The Rescuer: Humane Society officer pulls creatures from brink of disaster

| MAX BITTLE | THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

• HELP IS AT HAND
  
  If you see a stray, an injured animal or an animal in need, contact Animal Control and Rescue at the Whatcom Humane Society, 733-2080, Ext. 3017.
  
  

Whatcom Humane Society’s executive director, Penny Cistaro, says Spain is a natural fit for animal control and rescue.

“He and the job just go together,” Cistaro said.

In his nine months of animal control work for the Whatcom Humane Society, Cistaro has experienced everything from rescuing kittens from sticker bushes to having a shotgun pointed at him while checking on dogs in the rural Paradise area.

Spain and the eight other animal control employees share a 9½-by-12-foot office crammed with desks, chairs, shelves, books and papers at the Williamson Way animal shelter.

The limited space isn’t bad in the quiet winter months, but it’s challenging in the summer when animal control gets the highest number of calls, field services manager David Petersen said.

Animal control officers work 40 hours a week, and an officer is on duty every day of the week. Off-duty officers take turns being on call 24 hours a day.

Some of Spain’s co-workers have worked in animal control for a decade or more. His supervisor, Richard Baggett, and fellow officer Paul Evans have worked in animal control for 20 years and 10 years, respectively, Spain said.

“I’m one of the newbies,” he said.

The officers cover all of Whatcom County except Lynden, which has its own animal enforcement officer, Spain said.

Although the hours can be demanding and the work stressful, Spain had no reservations about leaving his supervisory position at a packaging and shipping plant to join animal control.

“I took an enormous pay cut in order to be happy,” Spain said. “And I’ve never been happier.”

Spain heard about the job opening from his wife, Melissa, who works at the Baker Creek Shelter as an animal care technician.

“I had missed my daughter’s first steps and first words. Now I get to spend more time with my family,” Spain said. “And I always wanted to get into some form of law enforcement.”

The first day Spain worked alone on the job he responded to a call about a dog sitting in the median on Interstate 5.

Before Spain could get to the dog, a trucker honked his horn, scaring the dog and causing it to run into traffic. An SUV hit the dog and then ran over it a second time while fleeing the scene.

Spain wasn’t able to read the license plate on the SUV, but did stop traffic. He rescued the dog, which was alive but barely moving.

Covered in feces and blood from the dog’s injuries, Spain carried the dog back to his truck, where it died in his arms.

“Sometimes I go home, sit on the couch, cuddle my dogs and have a good cry,” Spain said. “We do our best to save as many as we can, when we can.”

Four months into the job, Spain was called out to rescue a black lab trapped on a levee near the Nooksack River in Glacier.

Spain estimated the dog had been stuck for about a week.

“The poor thing was severely emaciated and dehydrated,” Spain said. “Even though it could drink from the river, it wasn’t getting enough nutrition.”

To get to the dog, Spain crawled 70 feet on a log toward the levee, but the dog was frightened and crawled beneath the log, almost falling into the river.

“I had to lean down with my catch pole to get her,” Spain said. “She was terrified and fighting me the whole way.”

Spain rescued the dog, carried it back to his truck and took it to the shelter. It was adopted after three to four weeks of rehabilitation.

On the night of the rescue, Cistaro said, Spain called her and thanked her for hiring him.

The next morning Cistaro gave Spain a new nickname: River Boy.

“He just beamed. He was so dang proud of himself,” Cistaro said. “And I was proud of him. It’s like a badge of honor for him and me.”

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