Lynn animal control calls on the rise

LYNN – Animal Control Officer Keith Sheppard said he is answering an average 13 calls a day compared to 10 a day last year and he said two simple explanations account for the increase.?It?s mostly irresponsible pet owners and incidents involving improperly stored trash,” said Sheppard.He prints out copies of every call fielded by an answering service and the stack of printouts for the first half of the year on his desk stands eight inches high. The calls range from 15 snakes in a Washington Street apartment to a raccoon who clawed roof shingles off a Cliff Street house.Sheppard said his calls include an average four dog bites a week, including dogs biting humans or other dogs.?Last week alone, we had at least two dog bites to children,” Sheppard said.Bite reports like the May 31 incident that Sheppard said required a 9-year-old girl to get 25 stitches to her face are not on the rise, but Sheppard said bite reports take hours to investigate. He said the owner of the “medium-sized aggressive dog” that bit the girl voluntarily euthanized the animal prior to a hearing scheduled to review the attack.Sheppard said attacks by dogs on other dogs and tussles between dogs and raccoons are “very common.” He said improperly stored trash attracts raccoons and people or dogs responding to garbage can commotion encounter the animal.?I take custody of a raccoon once a day,” he said.Sheppard tries to apprehend the raccoon with a catchpole or net and determine if the dog has been exposed to rabies.?A record of vaccination is vital to my decision on where to quarantine,” he said.Since starting his job last December, Sheppard has earned the nickname “The Cowboy,” said Parking Department Executive Assistant Mary Wright, for the constant procession of animals he corrals.?He doesn?t stop morning, noon and night, and even Saturday mornings. We have a lot of incidents in the city,” Wright said.Some of the more memorable ones for Sheppard include the Saunders Road swan he was forced to clasp in a bear hug so that he could attempt to bring the bird in for treatment after it injured its left wing. Sadly, the swan had to be euthanized after a suitable location for long-term recovery could not be found.When he responded to a call about a roof-wrecking raccoon, Sheppard found shredded shingles in the front yard and an angry homeowner. Summoned to another home on a different call, Sheppard found a dog stranded on a roof after it broke through a window.A Washington Street odor complaint brought Sheppard to an apartment last February where he found 15 snakes in large cages. He said smells associated with the serpents? food source – mice – prompted the call.Sheppard prioritizes calls with public safety taking top priority followed by animal safety calls and public nuisance calls. Animal safety calls center on abuse complaints and Sheppard said he responds quickly to these types of complaints. If he cannot act on them, he calls the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or the Animal Rescue League.?Animal abuse and neglect has been reduced in the last year,” he said.Dog owners – not dogs – are ultimately responsible for many of the calls Sheppard said he receives.?At the moment someone buys a dog, they need to commit themselves to properly raising and training that dog to be friendly and socialized,” he said.Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].