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Show j ''' - v' - ' w ' w" " ... -- i " - - --"""" j 1 1, 1 ? Am. "" ; ,jl i.ij , I f : ' ' " 4 ''III i f 'Vh : ' f l I I . it .' ' -'V. JACK LENT, Uintah County Animal Control officer, of-ficer, says much of the problem of animal control con-trol in the area is a lack of communication bet ween people and law enforcement agencies. If there is an animal control problem, people should call the Uintah County Sheriff's Office. Animal Control: Call the sheriff 's office If you need a dog catcher, who would you call? The dog catcher, right? Wrong. The Uintah County Animal Control is a division divi-sion of the Uintah County Sheriff's Department. Jack Lent, animal control officer, can be reached at any time of the day through the radio dispatch system used by the sheriff's department. 789-2511. Lent said an incident happened a couple cou-ple of days ago where some dogs were in with sheep, and the owner tried to call Lent's home. Lent was at work, and no one was at home. While the man was trying to decide what to do, the dogs were out ripping up the sheep, Lent said. Finally someone suggested the man call the sheriff since he couldn't reach Lent. Little did he know-that know-that was the proper thing to do in the first place. Even though there are people who do not know how to get a hold of animal control, con-trol, some must. Nearly 20 percent of all calls which come into the Uintah Coun ty Sheriff's Department is for animal control. Lent said spring is extremely bad for dog problems, because newborn lambs and calves are easy prey for dogs running runn-ing loose. He said the taste of blood can turn, an otherwise very tame dog, into a killer. Many times dogs can never again be trusted where sheep and calves are concerned. A person may never know their dog is capable of killing, but too often they are. One of the problems animal control runs into is problems that don't exist. A couple of weeks ago an alert came over the radio that a dog was foaming at the mouth, rabies was suspected. A Vernal City police officer responded as well as Lent. When they arrived at the scene, an old frail collie came walking up to the officer, of-ficer, wagged his tail and rolled over for the officer to pet him. This was the rabid dog Apparently it had slobbered while getting a drink and someone had mistaken it for rabies. Lent said he does not discourage peo ple from calling the sheriff about animal problems, but too often there is really no problem once he responds. He said the major problem, as he sees it, is a lack of communication between people and law enforcement agencies. Lent said his job is not to chase away a cat scatching on the porch, unless it is a continual nuisance. His job is to protect people and property and see that animals are kept under control. Uintah County law concerning dogs running around is, you shall not allow your dog to run at large. Since this is a little ambiguous, Lent says the best way to be sure you are in compliance, and the best w ay to protect your dog, is to keep it on a chain or in a kennel it can't get out of. There will continue to be animal control con-trol problems until people accept the responsibility for having their pets and keeping them under control, said Lent. He said the nationwide program to spay and neuter dogs has helped, but that alone will never cure the problem. Only people can do that. |