Common Challenges of County Animal Control
Few services have such an array of structures throughout municipalities as animal control. Whether animal services falls under the health department, law enforcement, or is a standalone department, humane officers that operate at the county level usually have a large territory – and a large number of responsibilities to go with it.
Here’s a look at some challenges of county animal services.
Challenge #1: Large Jurisdictions
Whether your county serves a list of municipalities or just the county’s unincorporated areas, animal control officers in county-level animal services departments often have a large territory to cover. More square miles means more cases – not to mention more resources necessary to cover the geography, whether it’s officers, cars or fuel. Many counties find that an increase in population over a given time does not always correspond to an increase in resources to cover the expanded population.
Challenge #2: Wide Variety of Services Provided by Limited Resources
The greater the area, the greater the variety in cases, too. County level officers are responsible for enforcing not just the animal ordinances in the county code, but often municipal code and state law. That can be a lot for officers to keep track of and remember. The list of services provided by Animal Control departments often includes not just stray dogs, but neglect and abuse, animal licenses/registrations, nuisance wildlife, barking dogs, and more.
Some counties also deal with a large number of livestock cases, meaning the animal services department must be equipped to handle all sorts of animals: big and small, wild and domesticated. With a wide variety of services and ordinances, it also means that officers have to be good at a large number of tasks – which is no small feat!
Challenge #3: Lack of Transparency into Operations
Whether animal services lives within a bigger department, is a standalone department with limited staffing, or is outsourced to a nonprofit organization, transparency and visibility are a challenge for most departments. Citizens care about animals in their communities, and when something is astray, they want answers and accountability.
These answers can be hard to come by. One reason is that the operations of animal control are hard to disentangle from the activities of the overall department and its function. Another could be because there aren’t enough hours in the day to cover all the duties assigned to animal services and provide the necessary reports and details to make the public feel that their local government is being responsive to their needs.
Challenge #4: Poor Public Perception Due to Misinformation
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to animal control. Many citizens perceive officers to be the “bad guy” – someone there to impound their animal or make their life a little harder. Much of this perception is due to lack of education or misinformation – a lack of education that extends to knowing what services their county offers, how to access them, and what to reasonably expect.
Discover some ways to turn around common misconceptions in the article Changing Public Opinion About Animal Control.
The Benefits of Technology for Improving Animal Services
All animal services departments experience challenges. Thankfully, the development of software designed specifically for animal control has helped many organizations alleviate common issues by automating tasks such as case management and reporting.
At Comcate, we understand that animal services departments have a unique set of needs that are hard to manage in generic municipal government software. That’s why we set out to design software that specifically addresses the day-to-day needs of officers who are managing cases, tracking complaints and multi-tasking out in the field.
Too much work and not enough time? Animal control software allows officers to streamline operations, helping them to more efficiently move through their many responsibilities. Pre-uploaded ordinances and field capabilities allow officers to create cases on-the-go in 2 minutes or less.
Lacking transparency? Poor reporting? Our built-in reporting features aggregates data from cases to let county officials see a breakdown of what types of cases officers are working on. With real-time updates, you can also pull up individual cases to see the status of each.
If you’re interested in learning more about how animal control software could help your agency streamline animal services operations, fill out the form below to schedule a meeting with one of our consultants. We’ll walk you through a demo of our software, and learn more about your specific challenges to see if Comcate might be a good fit for your agency.
Schedule a Meeting with Comcate Today!
Learn how Comcate can help make government delivery simple, and offer a modern digital experience to help you increase transparency, efficiency, and performance across your departments. If you have any questions about implementing our software, please fill out the form below or call us directly at (415) 632-1248.
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