Rostraver hires new animal control officer
Rostraver Township has a new animal control officer in place.
Zack Cain was sworn in Monday by Magisterial District Judge John Christner, and Police Chief Scott Sokol said Cain has a great background for the position.
“He seems like he’s the perfect man for the job,” Sokol said. “He’s close, he’s local, he’s available, he has a lot of experience. He worked with the former animal control officer for us, and we hit it off on the phone, and he had all the right answers and all the right certificates and everything.”
The hiring of Cain comes after Township Manager Jeffrey Keffer announced last week during a commissioners’ work session that the former animal control provider had resigned. Keffer said that provider had done a great job for the township, but the high number of animal control calls started to make it difficult for them to continue.
Keffer said animal control calls have become frequent on Turkey Hollow Road due to local residents abandoning pets around that area. Sokol stated that the animal control officer will be responsible for enforcing fundamental dog laws in Pennsylvania, including handling rabies, leash laws, bites and picking up stray dogs.
“We get dog calls around the clock,” Sokol said, “and a lot of them, most of them are late at night and off hours, and the availability to come out at those hours was very important to us.”
Sokol and Keffer encourage residents to call 911 regarding any event related to a pet or an animal in the township. According to the American Humane Society, anyone who finds a lost pet should try to capture it if circumstances allow, and then call authorities if needed.
The AHS recommends approaching stray pets cautiously and with a gentle voice. They advise never putting yourself in harm’s way by attempting to capture an animal that is behaving aggressively and to call 911 if you can’t.
If you’re able to approach the pet, the AHS recommends looking for any ID tags and contacting the owner.
“If there are any issues regarding dogs, just call 911, and we now have somebody to take some action on it,” Sokol said. “We thank everybody for being patient in the meantime.
“(Cain) is young, energetic, and enthusiastic, and he came in today and met the guys, and seemed to fit in well, and everything seems on par.”
Zack Cain was sworn into the position on Monday.
