my pant leg at my knee. Pulling it open to peek I see the bite and the blood. Right leg so I couldn't drive myself anyplace so I was taken to Kaiser Fontana Emergency for treatment.
Third and last time was in July 2000 on a lazy Sunday morning. In the North end of Fontana as i was working from the Rancho Cucamonga shelter then and that area included part of the unincorporated area of North Fontana too.
My first call of the day is to a house complaining about a 'strange' dog in their yard trying to attack them any time they went outside. The house sit back off of Foothill Blvd (route 66) and I parked outside of the block walled yard and went into the yard. I saw 2 dogs, a medium sized dog and a Rottweiler, both with body harnesses on them, and believe the owners dogs had chased away the dog they had called about. I walk up to the door and the people call out before I get there that the Rott is the dog they're complaining about.
They say it isn't theirs but I didn't get the chance to question them why it had a harness on it like the other dog they claimed as theirs. The Rott came around from behind the house and charged me. I got out my collapsible baton, or ASP, and got ready for it so I could smack him if he didn't back off. Most dogs would have by the way, but not this one. I knew from experience that almost any dog will be more aggressive if it feels it is 'protecting' it's own territory and this dog was no different.
He was almost on me and when I went to swing at him he jumped to his right and as I went left to stay head on with him next thing I know is I'm on the ground as I had slipped on the soaked grass. Then the dog is right at my head and biting at me. I'm swinging wildly at the dog with my ASP and I did hit him a couple of times but he still won't back away. The people at the house come out and chase him away. So I get up and my head has a big dull pain on the back right side. As I stand to go out to my truck and get my control stick (the metal pole with the coated wire adjustable noose in it) and as I stand, blood washes all over my face and uniform shirt from my head. Obviously somethings wrong but I wasn't going to be able to handle it myself. I bleed out to my truck and try to call our dispatch first. The shift supervisor Becky is on the radio and tries to contact one of the other two people on duty this morning in the valley. She can't get them and says she'll have them on the way when she can. I decide not to wait forever and change frequencies on the service radio to the Sheriff's dispatch band and call for assistance. There is one and then two sheriff patrol units on scene in less than ten minutes. The first deputy there gets his bio-hazard gloves on to take a look at my head injury. He says it's pretty bad and calls his dispatch to get an ambulance out to the location. He as well as the ambulance attendants when they arrive keep asking me if I feel light headed or dizzy at all and just want me to sit still. By now four patrol cars are at the scene, must have been the blood and all, and they ask me what to do with the dog that got me. So they get out the bean bag firing shotgun in an effort of catch the dog. As I can't go to see what they're doing I wait and listen. After hearing the shotgun going off a deputy comes back to say they can't get the dog and their supervisor wants the dog disposed of because of the "threat to public safety" and so they were going to switch to regular 12 Gage shells and shot the dog. I tell them to just not shoot the dog on the head.
They go and a few minutes later two blasts and it's over. This by now is almost an hour later and just after I've secured my truck and am getting ready for the ambulance ride to the hospital, my fellow ACO's finally arrive. I brief them and Henry was going to take the dogs body and I took the ambulance to the Emergency Room at Kaiser Hospital in Fontana.
A couple of hours later and I am ready to be taken home. I get 13 staples across the tooth tear on the back of my head. My head is all taped up and with all the bloodstains on my shirt I feel like an extra in some war movie.
The doctor for better or worse chose not to shave the area around the bite on my head so days later no one can tell I'm even hurt, but hurt it does! And later that first day and a for the longest time, much longer that the head injury did, my right shoulder hurt and was really messed up. Apparently in the fall and swinging the ASP in attempts, to let's be honest here, kill that fricking dog, I really messed up the rotator cuff.
So, did the Rott actually bite me or was the head injury a result of a buried lawn sprinkler head? I don't know. Stacy seemed to think the sprinkler head. I felt and the ER doctor agreed with the plausibility of it that the Rottweiler could have gotten me with a canine tooth along the back of my head. All I know is the dog was right above me and was biting at my head as I tried to defend myself and the old thing of it all happened so fast, I just am not sure. Then or now.
The overall change to come out of this last incident was that the time I spent on "light duty" while recuperating gave me the insight and the office and office staff got to know me better than as the one that always argued on the radio. Which helped me get the supervisor position that came open while I was recuperating. And that was how I spent may last few years there as a supervisor.
More later.
This was Pat's play at trying to get something for nothing by attempting to get people that could cover for the Counties lack of funding to fill positions. Nothing ever changed either in all 25 years! We were more often than not too few people to too many calls.
This guy was very enthusiastic and volunteered more hours than most employees worked! All the volunteers worked with the goal in mind of being hired on full time- paid- when that could happen and the department could actually hire again. I remember only 1 of the 2 or 3 people that were 'reserves' actually being hired. But that was the goal they all had to be hired on. Problem with this guy was he couldn't figure out how to competently and safely use the 'catch pole' or even just a rope or leash. He'd get frustrated and just go and grab whatever dog or cat he was trying to catch bare handed. That really isn't a good idea and he continued to get bitten worse and worse. It culminated with a call he went to in the Running Springs area I believe. He was so badly bitten up and down both forearms that he had to go to the hospital and get checked out. Unfortunately he wasn't around much longer after that, the old "liability" thing came up. He was one of the most enthusiastic people I remember in the department at the time though.
In all my years there I was bitten three times pretty badly by dogs. Each worse than the other. That doesn't count the few cat bites I got, darn sharp teeth that could bite right through gloves! A couple of gopher snake bites, even a couple of bites, pecks, by chickens and other birds. and many scars on my arms from the metal dog and cat traps.
First dog bite was a pick up of a Golden Retriever that had actually bitten the people's new child, so they called, paid the money to have the dog picked up and destroyed. Now I picked up the dog from their house in Chino Hills, then an unincorporated area of the County. But the dog wound up staying in the truck for the entire day as I didn't need to drive to the then new Devore shelter and impound. The dog had gotten into the truck without any difficulty and seemed friendly enough during the day as I checked on it. When I got to the shelter that evening though and opened the cage door to get the dog, it was right there and forcing it's way out. As it was pushing out at just opening the door an so I wasn't quite ready for it I tried to push it back inside to keep it there until I could get a leash out for it. The dog didn't like that though and I was holding the dog by the "scruff" of it's neck it just turned in the loose skin of the neck and bite me in my right hand. And I'm right handed. As this was the first time I'd been bitten I at first wasn't sure how back it had been. I felt more like my hand had been smashed in a vise.
The dog jumped out of the cage and took off running in the shelter yard and I looked down to see blood everywhere and see my index finger joint moving as I moved my finger. As my daughter would say, ew.......!
The dog was caught by other people at the shelter and it got 10 more days of life in quarantine for the bite to me. I got my first visit at a hospital emergency waiting room.
Next bite was several years later and I was doing a quarantine health check on a pit bull in Bloomington California. I was at the house and after talking with the dog's owner I asked her to show me where the dog was so I could see he was "normal and healthy". During a dog bite quarantine we needed to visually inspect the dog under quarantine at least twice during the 10 days period. It was usually at the initial visit and quarantine at the owners house and then about a week later.
The dog had bitten the local mail carrier and it was the 7 day check that I was there. So I'm walking to the carport side of her house and the owner had said the dog was chained up "out back" so I did not expect it to be chained up at the side of the house and in the carport area. We're about half way down the carport and THERE is the dog! He sees me, I see him and then he's charging at me. He is chained and I hope he runs out of chain before he gets to me so I'm running backwards away from him. He gets to the end of the chain and I thought he'd just bumped my right knee area but not bitten. In a few moments I found out I was wrong he got me. I felt warm fluid running down my leg and looked to see a "Z" shaped tear in my pant leg at my knee. Pulling it open to peek I see the bite and the blood. Right leg so I couldn't drive myself anyplace so I was taken to Kaiser Fontana Emergency for treatment.
Third and last time was in July 2000 on a lazy Sunday morning. In the North end of Fontana as i was working from the Rancho Cucamonga shelter then and that area included part of the unincorporated area of North Fontana too.
My first call of the day is to a house complaining about a 'strange' dog in their yard trying to attack them any time they went outside. The house sit back off of Foothill Blvd (route 66) and I parked outside of the block walled yard and went into the yard. I saw 2 dogs, a medium sized dog and a Rottweiler, both with body harnesses on them, and believe the owners dogs had chased away the dog they had called about. I walk up to the door and the people call out before I get there that the Rott is the dog they're complaining about.
They say it isn't theirs but I didn't get the chance to question them why it had a harness on it like the other dog they claimed as theirs. The Rott came around from behind the house and charged me. I got out my collapsible baton, or ASP, and got ready for it so I could smack him if he didn't back off. Most dogs would have by the way, but not this one. I knew from experience that almost any dog will be more aggressive if it feels it is 'protecting' it's own territory and this dog was no different.
He was almost on me and when I went to swing at him he jumped to his right and as I went left to stay head on with him next thing I know is I'm on the ground as I had slipped on the soaked grass. Then the dog is right at my head and biting at me. I'm swinging wildly at the dog with my ASP and I did hit him a couple of times but he still won't back away. The people at the house come out and chase him away. So I get up and my head has a big dull pain on the back right side. As I stand to go out to my truck and get my control stick (the metal pole with the coated wire adjustable noose in it) and as I stand, blood washes all over my face and uniform shirt from my head. Obviously somethings wrong but I wasn't going to be able to handle it myself. I bleed out to my truck and try to call our dispatch first. The shift supervisor Becky is on the radio and tries to contact one of the other two people on duty this morning in the valley. She can't get them and says she'll have them on the way when she can. I decide not to wait forever and change frequencies on the service radio to the Sheriff's dispatch band and call for assistance. There is one and then two sheriff patrol units on scene in less than ten minutes. The first deputy there gets his bio-hazard gloves on to take a look at my head injury. He says it's pretty bad and calls his dispatch to get an ambulance out to the location. He as well as the ambulance attendants when they arrive keep asking me if I feel light headed or dizzy at all and just want me to sit still. By now four patrol cars are at the scene, must have been the blood and all, and they ask me what to do with the dog that got me. So they get out the bean bag firing shotgun in an effort of catch the dog. As I can't go to see what they're doing I wait and listen. After hearing the shotgun going off a deputy comes back to say they can't get the dog and their supervisor wants the dog disposed of because of the "threat to public safety" and so they were going to switch to regular 12 Gage shells and shot the dog. I tell them to just not shoot the dog on the head.
They go and a few minutes later two blasts and it's over. This by now is almost an hour later and just after I've secured my truck and am getting ready for the ambulance ride to the hospital, my fellow ACO's finally arrive. I brief them and Henry was going to take the dogs body and I took the ambulance to the Emergency Room at Kaiser Hospital in Fontana.
A couple of hours later and I am ready to be taken home. I get 13 staples across the tooth tear on the back of my head. My head is all taped up and with all the bloodstains on my shirt I feel like an extra in some war movie.
The doctor for better or worse chose not to shave the area around the bite on my head so days later no one can tell I'm even hurt, but hurt it does! And later that first day and a for the longest time, much longer that the head injury did, my right shoulder hurt and was really messed up. Apparently in the fall and swinging the ASP in attempts, to let's be honest here, kill that fricking dog, I really messed up the rotator cuff.
So, did the Rott actually bite me or was the head injury a result of a buried lawn sprinkler head? I don't know. Stacy seemed to think the sprinkler head. I felt and the ER doctor agreed with the plausibility of it that the Rottweiler could have gotten me with a canine tooth along the back of my head. All I know is the dog was right above me and was biting at my head as I tried to defend myself and the old thing of it all happened so fast, I just am not sure. Then or now.
The overall change to come out of this last incident was that the time I spent on "light duty" while recuperating gave me the insight and the office and office staff got to know me better than as the one that always argued on the radio. Which helped me get the supervisor position that came open while I was recuperating. And that was how I spent may last few years there as a supervisor.
More later.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
So you want to help the animals?
That is what you'd think isn't it? I mean working in Animal Control you'd think that you would be involved with helping and saving animals. And actually on the application and in the interview (if you get that far!) you will get questions of your experience working with animals. I was asked on my interview and when I was a supervisor I asked those questions too.
Except that for just about, I'd say 80% of your calls and contact in the job, you look at and talk about animals but you don't actually take care of or 'save' anything! Almost all the routine calls would usually be the neighbor complaint about another neighbor. Their pet(s) running loose or being too noisy, smelly, skinny, fat, old, young, too close to the neighbors house or property line and on and on and on!
And yes, over my years I responded to calls for everything I listed above and much, much more.
I recall when I'd started in 1981 I was excited to be in 'law enforcement' and that is actually what you're in! It was (is) your job to 'enforce' the County and State laws as it relates to animals and animal care. You get the "guidelines" (if you screw up "you should have read the Standard Practice Manual") and you have to deal with the situations, both good and bad, generally by yourself.
I do agree that for many calls the main thing was educating the person or public. Most citizens never took the time to learn or even investigate the ordinances (laws) until you're knocking on their door. And while many laws were often more or less common since, others, not so much!
I know in an earlier post I mentioned the "animal lover" and those people could often be the worst offenders! Many thought that since they thought they 'knew' animals so well they couldn't be at fault.
I am again hoping to get more posts going on this blog. It was 25 years after all and all those days, experiences and memories. I just have to get them written!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Except that for just about, I'd say 80% of your calls and contact in the job, you look at and talk about animals but you don't actually take care of or 'save' anything! Almost all the routine calls would usually be the neighbor complaint about another neighbor. Their pet(s) running loose or being too noisy, smelly, skinny, fat, old, young, too close to the neighbors house or property line and on and on and on!
And yes, over my years I responded to calls for everything I listed above and much, much more.
I recall when I'd started in 1981 I was excited to be in 'law enforcement' and that is actually what you're in! It was (is) your job to 'enforce' the County and State laws as it relates to animals and animal care. You get the "guidelines" (if you screw up "you should have read the Standard Practice Manual") and you have to deal with the situations, both good and bad, generally by yourself.
I do agree that for many calls the main thing was educating the person or public. Most citizens never took the time to learn or even investigate the ordinances (laws) until you're knocking on their door. And while many laws were often more or less common since, others, not so much!
I know in an earlier post I mentioned the "animal lover" and those people could often be the worst offenders! Many thought that since they thought they 'knew' animals so well they couldn't be at fault.
I am again hoping to get more posts going on this blog. It was 25 years after all and all those days, experiences and memories. I just have to get them written!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
We Were A Family!
The employees of County Animal Control, especially the group from the mid to late 1980's which I truly feel was the "golden age"in the department, were more of a "family" than it became by the 2000's.
Yes there were your 'brothers' and 'sisters' you liked and the ones you didn't. But being a small organization as it was at that time definitely made for close friendships and more than a few "relationships". As the department grew and expanded through the 1990's the distance between staff grew too. There were and always will be friends, one or two or a few, but nothing like it was with shifts being friends and socializing even off duty and with the other shifts and clerical staff too. Later on friends in the field staff kept with the field staff, friends in the shelter staff with the shelter staff, friends in the clerical staff usually just worked and went home, just no longer one united department.
Except at the Christmas Party. Those went from most of the department get togethers for good food and entertainment, to the last few I went to and then heard about when I quit going to them were it seemed to become people going and watching people get stupid drunk and embarrassing not only themselves but the department too.
I think that the departmental comradeship peaked in 1984/85 when the program manager at the time united almost the entire department by being a total A#@ H*&%!!!
Just about everybody wanted him GONE! He was, maybe still is?, arrogant, condescending and seemed to almost enjoy publicly insulting the employees. Nowadays, in our more 'enlightened time', employees often, but not always!, have a recourse. Back then, he was a god! or so he kept acting and telling employees! "Pat" was the kind of guy that probably shouldn't have ever been promoted to any kind of leadership role. I think he got it by his resume and the at the time prevalent "boys club" mentality. His arrogance ultimately was his own undoing and while he was off on an extended vacation he was investigated for "misappropriations of County Funds", or so we were told. We never saw him again and the rumor then was he'd been given the choice of resigning and leaving quietly or being publicly charged. He left!
The person that was got the job after him wound up being the 'top dog' for the rest of my time there before leaving, and again a situation of go quietly or else, just a few months before we left. But that will be another story.
Yes there were your 'brothers' and 'sisters' you liked and the ones you didn't. But being a small organization as it was at that time definitely made for close friendships and more than a few "relationships". As the department grew and expanded through the 1990's the distance between staff grew too. There were and always will be friends, one or two or a few, but nothing like it was with shifts being friends and socializing even off duty and with the other shifts and clerical staff too. Later on friends in the field staff kept with the field staff, friends in the shelter staff with the shelter staff, friends in the clerical staff usually just worked and went home, just no longer one united department.
Except at the Christmas Party. Those went from most of the department get togethers for good food and entertainment, to the last few I went to and then heard about when I quit going to them were it seemed to become people going and watching people get stupid drunk and embarrassing not only themselves but the department too.
I think that the departmental comradeship peaked in 1984/85 when the program manager at the time united almost the entire department by being a total A#@ H*&%!!!
Just about everybody wanted him GONE! He was, maybe still is?, arrogant, condescending and seemed to almost enjoy publicly insulting the employees. Nowadays, in our more 'enlightened time', employees often, but not always!, have a recourse. Back then, he was a god! or so he kept acting and telling employees! "Pat" was the kind of guy that probably shouldn't have ever been promoted to any kind of leadership role. I think he got it by his resume and the at the time prevalent "boys club" mentality. His arrogance ultimately was his own undoing and while he was off on an extended vacation he was investigated for "misappropriations of County Funds", or so we were told. We never saw him again and the rumor then was he'd been given the choice of resigning and leaving quietly or being publicly charged. He left!
The person that was got the job after him wound up being the 'top dog' for the rest of my time there before leaving, and again a situation of go quietly or else, just a few months before we left. But that will be another story.
Friday, September 3, 2010
5 years ago
In the last few weeks we've been going through our storage building and tossing out more stuff that has been in storage and unused since our move out of California in March 2006.
One of the items I came across was my last "call log" from my time at Animal Control. At left is a scanned copy of the page of calls, the addresses removed, that I did on Friday September 2, 2005. Exactly 5 years ago yesterday. I also was working on Saturday the 3rd but only had 5 calls for the day and Saturdays were still slow call wise.
Looking at the calls I see that I was working in the unincorporated San Bernardino County area of the High Desert, the Eastern Apple Valley and Lucerne Valley California at the time. The truck I drove that day started the day with 60, 158 miles on it. Of the 10 calls listed, and the P-2 means this was a second page of calls received, 6 were left overs and started my day when I started at 7:30 am. The one call not done of this group, by the lack of the line through it, was a call without enough information to complete it.
The other calls? Well, from left to right starting at the top call, in the dispatch computer program it was call 71-485 which was the day number and then the cumulative call number, 485. It was a "Stray-Running at Large and make contact with the Reporting Party" or as written S-R/RP on Bella Vista with a cross street of Central and although not indicated, this call was in the Apple Valley area.
Except for three of the calls all the calls were in the Apple Valley area, those two calls were in Lucerne Valley and one in Silver Lakes or Helendale.
There were two Bite calls, one with the animal owner one with the reporting party. A Stray Patrol call for a loose and usually hours or even days ago seen dog, then I ended that day with two Skunk calls one in the Spring Valley Lake community which often caught Skunks in traps. Then an over hour drive out to the community of Silver Lakes off the old Route 66 and on the way to Barstow for another Skunk in a trap. And finally the last call written was for a Snake in the yard back out in Apple Valley. My guess is with the snake call since I'd indicated an arrival of 16:10 or 4:10 pm and departure of 16:20 or 10 minutes later, that, as most often occurred, the snake was long gone before I got there. With nothing else written I apparently didn't have any of the constant overtime that night and was back home on time.
This doesn't look like many calls just looking on a sheet of paper, but working any of the "outlying areas" of the county usually meant hundreds of miles a day of driving. From the start of my day at my house to Lucerne Valley was right at an hour drive. From Lucerne Valley to Barstow another hour to get there and an hour back IF you don't have to impound anything at the Barstow shelter. Barstow shelter back to Wrightwood, as I would have to cover on Saturdays was almost two hours- one way! I think you can get the picture, a LOT of driving!
Now this wasn't the 'official' record of what was done in a day, that was on the form called a "D.A.R." or Daily Activity Report. Those were printed off by the literal thousands and gone through almost as quickly by the staff. Those were the pages that 'counted' and got turned in every month. Many people including me, used a pad or scratch paper and wrote or 'copied' all your calls on that and then transferred the calls completed to the DAR. I liked the spiral bound, college ruled, 70 or 100 sheet notebooks. Worked the best for me! I'd use all the sheets one way then flip it over and use them all on the other side back. Even in the photo you can see the print on the other page.
Oh well, interesting reading and remembering. All the way up to the last call I went out too in the department, Saturday February 12, 2006. At 13:35 that afternoon I was "On-Call" and given a 'call back' call to drive out to Trona California (go ahead- look all these places up on Google maps!) which is the Northern most city in San Bernardino County that you have to drive out of the county to get too. Seems that a person staying at the motel turned apartments there had not been seen for several days and he'd left his German Shepherd locked in his room, number 8. The manager had waited till the weekend (of course) to call and have it removed. I was on-call for my last time before going on leave use up all of my time to move and take our 'deferred retirement' and so got the call.
On the page for that one and only last call for that day, I got out to Trona at 17:15 and was there to 17:35. Then I drove back to the Barstow shelter to leave the dog and got there and was there from 19:15 to 19:35 to impound the dog. Then driving back to our house I was back home and "10-7" or end of duty at 20:45.
So that last call was 7 hours worked, hundreds of miles driven, to pick up one dog and take it to a animal shelter then drive home. Money wise it was double time for the call out and time and a half for those seven hours worked.
For many of the ACO's on-call could be quite a racket! For many of the penny pinching public it was quite a waste of their money! Unless of course THEY needed help!
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