Animal Control and More... Much More

(This was a special year for Benzie County's Animal Welfare League, which began around the same time as Don Saffron began his career as the Animal Control Officer for Benzie. 40 years!)

"Owners should control their pets. I am your animal control officer. I am not the dreaded "dog catcher" or the "murderer" you call me.  It is not I who allows your pet to roam the streets, to contract diseases from other free-roaming animals, to be hit by passing motorists or poisoned by rotting garbage. I am the one who must look Into those sick, pain-glazed eyes, try to remove the animal without causing it further pain and then humanely "put it to sleep" to put an end to its suffering. It is not I who allows your pets to breed, then dumps the unwanted puppies and kittens on roadsides and in shelters.  I'm the one who must find the tiny animals before they die of starvation, exposure or disease and as an act of mercy, exterminate them. It hurts me to be forced to kill hundreds of thousands of animals each year, but because of your Irresponsibility, I have no choice. It is not I who abandons unwanted animals on farm roads, telling myself some friendly farmer will surely take them in and give them a good home. But I am the one who picks up the frightened animal who waits In vain for its beloved master, wondering why it has been abandoned. I am the one who must help that friendly farmer trap, tranquilize or kill that animal because it has begun to roam in packs with other abandoned hungry animals, killing livestock, fowl and game. I am not the one who breeds and fights dogs In the name of "sport". But I'm the one who fights the breeders and participants, and must pick up the dead and dying animals that have been left behind. It Is not I who keeps a pet confined in an area too small - without food, water, shelter, or exercise. But I must deal with the irresponsible owner who does. It is not I who refuses to spend the time and money to keep up regular Inoculations that all pets require. But I am the one who must pick up the sick animal that is dying of a preventable disease. So remember, the next time your child is bitten by a stray dog, your trash is dumped and scattered, your pet is lost, stolen, poisoned or hit by a car, it Is the animal control officer you call - - not the "dog catcher". The next time your pet is picked up, or you are cited for neglecting or abusing it, remember, I am only trying to get you to fulfill your responsibility to your pet, your neighbor and yourself. Do not scorn me. Respect me, for I am the product of your irresponsibility. I love animals, and I care. Support your Local Animal Control Officer: Don Saffron" (10/24/1990 Record Patriot)

I met with a guardian angel the other day. It is clear to me that is who he is, in spite of the teasing and he was giving out to the staff at the restaurant we met at. Makes me smile to know how welcome this angel is in his community, his hometown, his regular hangout. I am pretty certain his own angel is watching him and smiling as well: His wife and partner Nancy had passed away too early. Don's guardian angels surely must also include all the animals he helped over the years!

Animals need guardian angels, too, and that is what Don Saffron spend a goodly bit of his life doing. As Animal Control officer for Benzie County, he worked hard to resolve pet issues safely, without killing or harming the animal if at all possible. I found an article in the Record Patriot archives that mention how Don learned to use a blowgun to tranquilize animals. With that blow gun, he was able to control how and where the animal was darted better than with the gun. Dosages were better regulated, less harm was done to the animal.

 When he started, the office was in a brick building near the dump out in Homestead Township. It was an unfit place, sort of like someone had thought that animal control and dumps should go together. The place was literally falling into the dump!

The cries of lonely and frightened animals greeted me as I walked through the door of the Benzie County Animal Shelter. All eyes were focused on my movements. This was my first visit to the shelter. It was one of the coldest days of the winter. The shelter is located at the end of Zimmerman Road on a former garbage dump. The roads had not yet been plowed and the drive to get there had been difficult. 1 hoped that there would be someone there when I arrived. There was. The shelter building has seen much better days. The cement block walls had large cracks running through the ceiling to the floor. The wind and snow blew in through the cracks. The cement floor was not heated and had numerous cracks. The cold and frost crept into the area. There was a small heater with a fan in the corner of the ceiling in the animal’s area. It helped — a little. I thought about the summer heat and how hot and stifling it would be without ventilation. The cement enclosures for each animal were barely adequate for small to medium-sized animals. A large dog would be very uncomfortable. There were six pens for dogs and four pens for cats, not enough for the summer months when the county population greatly increases. The cat enclosures were directly across and beside the dogs. I looked into the eyes of a cat that was in a pen beside a dog. The dog was barking loudly trying to get my attention. The cat was terrified and was extremely stressed. She wanted to escape and hide, but there was no place to go, no way to escape the noise. Her food was untouched. She looked like an older house cat, someone's pet.  I wondered how she came to be there. Perhaps she has accidently escaped from her indoor home, but without nametags, her chances were slim. I thought, "How much more comfortable she would be in a separate area or room for cats only." I looked around to see if there was a separate room to house sick and injured animals. There wasn't. The dog was a nice looking black lab with a wagging tail and eyes that flickered with hope. I looked down at the cracks in the cement floor that were filled with frost and ice and felt the dampness and chill. So many indoor dogs end up in local shelters, companion pets that have spent their lives in warm and comfortable surroundings. How difficult this environment must be for them. I thought about the importance of running water in a shelter for cleaning and maintenance and tried to visualize the difficulty of completing these tasks on cold winter days when the drains froze up and frozen water remained on the floor. I looked at the animal control truck outside the building and knowing that the outside of the building often froze up, thought about the difficulty of trying to keep the inside of the truck clean for the often sick and injured animals. It all seemed so frustrating and so inadequate. (Margaret Chalmers, Record Patriot, 5/6/1992) 

Don worked as the Benzie County Animal Control for 18 and a half years... he states he was still getting calls for five years after retirement. Old habits are hard to break, and he did the job really well.  That is a lot of years catching dogs and finding homes for animals.

ACO Don Saffron called me just a day after he had picked up our dog Buffy. Buffy had to be put to sleep because of old age and tumors. Don told us he had a Yorkshire terrier that was in need of a home and wondered if we would like to take the dog on a trial basis. He also said the dog could not be in a home where people smoked. 1 did not tell the ACO that I smoked but after we took Lucky I quit for the third time. My husband and I had both quit smoking seven years ago, but I had started smoking again for the third time. (I even confessed to Betty Watts.) I am glad Lucky came to our home, Lucky for me because I no longer smoke, and Lucky for Lucky 'cause he has found a permanent home. (Record Patriot 5/1/1991)

A lady called one day, told Don there was a cat up a tree, about forty foot up. It had been up there four days, and the lady was distraught. Don answered her, "I've never seen a dead cat up a tree" and  suggested that she open up a can of cat food or tuna or something, and that the cat would come down by its self. The lady did so, and yes, the kitty did come down. She called and let Don know. Many years later, she happened to come up to Don at one of his favorite hangouts. "Aren't you Don Saffron?" She asked. Don stated he was. "Do you remember me calling about a cat up a tree?" Yes, he did. "Do you recall what it was you told me?" He, of course, did. She told him she was kind of hurt by that response. But the cat did come down the tree.

A horse was on the loose one day. Don called in for help, he couldn't catch the horse no how no way. He was given this advice: "Don, all you have to do is act like an ear of corn. He'll come right up to you!" Don managed to get the horse contained in a fenced-in field-he didn't have access to a horse trailer any way, and this was  a good way to keep the animal off the road.

There was a student work program some years ago that put a young man in the truck with Don.  Good program, a great way to experience life work and see where a person's  talent lay. It happened one day that Don got a call about a pit bull in Lake Ann that was acting threatening and needed to be picked up. Off they went. Turned out to be a pit bull mommie and her pup! Don managed to get the pup but couldn't get the older dog at all. He and the young fellow spend quite a while trying. Finally, Don decided that they should at least get the puppy back to the shelter, so they got in the truck. As Don was backing the truck around, he noticed the older dog moving alongside, and got an idea. He told the young fella, "I am going to open the door. If the dog gets in, don't touch her, don't do anything, just sit put." Don opened the door. The dog jumped right in. The youngster wet his pants.

Don says he laughed all the way back to Benzonia.

 "A special officer will be appointed to see that no dog dodges being taxed. Each dog must be numbered and wear it; tag number on a collar as evidence that it has a legal license to live under the laws of Michigan." So read an item in the April 5th, 1900 issue of the Benzie Banner, printed in Benzonia. That, no doubt, was the beginning of animal control in Benzie County and was meant to protect people and property with little concern for the animals.

At least, the times I can remember seeing my father provoked to the point of wanting to do bodily harm to another human being were times when a neighbor regularly chastised his horses with a pitch fork. What happened between 1900 and 1976 when-I became involved with the Animal Welfare League, I have no idea. I took care of my animals and assumed everyone else did. I do know that with the organization of the League, public awareness of animal needs and rights greatly increased, cases of neglect and abuse are taken seriously, and today a call brings a well- trained Animal Control Officer who is prepared to handle any situation. The present Animal Control Officer, Don Saffron, attended the Animal Control Officers' Academy sponsored by the United States Humane Society as well as meeting regularly with other Michigan Animal Control Officers to discuss common problems, get ideas on how his own program can be improved, and study legislation being considered to correct serious problems in the various counties. The duties of the ACO arc threefold: 1) public service, 2) law enforcement and 3) educational. The ACO with his assistant, Adrian Jones, maintains the county shelter and cares for the animals while sheltered. Some of the animals receive the best care they have ever had while sheltered, injured and sick animals are given concerned attention and every effort is made to contact owners of the animals impounded. In the field the ACO protects animals, animal owners and non-animal owners by enforcing animal control laws in a firm and courteous manner. A personal contact with an animal owner may be favorable or hostile but Don's sense of humor gets him through the rough times. A positive image for animal control has been a long time in coming but the ACO performs a service to the county, its citizens and their pets and deserves the cooperation of all. (Beulah Fick, Record Patriot 9/30/1987)

Talking with Don, I am only too aware of all the stories we haven't touched on yet: His being an auto mechanic in Ethiopia, for one. But he gave me some advice to pass on to you animal lovers. It is solid gold free advice:

1. Keep your pets tied up or leashed when outside. Keep puppies fenced in for their safety. 

2. DON'T leave your animal in the car. 

3. NO Fireworks.

4. NO Blue Angels. 

5. NO parades. The noise is loud for us humans, think how much louder it is to sensitive animal ears? 6. NO chocolate. It is not good for dogs.

7. Be careful of plants and cats. Some plants are deadly, and cats like to chew on greens.

8. Unless your dog is trained to hunt around firearms, NO guns around animals.

Finally, I found a great article written by Thora Layman some years back which describes Don and Nancy well and gives great insight into Don Saffron's heart as well as giving a clear picture of how he handled being Benzie County's Animal Control Officer:

In talking with Don Saffron, our animal control officer for Benzie County who has been on duty for the past six years caring for lost, abused, and abandoned animals such as dogs, cats, birds, opossum, raccoons, pigs, turkeys, cows, horses, rabbits and squirrels to name a few, he told me about his many talks. Saffron receives calls on animals locked in hot cars, tied out in the heat or cold without proper shelter or water, and calls on injured animals. Sometimes he has helped to tranquilize wild and vicious animals. He covers the whole county, cleans the runs at the shelter daily and feeds the animals at the shelter. He has to euthanize animals which he said is a very difficult job for him.

 Saffron has a big heart for animals. Saffron and his wife Nancy have seven pets, six of them coming from the county shelter. He assists ACOs from surrounding counties when injured animals are found on county lines. When Saffron places pets in new homes, he reserves the right to check on the animal to make sure it is in a compatible and happy home. If not, he will return the animal to the shelter and try again placing it in a new home. "Only three have ever been returned in the six years I have been on duty," said Saffron. A lot of calls that come in on the treatment of animals are unfounded; however, all calls are checked out.

 When Saffron gets a call about a lost animal he tries to locate the owner if the animal shows up at the shelter. The Benzie ACO treats the animals he picks up like they were his own. The seven pets he has at home mean the world to him. The pets at home include Washijiae, which is Amharic for dog in the language of Ethiopia; Peppie, thrown from a car near Thompsonville; and Missy, dropped off with a weight of 3 1/2 pounds until she was clipped and weighed 3 pounds. Missy's hair was even matted to her tail. She was about 2 1/2 years old. Snuggles, a mix-breed, brought to the shelter and left in a pen with a note giving her name, age and that it was abused and hated by children. The dog had never been licensed nor had any shots. Saffron said he kept the dog for two weeks. When no one showed up to take the dog, he took it home. Snuggles liked kids and was a good lap dog and a very gentle dog. These are his canine pets. As for cats, Saffron has inside outside cats. Three cats were turned into the shelter by a lady who was moving. Momma cat was about eight-years-old and two kittens, all long haired Siamese. The ACO said he feels all adoptions are special. He's always happy when a good home is found for a pet.

 This past March, eight dogs and three cats were adopted out. The ACO had 186 complaints. Eight dogs and five cats were euthanized. Getting hold of Saffron sometimes isn't easy because he may not be in, or his answering machine is filled with messages. Saffron suggests you call the Sheriff's Department at 882-4484 and they contact him. Anyone looking for pet, Saffron always has pets at the Benzie County Shelter. Cost on spaying/neutering for any animal taken from the shelter is paid by Benzie County Animal Welfare League. Saffron is under the jurisdiction of the Board of Commissioners who set the fees that he has to charge as follows: • First pick up of an animal, $15; • Second pick up, $30; and • Third pick up, $60 plus court fees. People have been taken to court for abuse of animals or the shooting of animals.

Over the past three years, Saffron continued practicing with his tranquilizer gun and can now hit a 2-inch square at 100 feeL He only uses the gun in drastic situations and only aims for the rump of the animal as any place else could hurt the animal. Saffron is one of a very few ACOs that has this type of equipment. Quite often Nancy, Saffron's wife, will take a shelter pet and bathe and groom it to make it look presentable for adoption. As a result, many have found homes. Credit goes to the Saffrons who also are the originators of "Photos with the Easter Bunny" and "Photos with Santa." All proceeds go to the Animal Welfare League for the spaying/neutering program. (Thora Layman, Record Patriot, 5/6/1992)