Sam Fletcher reports on the hiring of two new Island County animal control officers for the Whidbey News-Times.
After a year-and-a-half vacancy, the Island County Sheriff’s Office has brought on two new animal control officers to restore and revamp the program.
Whidbey Islander Tammy Esparza ran a farm for 17 years, she said. She was working 9-1-1 dispatch when the previous Whidbey animal control officer, Carol Barnes, left. She wanted to apply but not until they raised the pay rate.
For 25 years, the new Camano Island Animal Control Officer Dylan Shipley maintained the grounds of California state parks. When his wife accepted a job on Camano last year, they made the jump.
“I come with a deep respect for public service and public safety,” Shipley said.
They Said It
The new officers have been onboarded in a unique situation, Sheriff Rick Felici said. He had very few applicants in almost two years, leaving the hires without a predecessor to guide them.
“We’re kind of building this as we sail it, or whatever the phrase is,” he said.
Esparza and Shipley will undergo animal control officer academy training this month, he said. Afterward, they will work toward 24/7 coverage.
Until then, the sheriff’s office has been “pouring tons of local training,” Felici said.
The job is called animal control, Felici said, but “animal services” is probably a better term. The new officers cover everything from dog bites and loose animals to criminal animal abuse and negligence cases. The program covers both law enforcement and community functions.
“It’s not, ‘Hey, Island County got a new dog catcher,’” Felici said. “It’s ‘Island County is training two new professionals in a field that is way bigger than people think.’”
He’s looking forward to the department’s growth.
“We’re pretty jazzed about the vision going forward. We’ve got two great people,” Felici said. “I think a year from now we’ll look back at this and see how far we’ve come.”
