BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — We spent part of the morning on the phone with Palm Beach County Animal Control Chief Gloria Stern and, in our opinion, it seems that Chief Stern is overworked or under trained.
Our concern: a dog that had been barking incessantly for two hours. There appeared to be no one home. There appeared to be no shelter for the dog outside as the South Florida temperature continues to rise.
Our request: Have an animal control officer stop by to make sure the dog is okay. The response from Chief Stern was something along the lines of, “it sounds like the dog is a nuisance but if it isn’t seriously ill, there’s nothing we will do.”
I explained that I’m not an animal expert and have no idea if the dog is healthy — although the tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth and non-stop barking for hours might indicate a problem — certainly something that an agency charged with caring for animals might want to check out.
Instead, Chief Stern said her officers are too busy to deal with such mundane things — they’re on the scene of accidents where animals have been hit. I asked where in South Palm Beach County an accident was currently working with pets. She said I’d have to file a freedom of information act request to find out.
We’re not sure if Chief Stern is having a bad day or just doesn’t really care about animals in her jurisdiction. We do know that a dog barking for several hours is probably not a good thing when the “real feel” temperature is in the 90s. Fortunately, she said that the agency would get to it. At some point. Over the next few days.
Good to know Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control cares and controls quickly.
(We have digitized the dog as to not identify the owner).
