GUEST COMMENTARY

RICHARD WINGER/VERO BEACH CITY COUNCILMAN

A vocal few are saying that after the sale of Vero Electric, our fine city can no longer afford the safety we get from having an animal control officer in the Vero Beach City Police Department.  I recently saw an “Inside Vero” poll showing 94% of almost 400 respondents think it is imperative that we keep this function.  So, when I say a vocal few want to discontinue this safety function, I say it on good authority.

What happens when our city residents are confronted with poisonous snakes, or rabid raccoons, as we have had in Central Beach, or simply an animal, whether domestic or wild, hit by a car that is suffering?   Who catches and takes alligators into the wild?  What happens when a resident cannot afford to pay a commercial enterprise to help them with non-domesticated animals?

What I don’t think is generally understood is that at least when it comes to getting help with wild animals there is no alternate to the Vero Beach Police, because the County’s limited animal control services only deal with “domestic animals.”   Below is the Indian River County definition of its function.

The Animal Control division’s function is to enforce the local regulations regarding the possession, ownership, care and custody of domestic animals within Indian River County in order to ensure public safety and assist in prevention of animal cruelty. Its duties include receiving, capturing, and impounding any domestic animal running or roaming at large, maintaining an animal licensing program and ascertaining adherence to animal vaccination laws.

In other words, if you live in the county, there is no go-to-person for a wild animal issue.  True, there is a County alternative for domestic animals.  But, I wager the care for domestic animals is superior in the City because of our animal control function.

What few people realize is that the city’s current animal control service is offered 24 hours a day with little cost to the city, other than the salary of one animal control police officer.  Eliminating this service in order to trim the Police Department budget is just not something we should do under any guise.  To do so would be pennywise and pound-foolish.  Wild animals can be as perilous to our welfare as criminal activity by humans.  We need animal protection, too, and that is one of the many reasons why we have such a fine police force.

We are blessed to live in a community with abundant wild life.   I think these animals are a treasure, from rabbits, to turkeys, and snakes to opossums and raccoons.  I have had welcome visits in my yard from bobcats and otters.  However; occasionally, there can be an animal problem due to illness or injury which can cause the animal to become dangerous.

These wild animals are part of the experience of living in this lovely place, as compared to living in the South Florida sprawl.    Our wildlife is as much a part of the charm of Vero Beach as are our graceful live oaks.   Our natural and beautiful environs are part of the reason we chose to live here.  But choosing to live here, we need to face the fact that we need an animal control function to deal with wild critters when there is a safety issue.