Pet cops unleashed: Animal-care officers going door-to-door

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Pet cops unleashed: Animal-care officers going door-to-door

BY EVAN S. BENN


They're coming for you, Broward pet owners.

The county's four animal-care officers -- a modern term for the antiquated ''dog catcher'' -- spend their days walking door-to-door, checking to see if pet owners are up to date with their dogs' and cats' rabies vaccinations.

The four officers each knock on about 90 doors a day. At five days a week, that works out to roughly 90,000 homes each year that get visits from the Broward County Animal Care and Regulation Division.

Although they have the authority to slap $62 fines on every owner who can't produce proof of rabies vaccination, the animal cops say their primary goal is to educate, not to write citations.

''We hear every excuse in the book,'' said Kevin Nelson, a retired Army Ranger who became an animal-care officer last year. ``But the bottom line is: Vaccinations and licenses save thousands of lives -- animals and humans.''

So, instead of issuing fines, the animal-care officers mostly hand out warnings, giving the owners 30 days to get their pets vaccinated and send proof of the shot to the county.

Also, they tell people about the three low-cost clinics the county will hold through September. For people with low incomes or those who have received a 30-day warning, the county offers license tags and rabies vaccinations for $12 a pet. A record 1,191 animals got shots and licenses at last month's clinic.

The next one is July 26 at McTyre Park in Pembroke Park.

On Thursday, animal-care officers Nelson and Patty Creel walked a four-block route in unincorporated Broward just southwest of the park.

Creel and Nelson sport green pants, white button-down shirts and silver badges, and at first glance look similar to Broward sheriff's deputies.

''Some people are very receptive and know we're trying to help their pets,'' said Creel, who was spit on by an unfriendly pet owner during a recent round through a neighborhood. ``Others see the badge, then they get defensive and want you off their porch.''

The officers knock on every door, but their trained eyes tell them which houses probably have pets. Loud barking, a rubber toy in the front yard and ''Beware of Dog'' signs are all obvious tip-offs.

The less obvious include pet hair on the welcome mat and animal figurines on the windowsill.

''Animal owners love to decorate their homes with animal knickknacks,'' Nelson said.

No savvy detective work was needed to see that Jose Encinosa owned dogs -- his Rottweiler, American bulldog, Chihuahua and fox terrier played in the front yard.

Encinosa said all four dogs had 2003 rabies vaccinations and county licenses, but the paperwork to prove it was in his wife's car.

Nelson told him he faced almost $500 in fines -- $62 for each dog without a license and $62 for each dog without a rabies vaccination -- but issued him a warning and an invitation to the July 26 clinic.

''He can get those four dogs taken care of for $48,'' Nelson said afterward. ``That's less than the fine would have been for one dog.''

Down the street from Encinosa on Miami Gardens Road, Marina Rodriguez said this will be the second year she takes her pit bull, Slasher, to the county's low-cost clinic.

''It's cheaper and easier for me to take him to the park,'' Rodriguez said.

The county started the discount clinics in 1995 after a series of rabies cases struck Palm Beach County and experts predicted the virus would spread south, said Allan Siegel, marketing manager of the animal care division.

Broward health officials put the northwest part of the county on a rabies alert last year after a spate of reported cases. Rabies has not hit the county so far this year, but there were 11 reported cases in 2002 and 23 total since July 2000.

Rabies is a viral disease that is mostly spread animal-to-animal or animal-to-human through bites.

Although treatable in humans if diagnosed early enough, rabies can be fatal to both people and pets.

''For us, rabies is always a concern,'' Siegel said. ``Just one case is high because, up until a few years ago, we hardly ever saw it in this area.''