Dog control system ‘broken’ – Sheriff’s deputies deny rescue of emaciated animals in Hampton

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One of two emaciated dogs found abandoned in a Town of Hampton house is seen in this photo provided by former town dog control officer Richard Cole. Cole said he resigned as DCO after his attempts to rescue the animals were stymied by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Richard Cole has resigned as the Town of Hampton dog control officer after he said he was prevented from rescuing two emaciated dogs by Washington County sheriff’s deputies.

Cole said deputies threatened to arrest him if he seized the dogs, despite having the property owners’ permission to remove them and a warrant authorizing him to do so.

“What is the point of taking this totally thankless job if I cannot help dogs that are clearly in distress and need immediate help?” Cole wrote in a Facebook post describing the incident.

Sheriff’s office representatives did not respond by deadline to a request for comment on the situation, but a law enforcement officer with another agency who was familiar with the matter said deputies had merely cautioned Cole about the potential legal ramifications if he entered the house and took the dogs without the permission of the tenant.

Cole announced his resignation at the March 16 Town Board meeting.

According to Cole, he was called to the scene on Feb. 24 by an elderly couple who were concerned that their grandson, whom they had allowed to live in a house they owned, had abandoned two dogs when he moved out. Cole went to the house and, with the property owners’ permission, entered the house and found two emaciated dogs without food or water in rooms that were dotted with feces.

The property owners wanted to press animal cruelty charges against their grandson, so Cole said he contacted the sheriff’s office.

The deputy who responded refused to go into the house, saying because the grandson had lived there for more than 30 days, he had an expectation of privacy and would have to give permission for anyone to enter the building – even though he had apparently moved out and had not had a lease, Cole said.

The deputy also said it would take several days or more to get a search warrant and execute it and suggested Cole try to contact the tenant directly, Cole said.

Contacting the tenant produced an additional complicating factor – the dogs belonged to the tenant’s girlfriend, Cole said. The girlfriend was contacted and agreed to take care of the dogs – which she did not do, he said.

Cole said he made a second attempt to rescue the dogs, this time armed with a warrant issued by the town justice. A different deputy who accompanied him the second time claimed the warrant was filled out incorrectly and refused to help remove the dogs, Cole said.

“Wanting nothing more than to help my community and the dogs within my community and finding the system setting up roadblock after roadblock to help animals truly in need, I came to the difficult decision to resign as dog control officer,” Cole said.

“The entire system is broken; seriously broken,” Cole said. “Every single person, including myself, that was involved in this fiasco failed in some form or manner to be fully knowledgeable about our jobs and duties and the law.”

The confusion stems in part from the laws governing dogs, Cole said. The rules for dog control officers are found in state Agriculture and Markets Law, but animal cruelty laws are found in the state Penal Law. Neither dog control officers nor law enforcement officers are given sufficient training in these laws, which are often vague and at times seem contradictory, he said.

Cole was supported in his complaints by Hampton Supervisor David O’Brien and Town Board member Donald Sady – both themselves former dog control officers. O’Brien recalled receiving no guidance or equipment when he took on the post and Cole said that aside from receiving a crate and a capture pole, things had not changed when he took the position last year.

Cole was “caught in a bad situation,” with his concern that the dogs could die if immediate action was not taken struggling with rules that seem designed to prevent the needed quick action, O’Brien said.

“I know how thankless being dog control officer is,” O’Brien said.

Rachel Brown, a K-9 officer with the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, was appointed to replace Cole at the town’s March 16 meeting. Brown said one of her priorities will be to create a manual spelling out the duties and limitations of the dog control post so that anyone taking on the job will have a clearer picture of what they can and cannot do. She said she plans to work with the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society to create the manual.

Sady suggested the manual be distributed to other municipalities and law enforcement agencies to help create a uniform system of dealing with dog complaints.

“The story does have a happier ending.” Cole added as a postscript to his Facebook post. “(W)hen I decided to resign I posted something on my Facebook profile about being discouraged due to not being able to help abused dogs in need and a community member that happened to know the people and dogs involved stepped up, intervened on behalf of the dogs and got them out of that house and into better loving homes. But the system is still broken. Who will help the next dog in need of help?”