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Animal control officer on the prowl in Smithfield, Hyde Park, North Logan By
Kari Gray North Park Police Department has hired a new animal control officer for Smithfield, Hyde Park and North Logan after many calls mandated it. Rocky Taylor was hired Aug. 28 to respond to animal control calls and work with the three cities' police departments, and occasionally with Logan police. North Park Police Chief Kim Hawkes said the police felt there was a strong enough need for another officer to take over all the animal control calls. He said this would also be a chance to educate community members on proper animal control and encourage them to follow animal ordinances, such as licensing pets. Taylor said unlicensed pets are one of the main problems. He deals with many roaming dogs, cats and they cannot be returned to their owners unless they are licensed. Identification is also important if an animal damages property, so its owner can be held responsible. Taylor handles a variety of animals daily . He once had to rescue a rare species of bat from the ceiling of the Space Dynamics Lab atrium at Utah State University. Sheila Falflev, administrative assistant in the Space Dynamics Lab, reported the bat. She said Taylor was calm and explained things and even "the bat was very cooperative." But Taylor also says he's had "more trouble with people than animals." He said he had a person express a dislike of dogcatchers, and later learned the reason was a dogcatcher had once taken away the person's dog and it had died at the impound. One reason Taylor took this job, after working for 20 years as an adult probation officer for Utah State Corrections, was his knowledge of animals from growing up on a farm. He tended to horses, cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, dogs and nine or 10 cats. Taylor said he enjoys working with animal control. "I haven't been bitten yet."
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