HOULTON, Maine — Animal control officers have come a long way since the days of chasing loose dogs.
While today’s ACOs must still contend with stray canines on the run, they must also deal with a wide array of all types of animal complaints.
Thankfully, the Houlton Police Department has finally filled its vacant animal control officer post with a skilled veteran. Dave Rairdon started with Houlton in December, 2016, but has been serving as an animal control officer for other towns for the past 15 years.
“What’s great with David is that he also contracts out with other communities, so he came to us with lots of experience,” Houlton Police Chief Tim DeLuca said.
Dave Rairdon has been busy chasing owners of unlicensed dogs in his first few months as Houlton’s Animal Control Officer. He brings 15 years of experience to the position.
(Joseph Cyr)
Rairdon works on a part-time basis for the Houlton Police Department, logging 20 hours per week, and also serves as the ACO for Ludlow and New Limerick. Houlton’s animal officer is also responsible for the town of Hammond.
“I knew Houlton was looking for an animal officer, so I thought I would try my hand at something a little bit bigger,” he explained. “This position certainly has been a lot bigger than those other towns.”
The first few months of the year are spent working on licensing dogs in Houlton. Rairdon said the number of calls coming into the Houlton Police Department for animal complaints was “astronomical.”
“We get calls here for everything from your typical loose dogs and stray cats, to skunks, raccoons, you name it,” he said. “We even get complaints about people with free range chickens coming onto other people’s yards”
Houlton’s ACO is responsible for all domestic animals, as well as livestock — including goats, horses, and of course chickens.
“Most generally, any call that I have been on, talking to the parties involved has usually taken care of the issue,” he said. “People are really quite good at taking care of their animals. But there are some people who don’t like to be told what to do.”
One of the most time-consuming issues is notifying people that their dog’s license needs to be renewed, Rairdon said. Maine law stipulates that all dogs must be licensed by Dec. 31, for the following year.
“Most towns give everyone a grace period of 31 days, which brings us to Jan. 31,” he explained. “Anytime after that, we can start issuing summons. Once I get the list (after the 31-day period), I will call the owner and then mail them a letter, which gives the person another three to four weeks to get their dog registered.”
After Jan. 31, a $25 late fee is added on to all registrations. The average cost to license a dog is $6 for a neutered animal and $9 for if it is not neutered. If a person gets summonsed, that fine is typically $75 per animal.
Rairdon said when he started checking the list in January, there were 358 dogs that were not licensed. As of March 23, Rairdon had gotten that number down to 32. The town has about 1,300 dogs.
In comparison, Ludlow had two unregistered dogs, while New Limerick had nine.
One of the main excuses people give Rairdon for not licensing their dogs is because the animal is not up to date on its rabies vaccination, which is a requirement for any license.
In his three months on the job as Houlton’s ACO, stray cats and dogs are the most common complaints. Raccoon issues are also fairly common at this time of year, he said, since many people still have bird feeders out, which provide a source of food for animals waking from hibernation.
“I also encourage people to keep their garage doors closed,” he added. “This is the time of year skunks and racoons are looking for a place to nest to have little ones.”
