March 28, 2024

The Life of an ACO: Three Jobs, Many Hats and a Wayward Water Buffalo

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Rehoboth—Calmness and patience are two of the most important qualities an animal control officer (ACO) can possess. Both go a long way in dealing with uncooperative animals and disgruntled people. Rob Johnson, Rehoboth's ACO, appears to have both in abundance.

Beyond these helpful personal qualities, the actual duties of an animal control officer are spelled out by state and local regulations and animal control officers are required to be updated annually on any changes or new requirements. Sometimes, Johnson will encounter someone who has “misconceptions” about how the ACO should be carrying out his job, a situation where tact comes into play.

“Ninety-five percent of people are awesome,” says Johnson, “but you'll have a handful who, I think, may know they're in the wrong but just want to see their remedy applied to a situation. They may not understand that I'm required by law to go about things a certain way.”

Johnson was appointed ACO in 1995, taking a year off a year later so he and wife Bonnie could start a family. Over the years, they've raised three children—Brieanne, 22, newly graduated from Johnson and Wales University (JWU), and Julia, 20, a senior, and Preston, 18, a freshman, both at JWU. Somewhere in there he found time to become a state licensed Problem Animal Control Agent. After that year-off, Johnson returned as assistant to ACO Jane Foster but was named her full successor when she retired in 2016. Brian McKearney is Johnson's assistant. And Sandy Ruscetta, just as she had done for Foster, volunteers her time to keep the shelter clean and the animals fed, shuttle animals back and forth to the vet when needed, and keep track of volunteers who do any number of appropriate tasks.

If you think you may have seen Johnson behind the wheel of a white Flynn's Pest Control truck and a town Forestry Department truck as well as the ACO's truck, you were right. He is also the town's tree warden and holds a job with Flynn's. But his first love is obviously the animals. And for them, he's on call 24/7.

“I love it,” says Johnson of his job. “It's always something different. You have to be focused all of the time because feral cats give you little leeway and skunks will make you pay.”

It also helps to be hyper vigilant when called out to herd any number of cows, horses, goats and, in one instance an emu, out of the roadway—a livestock escape is usually a weekly occurrence. When such occurs at night, the danger quotient rises. In fact, night-time livestock breakouts are the most dangerous aspect of Johnson's job, even with police officers helping out, he says, “because the animals are in and out of the road and you are trying to prevent the animal—and yourself—from getting hit.” Whether its livestock or a deer strike, handling the situation is the ACO's responsibility.

Perhaps the most unusual call-out Johnson's had involved a water buffalo, which had escaped its pasture and was in no hurry to move out of the road. This particular beast has wandered from his pasture a few time over the years and corralling it usually takes time. Because water buffaloes are so intractable, Johnson says, “you've got to be patient and just walk behind it to get it going in the right direction. Sometimes you can lure it with a bucket of grain. That works about 75 percent of the time.”

Each October, the ACO is required by law to conduct barn inspections, and Rehoboth has 350 of them, husbanding cows, horses, chickens, goats and llamas. Dog kennels—anyone that has more than four dogs must have a kennel license—are also inspected annually and, more recently, so are doggy daycare centers, which must be licensed as a business.

With all of that on his plate, its no wonder Johnson spends only about one percent of his time actually in his shelter office, and that's to check his messages, which will set his agenda for the day or the week, and see to the shelter's guests.

These days, there are far fewer stray animals than 30 years ago, he says. At that time, a more rural Rehoboth was a magnet for people who wanted to drop off animals, whether they were fighting dogs or pets people just wanted to be rid of because they never realized the responsibility that comes with owning one. The town was also populated by large colonies of feral cats.

“Back then, too, there were pet stores that sold kittens and pups that were bought and later abandoned,” he says. “People today are more conscious of what's involved in caring for a pet. And they're also spaying and neutering more.”

Having a dog in the animal shelter is relatively rare these days, and those once-large feral cat populations have been dramatically reduced thanks to a cooperative relationship the shelter has with Project Spay.

Johnson stresses that the animal shelter is not a place for people to turn in their animals. “The shelter is for strays, not for owned animals,” he says. Unwanted pets can be brought to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), where they may be adopted. Any resident who becomes aware of an animal that's been abandoned after its family moved away should call the ACO. In addition, nuisance animals or emergencies should be referred to the ACO through the police department.

Johnson works cooperatively with his counterparts from surrounding towns in a sort-of mutual aid relationship. Last summer, the Rehoboth shelter was used to quarantine the nine Dighton dogs involved in the death of the Rehoboth teen who'd been caring for them. Dighton has a small shelter that couldn't accommodate the animals at the time andRehoboth's has a multitude of secure kennels and runs. The building was temporarily closed until the fate of the dogs could be determined.

“Our shelter was a great size to be able to take them in and still have plenty of room to quarantine them from the other animals we had,” Johnson says.

Although animal control has its own budget within the town budget, it also takes donations, which go into the budget's Animal Welfare Fund. Large donations of $500-$1,000 are made annually by foundations devoted to animal upkeep. Donations also come in from girl and boy scout troops, the Horsemens Association and annual neighborhood drives run by children. Frequently, grateful residents who have been assisted by the ACO will make a small donation. And a box in the library lobby is often filled with dog and cat food and treats, blankets and other items. In the case of one old dog whose owner died and is currently being fostered by a shelter volunteer, a relative of the deceased provides funds to the foster to cover the dog's expenses.

Currently, the shelter is only open when Sandy Ruscetta is there early in the morning for a couple of hours and when Johnson comes in later in the afternoon. Of course, anyone can call to make an appointment to see an animal at the shelter. Johnson and the Rehoboth Animal Advocates (RAA) are working on a plan to have RAA members staff the shelter for a couple of hours each day—but only when the shelter is housing adoptable animals—to provide anyone wanting to visit a window of opportunity to do so. It's one more way the shelter seeks to liaison with other groups for the benefit of local animals.

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