Post by -|Noel|- on Aug 11, 2006 16:18:37 GMT -5
Sgt. Charlie Daye
Animal Investigations Supervisor
When Sgt. Charlie Daye arrived at the Animal Services Unit (ASU) seven months ago to lead its team of highly trained investigators, he was looking, he says, for something "completely different." With 23 years of police work under his belt, Sgt. Daye had been face to face with child abusers, murderers and thieves. For some officers that experience would make chasing animal abusers seem like child's play, but Sgt. Daye is vocal about his feeling that people who mistreat animals are just as guilty as other types of criminals and the thrill of pursuing them hasn't decreased.
As one of a half-dozen police officers assigned to assist the "non-sworn" (aka "civilian") employees of the Animal Services Unit, Sgt. Daye is the consummate cop: righteous, self-assured and fearless.
Dierdra "Buffy" Jorgensen
Animal Cruelty Investigator
Caring for animals is in Buffy Jorgensen's blood. Her father spent 25 years as the executive director of the Humane Society of Greater Miami, and Buffy volunteered there for over a decade — cleaning kennels, administering shots, answering phones — whatever was required of her. Buffy's childhood home also served as a rehabilitation station for injured animals that required constant care. Puppies and kittens were obvious candidates for fostering, but Buffy also tended to rabbits, doves, armadillos, lizards … even alligators.
Buffy has been at the ASU for over a year, and although she has the air of a woman who's seen it all, she readily admits that there's "probably much worse out there." Most frustrating to her are dead ends, which are "cases where you have an animal that died and you're almost certain that someone caused that death — either by poisoning, foul play or some other way, but there [are] no witnesses, no information, nothing. It's a non-case." However, when Buffy does close a case, she says it's "the best thing in the world. You talk to somebody and you tell them 'you've got three days to fix this,' and you go back three days later and everything's the way it should be."
Sergio "Tort" Tortoriello
Animal Cruelty Investigator
Animal cruelty investigator Sergio Tortoriello is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He's also one of the few real "veterans" of the Animal Services Unit, where he's worked for the past 18 years. For Tort, the leap from Air Force to ASU was a logical one. Recruited right out of high school, Tort trained to become a veterinary technician and spent the next four years helping airmen care for their family pets and tending to the German shepherds who guarded the planes. Although the work with animals appealed to him, the rigid hierarchy of the military didn't. "I didn't like people telling me what to do!" Tort admits with a laugh. Fortunately, the Miami-Dade Animal Services Unit offered Tort the independence he wanted, and when his Air Force assignment ended, he was able to hit the ground running as an animal control officer.
It was at the ASU that Sergio became "Tort" after his first supervisor gave up trying to pronounce his multi-syllabic last name. Tort was born in Mexico and speaks fluent Spanish. He and his wife of 20 years have adopted multiple dogs, the most recent of which came from one of Tort's cruelty cases. Jake, a boxer, had been living in his own feces, was nearly 30 pounds underweight, and had a metal collar piercing the flesh around his neck when Tort rescued him. For Tort, Jake is a constant reminder of why he does the job he does. "My favorite part of the job is trying to make an animal's life better," he explains, "and I expect everyone to take care of their pets like I do mine."
Fernando Casadevall
Pitbull Investigator
It's ironic that Fernando Casadevall is the ASU's pitbull investigator, because he and his veterinarian father bred the much-maligned dogs for a decade before it became illegal to do so in Miami-Dade County. (He jokes that he's been bitten twice by angry Chihuahuas, and never once by a pit.) Still, after a few well-publicized cases of pitbull maulings in Miami-Dade, the county passed an ordinance in 1989 outlawing the breed.
But as the door on his family's breeding business closed, another opened for Fernando at the ASU. He began cleaning cages there in 1990, worked his way up to animal control officer in 1993, and was ultimately promoted to "Pitbull Investigator" in 2001. His job now is to investigate reports of pitbull sightings, issue hefty fines and ensure that the dogs are removed from the county within 48 hours. In the process of clearing the county of the breed (an admittedly mammoth task), Fernando also hopes to clamp down on the violent and illegal dog-fighting rings that prize pitbulls for their muscular bodies and strong jaws.
Deanna Graff
Animal Control Officer (ACO)
At 8 years old, Deanna Graff remembers wrestling a baby rabbit from the mouth of a neighborhood cat. Unfortunately, the bunny was badly injured and died soon after. "It was a disappointment," Deanna says, "but I didn't give up." Sure enough, 30 years later, she's still rescuing animals, but now she has an official uniform, a county truck and an ASU-issued catchpole to help her achieve better results. "I don't approach it like a job," she says, "for me, this is what I love doing."
Deanna began working in animal hospitals nearly a decade ago and says she "was always wanting to learn more." At a hospital in South Carolina, in fact, she worked her way up from cleaning kennels to administering shots and performing other vet tech duties. Now, Deanna is one of the few animal control officers at the ASU who puts down her catchpole once a week and volunteers to help clean cages for a shift.
Kathy Labrada
Animal Control Officer
Animal control officer Kathy Labrada maintains a "death file" — a set of photographs of family pets that were hit by cars or mauled to death by other animals. It's not a morbid curiosity that inspired her collection, but rather a desire to maintain her resolve in the face of conflict. When she returns DALs — dogs at large — to their homes and issues the requisite $150 fine, pet owners often argue that they shouldn't have to pay. They may insist that their dog "just got loose this once" or has never been a danger to anyone. But Kathy knows the truth: "They don't see what we see. They don't see them run over in the middle of the street day after day after day." So, she takes digital photos of the remains with her ASU-issued camera and keeps them in a file for her reference. "It keeps me mad," she explains, "it keeps me driven."
Caring for animals is in Kathy's blood; she grew up raising horses, and spent 10 years as a veterinary technician before joining the ASU two years ago. Although Kathy is one of the few part-time ACOs on staff at the ASU, her dedication to the job is more obvious than most: She doesn't take a lunch break, she's always neatly squared away in her uniform, and she even keeps her pretty auburn hair cut very short so she can better deal with the stifling heat and mess that comes with the territory.
Lisa Yambrich
Animal Control Officer
Lisa Yambrich has been an animal control officer at the Animal Services Unit for over five and a half years, but her love of animals began long before then. After helping out at a family friend's boarding kennel when she was 7, Lisa finally managed to persuade her parents to rescue a basset hound, Sambo, from a local shelter.
Most of Lisa's professional experience was gained when she worked as an animal control officer at the Hamilton County SPCA in Cincinnati, Ohio. There she developed her animal skills not only with dogs, but a wide range of wildlife, from raccoons and possums to a baby black bear that she confiscated after it was purchased illegally from a flea market.
Gary Boyett
Animal Control Officer
Gary Boyett is a man of contrasts. He shaves his head, sports several tattoos and rides a black-and-chrome-plated Honda Shadow motorcycle. Beneath his striking exterior, though, lies a gentlemanly young man who loves his job, won awards as a teenager for his "Grand Champion Swine" in the 4-H club, and has an abiding love for animals.
Gary grew up in Miami-Dade County and joined the Animal Services Unit soon after high-school graduation. The job not only meant better benefits, but also offered the opportunity for growth to those who worked hard and excelled at their jobs. In fact, Gary spent only a year as an animal care specialist, cleaning cages and tending to the animals, before earning a promotion to the more challenging position of ACO. "Everything about it is exciting," he says.
Lt. Patrick Reynolds
Wildlife Investigator
Lt. Patrick Reynolds is the quintessential fish and wildlife officer. His childhood is a collection of fond memories of camping, fishing, boating and swimming in his native Buffalo, N.Y. Today, Lt. Reynolds finds himself a 24-year veteran of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a job that allows him to continue enjoying and spending his time in nature.
"I still wake up in the morning and have to ask myself if this job is true," Patrick says of his 24-year stint as a wildlife investigator.
Todd Hardwick
Owner, Pesky Critters Wildlife Control
Born and raised in the urban jungle of Miami, Fla., 40-year-old Todd Hardwick began capturing wild animals alive and unharmed as a child for pizza and movie tickets. By the time he graduated from high school, he had paved his career path. He has been the owner of Pesky Critters Wildlife Control for over 22 years. He has been featured in hundreds of television shows across the globe and has captured animals from all over the world without ever leaving Florida.
Albert Killian
Director of Herpetology, Everglades Outpost
A simple summer day in 1967 turned out to be very special for Albert Killian. After all, it was the day of his first snakebite, and he thought that he was going to drop dead on the spot. With surprising calm, the 11-year-old Albert secured the Northern Pacific rattlesnake among his growing collection of six exotic snakes and found his way to the hospital. There he named the snake by its Latin name to the doctor and was treated for the bite, which left him with hives and welts and violently ill for about a week. A few days later he decided that he would become a herpetologist so he could study and protect these animals, which so many people seem to hate and fear.
By the age of 19, he already had one of the most extensive snake collections in the United States. With over 1,200 snakes, valued at more than $60,000, Albert's collection started drawing attention. At this time, he became the first person to breed the Borneo bat-eating python; and his research led to work in feature films and television.
Bob Freer
Founder, Everglades Outpost
In the summer of 1956, five-year-old Bob Freer watched his father park his Ford Falcon at a gas station in downtown Tampa, fill the gas tank, and (without thinking about it too much), hand him the complimentary baby alligator that came with every fill up.
"That baby gator caused my father so much grief," Bob recalls with a smile, "that from that day on, he said that he never accepted anything free ever again."
That first encounter with wildlife led to countless animal trappings, bites, and rescues, and has culminated in the Everglades Outpost (which Bob co-founded in 1993), a nature rehabilitation center with 2.5 acres, 232 animals, and hundreds of species. It is a not-for-profit center dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of wild and exotic wildlife, as well as educational and tourist tours enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. The center is run by Bob, his wife Barbara Tansey, and an extended family of tireless employees that include Mario, Julio, Eddie, Jeanette, Mayra, and Kevin.