Animal services rescues and rounds them up

Photo by Michael Woodward, Reporter

COLD NOSE — Officer Canavan holds a month-old puppy that was found last Sunday night amid freezing temperatures.

The dog catcher of Anderson uses no net and when she receives a call from the Anderson Police Department to rein in an aggressive canine, they are often surprised to watch her calmly leash the beast they wouldn’t go near.

Community Services Officer Rene Canavan is the sole operator of Animal Services, which is city-owned and run by the police. In 2004, the department moved from their North Street address to the vacated Gateway Animal Hospital building at 2951 McMurry Dr. next to Kragen’s.

“The place we were at before was an old construction trailer with a lean-to on the side for cover for the animals,” Canavan said. “It was a temporary holding facility that was used from 1972 to 2004. The new facility is 100 percent better for the dogs.”

The new shelter has private, indoor kennels for the animals, and it has ample office space for Canavan as well.

Anderson City Animal Services begins its workday when Canavan drives to the APD to check police reports and dispatch orders. She returns to the shelter to check on the animals, making sure they’re clean and fed. She then goes on call to deal with “animal nuisances.”

The nuisance can be anything from a dog or a cat running around at large, complaints of a barking dog, a rooster within city limits or a motel guest that found a previous tenant’s python in the bathtub.

“The biggest challenge is public education,” Canavan said. “Getting people to understand what a good neighbor is supposed to be when it comes to animals. Some people don’t care if their dog barks or runs free.”

Canavan said that most domestic animal problems come down to irresponsible pet ownership.

“You can’t get a puppy and just put it in the back yard and expect it to grow into a wellmannered dog,” Canavan said.

“Someone will call me on the phone complaining about their barking dog. I’ll hear it in the background, and they only yell at it to be quiet. I never once heard them tell the dog to ‘come’ and ‘sit.’ Training a dog to come, sit, and stay can alleviate a lot of issues.”

Consider Tank, a white pit bull in custody.

“He’s a problem child,” Canavan said. “He has a sweet temper but likes to chase cats. I’ve picked him up four times running loose. The owner gave him up and so Tank went to Shasta County Animal Control. They adopted him to someone else in Anderson, and now I’ve picked him up again.”

Of the 102 dogs running loose last year, owners reclaimed 34 of them and 20 were adopted. The remaining 58 got ransferred to the Shasta County Animal Regulation Facility in Redding and many get adopted.

Having pets spayed or neutered not only reduces the amount of ‘free kitten’ ads in the classifieds, it also keeps the owner from paying an additional fee if that unlicensed pet gets out.

Since July, Canavan has added a microchip service that helps people identify their pets. Now when Canavan picks up a lost dog, she scans the dog for a microchip to identify its owner. The microchip is the size of a grain of rice and is embedded under the skin between the shoulder blades.

“This way, there’s no way someone can say that this isn’t your dog,” Canavan said. The service costs $15.

Canavan has held this post in Anderson for 18 years. Before her Anderson post she held a position at Haven Humane in

Redding, also in animal control. Her first job was working for a veterinarian.

In order to make the facility run smoother, Canavan hopes to bring in volunteers to help with clerical duties and to help adopt the animals to new homes. Those interested in volunteering or adopting a homeless pet can call 378-6624 for information.