CASPER, Wyo. — “We have a higher rate of calls than the actual police,” Metro Animal Shelter Animal Protection Officer (APO) Price told Oil City. “We go nonstop.”
During National Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week (April 10–16), Price said the shelter is fielding its seasonal increase in feral cat calls. Officers are also investigating neglect and bite cases, and issuing “bark logs” to residents to document when they believe a neighborhood dog is disturbing the peace.
Back at the Metro Road facility, kennel techs are caring for 40 cats and 25 dogs. It’s nonstop cleaning, feeding, and interaction from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week. They also work with potential adopters and the volunteers who make regular appointments to walk the dogs on the path around the facility.
“It’s not an easy job, and sometimes we have to do the things we don’t like to do,” said Scott Schell, the facility’s animal protection supervisor. “But they truly care about animals. And they truly care about their job and making sure these animals are safe and the public’s safe.”
The human interaction is essential to keeping the animals healthy and sociable so they can be eventually be adopted.
Even if space becomes limited, Schell said Metro is connected to a growing number of rescue agencies, including the Casper Humane Society, the Laramie Peak Humane Society, and NoCo Kitties.
“We haven’t euthanized a healthy, adoptable animal probably in the last several years,” Schell told Oil City. “Everything has been a court order, animal bite, or it’s just too aggressive to put back out into the population. We have an obligation to public safety.”
Dealing with the deaths of animals is the worst part of the job, both for those at the shelter and the APOs on the street. Price and Schell both emphasized responsible pet ownership as key to avoiding it.
For Price, it’s particularly frustrating when she’s picked up a roaming cat or dog and returned it to the owner several times, only to then be called to recover its body from the street.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Price said. “It makes me feel like I failed at my job.”
Price said cats are just as guilty of being at large as dogs when they are out roaming. Not only can they be hit by traffic, ingest poison, and pose a nuisance in people’s yards, “they destroy the native wildlife.”
The feral cat problem “is extremely bad,” Price added, and Schell said that one cat can have several litters through the year.
In the past, city officials have considered partnering with programs that trap, spay or neuter, and release feral cats. Price said one APO is currently working to connect with such a program.
At this time of year, Price said they are getting a lot of calls for seemingly abandoned baby wildlife.
“Don’t touch them,” Price said. ”Normally the mother will come and collect them if you do not touch them.”
APOs are also continuously investigating and collecting evidence in bite, neglect, and cruelty cases, Price said. Fortunately, many of the common neglect cases are resolved just through education and the officers’ involvement.
“Most of the time if you talk to people with respect and don’t jump to any conclusions, people are very accommodating,” Price said. “We try and work with people; we don’t want to take their animals.”
Section 6 of Casper municipal code outlines the requirements that domestic animals always have access to proper shelter (three sides, a top, and a bottom) and water. It also sets the limits on the number of hours a dog can be tethered, which varies based on whether the yard is enclosed or not.
Price urged people to be aware at all times of how their animal might be able to access a public area, including when opening the door for the mailman.
Price said about half of her calls involve bites, though many are less severe and involve territorial behavior against guests of the home.
Bite cases are always documented in accordance with state rabies control standards, Price said, and the animal must be quarantined for two weeks. In cases where the animal has injured someone off of the owner’s property, it is the officer’s discretion whether that quarantine must take place at the shelter.
Animals in the county and in Casper and Bar Nunn (excluding Mills and Evansville) are also required to have a city license.
This education, along with vaccination and spaying or neutering, should be part of people’s commitment when they take on a pet, Schell said. There is the recurring financial and practical commitment to feeding, hygiene, interaction, and public safety. There could also be the costs of veterinary treatment for unexpected illness or injury.
“It’s a major responsibility,” Schell said. “You’re making that decision for the entirety of that animal’s life.”
Metro staff work to help pet owners at every stage. A typical license is $25 dollars if the animal only has a rabies vaccination, but it’s free if the animal is also spayed or neutered and microchipped.
Benefactors will occasionally sponsor a number of adoption fees, and Metro is currently sending adopters home with free bags of food and treats.
Adoption costs are $50 for a dog and $35 for a cat. If it isn’t spayed or neutered, there’s an extra hundred-dollar deposit that will be refunded if the adopter brings back proof that it’s been done.
Price, an internationally renowned dog trainer and police K-9 handler from Australia, also occasionally hosts a free series of obedience classes. Another APO evaluates the animals’ behavior to better match them with the ideal adoption, which Schell said has significantly reduced the number of returns.
Schell said he is adding the necessary staff to keep Metro open seven days a week, accommodating families on weekends and providing more social time for the animals. He could always use more volunteers, many of whom enjoy their lunch break walks at least as much as the dogs do.
“Those animals love you unconditionally,” Schell said. “And if you’ve got ten minutes, they can make your day better.”
