How is investigating animal crimes different than investigating human crimes?
We handle animals just like police deal with human crimes. The difference is, the animal can never tell us what happened. We have to use our veterinarians to piece it together. We have to do good investigations, and that means talking to witnesses, finding out what happened, talking to the subject. It’s kind of like doing a homicide investigation — your victim can never speak to you. Isn’t it heartbreaking to see what happens to the animals? Oh, absolutely. A lot of times you see it in their faces — the pain and the suffering. That’s what people have to realize: that animals are victims. They’re not property. The law considers them property but that’s very unfortunate, because animals should never be placed in the same category as a car or toaster. It’s very upsetting and overwhelming on a daily basis. My heart breaks every day. But we do it because we want to protect animals. It took me a while at first to separate my anger towards someone for hurting an animal. Then I quickly rea
