Behind the Badge: Helping stray animals find their ‘fur-ever homes’
SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah (ABC4) – When you have an animal problem, you call animal control. The job tends to bring out officers with a love for animals, some of whom are pained to see those pets in rough situations and end up slipping through the cracks.
ABC4 shares what those emotions are like for an officer with South Salt Lake Animal Services, in this edition of Behind the Badge.
On any given day, South Salt Lake Animal Services is home to more than two dozen strays or abandoned animals. Cute cats and adorable dogs are all in a day’s work for Animal Control Officer Cassie Liddell. Her job is to help the animals at the South Salt Lake Animals Services find their “fur-ever home.”
Behind the Badge: Reconstructing a car crash
Half the job is helping rehabilitate animals found on the street or that had demands their owners couldn’t meet. The other half is answering animal calls – Liddell even responded to one while being interviewed with ABC4. She answered the call to pick up a German Shepherd someone spotted under a motorhome.
“I think that some animals need different tools that people don’t look to trainers to get or they don’t know the right direction to turn so unfortunately we end up with some of these animals that just are misunderstood,” said Liddell.
It’s not the first time they’ve picked up this same dog. Once pets like the German Shepard arrive, they often wait for months at a time before someone claims them or adopts them into their home.
Behind the Badge: Phasing out the iconic fire pole
Liddell said the job can get pretty hard, emotionally.
“I’m an animal lover and I can see how hard these animals want to please people and they want to be with people. They really really want that attention,” said Liddell.
She said they do what they can to help all the animals find a home, but the time after the holidays can be hard. Drop-offs go up and adoptions slow down. It can make the shelter a crowded place.
“We try to fit as many as we can, and help as many as we can,” Liddell said.
As much as Liddell loves working with them every day, she knows the animals are better off with a forever family, and it’s a good day at work when she has to tell them goodbye.
If you want to adopt a pet, Liddell said be aware of the 3-3-3 rule. It takes three days for pets to decompress from the shelter, three weeks to learn the routine in your house and then three months for them to finally feel secure and trust their surroundings. So, when you bring them home, she encourages you to be patient.
To adopt from South Salt Lake, click on this link to South Salt Lake Animal Services.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
