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Board adopts policy: health department staff will not assume animal‑control duties
Summary
After describing an incident that highlighted risks, the board unanimously endorsed a director‑proposed policy that public health staff will not pick up, handle or transport animals when the animal control officer is unavailable and will instead refer residents to qualified wildlife removal services.
The Board of Health voted unanimously to adopt a new policy clarifying that public health staff will not perform animal‑control officer (ACO) duties when the ACO is unavailable.
Matt, the director of public health, told the board that a recent incident while the ACO was on vacation underscored the operational and safety limits of assigning ACO duties to health staff. "The health department staff will not assume the duties of the animal patrol officer during periods when the ACO was unavailable because those responsibilities require specialized training, certifications, equipment, and operational authority that fall aside the scope of health department functions," he said.
The board endorsed the policy and instructed staff to notify other town offices, including police and fire, and to publish guidance for residents. The policy states that non‑emergency wildlife or animal removal requests will be referred to the animal control webpage listing qualified wildlife removal providers; in emergency situations the police will be called back up as appropriate.
The motion to endorse the animal control protocol was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.
