It is not uncommon that the person who answers the door is not the person who owns or is responsible for the animal(s) at issue. If this is the case, collect the name and contact information for this person, who may be a spouse, a roommate, or a family member. Write down your contact information and ask them to give it to the subject. If they refuse, you can post the notice and contact information on the front door, much as you would if no one answered. These individuals usually do not have authority to show you around a property when the animal owner may have an expectation of privacy. If they do feel compelled to offer information about the animal(s) or your investigation, be sure to record those details in the case file, along with the individual's full name, and the date and time of your exchange.
4.6.4 Attempting Contact: Owner Is Home/Contact Successful
If the animal owner is home and willing to speak with you, it is time to employ your interview skills (see Chapter 5) along with your knowledge about the fundamentals of animal care (see Chapters 2 and 3) to determine the following:
Who is responsible for the care of the animal?
How long have they had the animal?
How long has the animal been in that condition (thin, injured, improperly housed, etc.)?
Ask the owner to describe their procedure for feeding, cleaning, and medicating the animal.
What other animals does this person own or care for? Do others co‐own or assist with care?
What, if anything, has the owner attempted to remedy the situation?
Who is their veterinarian? When did this animal last see a veterinarian and what was the reason for the visit?
Is the animal in immediate danger or at risk of death?
Ideally the responsible party will prove cooperative, in which case you should attempt to view the following:
The animal(s)
The animal's living environment
Available food and water
Any medication or vet records associated with the animal.
In nonexigent cases, in which you have a degree of confidence the owner can and will work to remedy the situation for the animal(s), you may choose to educate the owner and make recommendations for correction. We will discuss this process in Chapter 8.
4.6.5 Attempting Contact: Owner Is Uncooperative
In some instances, despite your best effort and utilization of the techniques for rapport‐building, a subject may be uncooperative. The subject may initially agree to show you the animal or its environment but become agitated or uncomfortable as you pose questions to him or her. They may appear defensive or belligerent or deny the animals are in any way neglected, ill, or injured. This response can be especially true in cases involving suspected intentional abuse. Always make note of a subject's statements, including those in which they deny neglecting or abusing an animal. You should also include facts about the subject's demeanor and body language. For example, if the subject begins pacing and yelling when questioned about a particular animal, make sure to include those behaviors in your case notes.
Cases in which the owner is uncooperative may escalate to a search warrant and seizure. If you have reason to believe the animals are suffering, at risk of death, or that the subject may remove or alter the evidence including the animals, a search warrant can be a viable option for a rapid response. These types of cases will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 9.
4.6.6 Unable to Make Contact
If your attempts to make contact prove unsuccessful, you may have to explore other methods for conducting your investigation. Repeated visits to a property offer opportunities to notice if there is actually anyone living at the reported location. You may see your written notices stacking up on the door, with no indications anyone has been home since your investigation began. This could mean that the resident uses a side door or garage entrance and has not seen the notices, no one is living at the residence, or the subject is simply coming and going and has chosen not to retrieve or respond to your notices. Other indicators such as the location of vehicles, foot tracks in the snow, or accumulating mail or garbage can all lend clues about whether someone is ignoring your attempts to make contact. Oftentimes persistence pays off – if a subject begins to realize that you will continue to visit them until the matter is resolved, they may eventually decide to answer the door. If not, there are other investigation methods you can employ that may inform your next steps up to and including application for a search warrant. Consider talking with the complainant again, interview neighbors, other witnesses, or follow up on other information you have learned that could prove helpful. In most cases it is not appropriate simply to close a case because you cannot make contact, so be persistent and think outside the box about ways to compel the subject to talk with you or other ways to verify the legitimacy of the report and complete your investigation.
4.6.7 Exigent Circumstances
First responders to reports of animal cruelty, or criminal activity in general, may find themselves faced with an animal in need of emergency veterinary care without which death is imminent. You must invest the time to understand from the prosecutors in your jurisdiction what actions you can take to aid the animal in that moment, as well as preserve evidence of the crime of animal cruelty (see Chapter 9 for additional nuances of the emergency aid and exigency exceptions [Figure 4.4] to the warrant requirement). Again, if you are acting as a representative of any state agency, it is your duty to understand what your state law permits in these emergency situations.
Figure 4.4 Understand what the laws in your state specify about providing emergency aid to an animal in critical condition, such as this downed horse.
Source: Oregon Humane Society.
4.6.8 Cross‐Reporting and Other Vulnerable Individuals
Animal cruelty investigations frequently uncover evidence of other crimes or human health and welfare concerns. Children, family members, partners, and the elderly can be victims of abuse in much the same way animals are. Children, disabled individuals, and the elderly are all particularly vulnerable to neglect, if they depend on others for their daily care and support.
You may be mandated by law to report concerns for human welfare to the appropriate agencies, and even if you are not a mandatory reporter, it is prudent to contact human welfare agencies anytime you are aware of the potential for human neglect or abuse, during the course of your animal investigation. Make a list of all appropriate health and human welfare agencies in your response area, as well as code enforcement, fire marshals, and any other agencies that can respond to these types of concerns so you will be able to contact them without delay.
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