[jhkjurter]

Spotlight: Animal officer serves to protect

BY SAMANTHA BAEHR | OCTOBER 15, 2010 7:20 AM



Caboose, a healthy-looking pit bull, playfully tugged on Willa Hamilton in hopes of getting an outside play date.

Although petite, Hamilton easily slip Caboose into his harness and led the dog to the greenery.

Caboose appeared to be a happy dog, but his past may not have been. The dog is missing part of his ear and has several scars, which may have resulted from being involved in dogfights, Hamilton said.

“We would never have known this dog was suffering if someone had not called and told us,” she said as she held Caboose close.

Hamilton, 28, is an animal services officer at the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center; her job is to protect both animals and community members as well as educate people and enforce state animal laws.

She said she prefers the title animal services officer over her official title, animal control officer, because the latter can have a bad connotation.

Hamilton has held the position for three years. She used to be a temporary kennel assistant, and she volunteered at the shelter for six years before landing a job there.

Hamilton’s love for animals has been a lifelong affair. Her father always brought home animals when she was a child — once it was a box full of kittens.

While volunteering at the shelter during her time as a University of Iowa student, she said, her desire to help the shelter continued to grow.

“I actually started to skip classes to be at the shelter,” she said and laughed. “That’s when I knew I had to make a career out of it.”

Now that she has achieved her aspiration, her personality and passion makes her a good fit for the job, said Chad Mason, an animal services assistant at the shelter.

“Willa really cares about all animals,” he said. “And she isn’t afraid of anything or anyone.”

Although Hamilton is trained for difficult problems, she said, it can be a little frightening walking into a potentially unstable situation. People aren’t always happy to see a uniformed officer come into their home and take their animal, she said.

Misha Goodman, the director of the animal facility, agreed the job is challenging and always changing.

“Officers also have to be part psychologist,” Goodman said. “They are dealing with people who may be emotional for different reasons.”

But Hamilton wants to show the public she is there for them — that she’s not a badge that wants to come and take away their animals. One of her favorite parts of the job is being a resource for people, she said.

“I want to educate people on pet ownership and help with their problems,” Hamilton said. “The shelter is a place for people to turn to when they are in need.”

It can be stressful when people refuse advice, and the number of animals at the shelter keeps increasing, Hamilton said.

But she said she wants to relieve the negative stigma of what people may think an animal officer is. For her, it’s all about helping.

“It’s important for me to speak up for those who do not have a voice,” Hamilton said. “We need to help those that are in need.”

Spotlight: Animal officer serves to protect - The Daily Iowan

[soipguibbom]

Ya know....I'm sick and tired of the generalized thinking that if a dog has 2 scars and a clump of fur missing, it was either a fighting dog or a bait dog used in forced dogfights.

One of my old dogs had some scarring all down his front leg and on his paw. Was this Shar Pei/Cane Corso mix a bait dog? Naw. He was stubborn and obstinate and tried to get something underneath a chain-link fence and got his leg stuck and tore it up trying to free it. Did my Dogo have a missing leg all because he was just a ginormous "pit" forced to fight? Naw. He lost it due to a hog hunting accident despite his previous owner taking every precaution for his safety.

Was one of my foster "pit bulls" yet another dog fighter because her face and neck were covered in scars? Naw. She didn't like cats and some idiot who did not love their own cat let it roam loose and those two got into a serious scrap with the cat winning Round 1.

Let it go all you bleeding hearts out there. If you want to do good, then do some good. But don't go making up stories all because you have to write one in order to make yourself be a "hero". That's not helping anyone except your own pathetic little ego.

If AC officers really want to help people and animals, then they would start with attempting to educate them instead of taking their animals and calling them dogfighters.

[MiniBoy]

Bravo!!!