Wallingford Animal Control did a Great Job

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

The people of Wallingford are lucky to have such caring people working for the Animal Control Division. I witnessed them in action on Thursday while they tried to capture a dog that was dumped at one of the industrial parks in town. I had noticed the dog on Wednesday and tried to catch her but failed. I went back the next day and the dog was there again and this time the people from Animal control were there trying to catch her. As it turned out someone had dumped 2 dogs there and Animal control was able to catch one on Wednesday. I was pleased to see how caring the people were in trying to catch this dog. The dog appeared to be very tired and stressed, but did not come close to get caught. We tried using our dog to lure the other dog close, but that did not work. Our dog was able to keep the other dog staying close but we just could not catch her. The dog would come close but would run when we got close. After about an hour the dog started lying down from being tired and stressed. Again when we got close the dog would run. But the dog come back and again would lie down. This happened 3 or 4 time. We left after about and hour and a half and left our phone number with the Animal control people to call us if they caught the dog or not. We got a call about an hour later that they did capture the dog.

Congrats to them. I am sure the dog will be much happier. :)

Now for the Vent…….

To the people who just dumped the dogs there, are you kidding, what kind of person are you. What kind of person just dumps off two pets in a strange area? Did you really think that the dog could fend for themselves. Maybe someone should dump you into an area that you do not know without money, food, water and shelter and see how you would like it. Maybe you have troubles and could not care for the dogs anymore but dumping them. Just know the Wallingford Animal Shelter would have taken them if you could not care for them, all you had to do was take them there, but you dumped them.

In the future you should not own a pet of any kind and I hope you do not have children, I can only imagine how you treat kids if you have them…..:mad:

[Jim N]

I agree and just posted my own vent on something that happened in Waterbury. I sure hope these peoples DNA stops now

[jma]

Try calling the Meriden Animal Control. IF you actually reach one, they'll only come out if the stray dog is already restrained. Umm, isn't that why we buy them catch poles??? Forget about any help if it's anything other than a dog. They "don't do cats", or any other animal. What a waste of taxpayer's money!

[Bustopher Jones]

Unfortunately, my most recent experience with Wallingford Animal Control was not positive. Petco in Wallingford sometimes puts on adoption days. On one day when Wallingford Animal Control representatives were there, my wife and I stopped by and wanted to adopt a cat that they had. We held the cat, fell in love with it, and told them to hold the cat for us. After failing to receive any follow up, we contacted the agency, and were told that they found that the cat (and her sister) had distemper and had put it down. Needless to say, we were heartbroken. I can only presume that one of two things happened. First, the cats really were sick, in which case the agency was showing sick animals for adoption without adequate regard for public safety. Or second, the cat was given to someone else, even though we had empathically stated we wanted the cat and had even signed the necessary paperwork on the spot, in which case the agency lied to us. Either way, I don’t use the Wallingford Animal Control anymore; if I want a rescue, I go to the Humane Society instead.

[Falls Plain Resident]

I also have an issue with the Meriden Animal Control, especially where adopting of the captured dogs is concerned.
This guy is NEVER around and claims to be "on the road" with "calls" except for between the hours of 3-4:00 p.m.---when most people are still at work!:(
He doesn't work on the weekends, so just exactly when are people supposed to be able to SEE the dogs available for adoption??:confused:

I went to see a dog that was listed as "URGENT", meaning it was on the euthanasia list due to no interest.:( He pointed the way and I was expected to go "serve myself". I asked to take the dog out of its cage and he said OK. I asked if he had a leash and he handed it to me! I asked if there were an area to take the dog and let it get to know me and he simply pointed to a room with two open doors, not what I had in mind for temperment testing the dog.I asked what he could tell me about the dog and he replied he didn't know anything about him, despite his having been there for quite some time.:confused: It was clear he couldn't care less about the dog being adopted vs being killed.:mad:

I was told that he doesn't come in until 3:00 in the afternoon, which explained all the dog poop in every kennel, not a particularly inviting environment for adopting pets.:( The dogs were absolutely wild, probably from being caged up all day with no access to outdoor runs and no human companionship.

Fortunately for this dog, the potential adopters I was assessing the dog for showed up later in the week---at the 3-4:00 hour when this dog could be saved from death---and adopted him!:)

I wonder how many other dogs are not so lucky.:( I wrote to the ex-mayor about looking into what this Animal Control guy does all day every day when he is not in the office. I can't believe he is so busy as to be unable to base his activities from that office and go out on calls from there, giving people half a chance to save these dogs. I was told he was considered part of the Police Department and so a union member.:eek:

Union member or not, I still think he should perform the duties of getting these captured dogs adopted rather than killed!:mad:

[jma]

Sadly, your story is the norm. I have yet to hear a compliment regarding our ACO's. It's time for Burgess to retire, and for Fresquez to find another job. I look at the websites for Wallingford Animal Control, and others like it. They truly care about animals, and try to adopt out as many as possible. I've seen first hand how our ACO's handle dogs. They could be arrested for animal cruelty, the way they toss them into their vans. They disgust me.

[madundertaker]

Sadly, your story is the norm. I have yet to hear a compliment regarding our ACO's. It's time for Burgess to retire, and for Fresquez to find another job. I look at the websites for Wallingford Animal Control, and others like it. They truly care about animals, and try to adopt out as many as possible. I've seen first hand how our ACO's handle dogs. They could be arrested for animal cruelty, the way they toss them into their vans. They disgust me.

I agree, these guys need to leave. Burgess is past his prime, way past!!!! Freasquez is only in this posistion since he failed miserably at trying to be a cop. When his gun accidentaly discharged, he was sent to the dogs, litterally. It's too bad for the animals, especially when it's animals that are ACO's.