R. I. P.

In the post for Oct. 10, “No rest in peace,” I wondered what happens to the bodies of dead animals removed from roads in town. Now I have specific answers from Chris Buck, Lawrence Township’s animal control officer (ACO) for the last 21 years.

For deer, the biggest animal, it depends on what kind of road the body is found on or near – municipal, county or state. A private vendor is authorized to pick up and dispose of the bodies of deer on or near municipal roads. He bills the township for the service. Workers with the Dept. of Transportation pick up deer bodies from county and state roads.

Lawrence’s ACO picks up the bodies of birds, raccoons and other wildlife. The bodies are double-bagged, placed in a dumpster and eventually wind up in a landfill. (Interesting to note that with injured, sick or orphaned birds or wild mammals, the birds are taken to a township resident who handles them; mammals go to the Wildlife Center on Route 29.)

The bodies of dogs, cats and other animals who may belong to someone are checked for ID (collars, tattoos or micro-chips); when there’s ID, Buck contacts the owner. Bodies without ID are each are placed in a bag (with descriptive info on the outside) and stored in a freezer that Lawrence and Hopewell share. Then if people ask about an animal companion, the body can be turned over if desired.

After a fixed time, bodies go to Pet Meadows, Hamilton, for cremation and the township is billed.

Case closed – with thanks to Chris.
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(Note: This blog has occasionally mentioned helpful people in the world of animals. There are more to come, starting soon with a sketch of Chris Buck that will include what her job as an Animal Control Officer entails.)

"Oh, give me a home . . ."

“Hopewell Twp. close to purchasing land for animal shelter,” according to a story in last Monday’s Trenton Times. It sounded like the long-awaited next word on a shelter to house animals from a few communities, including Lawrence Twp.

The three towns mentioned in the first story, some months ago, may have included Ewing too, although Monday's story quotes Mayor Jack Ball, who says his town is working on building its own shelter, and “time is of the essence.”

However, Ewing council member Bert Steinmann spoke in support of a regional shelter run by a nonprofit organization. He claims having said “from day one” that “we” (presumably, the local government) “should not be in the animal business” – a belief that innumerable animal rights activists in the area would immediately agree with.

Two such different opinions from reps of Ewing township only add to the impression that one hand doesn’t know (or care?) what the other hand is doing and/or that whoever is in charge there (mayor or council?) is up for grabs and/or that Ewing reps speak with forked tongues -- all of which has sure seemed to be the case throughout the current brouhaha over Ewing's animal shelter.

Adding to the advisability of taking all this news of a shelter site with a large grain of salt – maybe a giant salt lick would be better – the animal control officer of one community likely to be involved says the story came as a total surprise to her; she hadn’t heard a thing about it.

So does that mean politicians know more about animal shelters than their towns' own animal control officers? Will they involve the ACOs only after the plan is final, if then? Any chance the ACOs might contribute questions and ideas – call it expertise -- before decisions are made?
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