JAMESTOWN — For Rachel Hastings, one of the biggest adjustments in her new role as a social services officer with the Jamestown Police Department is shifting from her previous role as an educator to being a law enforcement officer. That’s what happened.
“But it was rewarding,” Hastings said. “We often hear about people noticing changes in animal enforcement in their town.”
Hastings is from Bird Island, Minnesota. After graduating from South Dakota State University, she worked at several animal hospitals in Jamestown and joined the Jamestown Police Department on July 1 as a community services officer.
As a social services officer, Hastings said she picks up wandering dogs and cats when their owners aren’t home and makes sure pet owners are complying with the law. She also makes sure Jamestown residents follow the city’s junk ordinance.
Jamestown Police Chief Scott Edinger said the social services officer’s job description has been reviewed and expanded to include enforcement of junk ordinances.
“Especially now that we’re literally staffed up, it gives us an opportunity for someone to focus more on some of the things we’ve been doing,” he said.
Edinger said the Jamestown Police Department has seen an increase in the number of animal bites of humans.
“If you get bitten by an animal, we want to be able to identify the owner and the animal and see if the animal has been vaccinated. That would save a lot of time and “It also saves the excruciating pain of a series of injections that someone would have to undergo if they were bitten by an animal that was not vaccinated against rabies,” he said.
He also said police want to identify repeat offenders whose animals are constantly on the go.
“We’re working more closely on those things now that we can focus more on them,” he said.
Edinger said getting a pet permit from the city will help police determine who the pet belongs to.
“We want to make sure that owners are reunited and that owners who are not responsible and do not properly care for their pets are held accountable,” he said.
Edinger said police haven’t had many opportunities to enforce pet permits in recent years.
“If you live in an established city that offers these services, there are ordinances that require you to license your animal and prove it is vaccinated,” he said.
Hastings said pet owners need to take responsibility for the care of their animals.
“There is no limit to the number of animals you can have in town, but you have to be able to afford every animal you have in town,” she said.
Hastings said it’s a common misconception that owners have a city permit if they have a rabies certificate. He said pet owners can bring their pet’s rabies certificate to the Jamestown Police Department and obtain a permit from the city for a fee. If a pet owner has more than two pets, there will be an additional kennel fee in addition to the license fee, she said.
“A lot of people don’t understand that you have to get a permit from the city for your pet,” she says.
Ms Hastings said she was “shocked” by the number of pets currently not vaccinated against rabies.
“This is a huge public health concern,” she says.
Hastings said pets can contract rabies from wild or domestic animals. She said rabies-infected animals biting people is a public health problem.
He said dogs that don’t have rabies vaccinations could be required to be professionally housed at a city pound or veterinary hospital. She said the quarantine would last about 10 days.
“It costs money,” she said. “It is much cheaper and it is the proper responsibility of the owner to keep the animal rabies vaccinated.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rabies is a deadly disease for humans.
“We have a very low infection rate in this area and we want to keep it that way,” she said.
Hastings said she picks up dogs and cats wandering around Jamestown and takes them to her breeding facility.
“Most of the time, it just wanders off and wanders, and you don’t know who it’s going to,” she says.
Once the detention period is over, Hastings will have to figure out what to do with the dogs and cats. If the animal is tagged, we will ensure that it is approved by the city and vaccinated against rabies and reunited with its owner.
“She’s definitely keeping a close eye on unregistered pets running around, and she’s using social media in a way we’ve never used before to reunite pet owners,” Edinger said. he said.
If they are strays, she tries to take them to rescue facilities like the James River Humane Society or Prairie Paws Rescue, but rescue shelters have limited space. If there is no place for the animal, it will be euthanized.
“I hate doing it. I hate it, but it’s just the harsh reality,” she said. “Until we start really cracking down on people being responsible for their pets, my hands are tied. There aren’t that many resources. People need to be responsible for their pets. .”
Another aspect of being a community service officer includes looking for residents who are violating junk ordinances.
“Everyone has to do their part,” she said. “When you have a pile of garbage, it attracts rodents. No one wants to live next to that garbage pile. … Be kind to your neighbors too by keeping your place picked up, so they will do the same.”
She said junk violations include dilapidated vehicles that have been sitting in backyards for years, piles of trash, excessive amounts of tires collected and doing nothing, and even large piles of sticks and branches. He said it was possible.
“Some people like what I think is junk, and some people think it’s yard art, so I’m still learning,” she said.
Depending on the property, cleaning can take weeks, months or even years, Edinger said. He said the police department is working with the Jamestown City Council to strengthen the junk ordinance.
She also said that as the position evolves, police will be relying on her work to enforce parking downtown.
