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Officers herd up critters, big and small
Livestock calls take up a lot of the time of local animal control officers around the Township.

Matthew Claxton
Langley Advance

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

LAPS shelter manager Sean Baker has been called on to round up and house livestock such as sheep during his time working in the Township.
CREDIT: Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance
LAPS shelter manager Sean Baker has been called on to round up and house livestock such as sheep during his time working in the Township.

This winter storm season, Langley Animal Control officers will be out retrieving more than just stray dogs and cats.

As fences fall over or are crushed by trees, they'll also have to round up horses and cattle, goats and sheep, and maybe a pig or a peacock as well.

It isn't the best-known part of their mandate, but the Langley Animal Protection Society, which runs the animal shelter, collects stray livestock in the Township.

Shelter manager Sean Baker says there are about a dozen escaped horses and cattle every month somewhere in Langley.

The situation is a little worse in the winter, as trees fall across fences in wind storms, or as heavy rain undermines fenceposts.

"We all carry temporary fencing, which is a series of stakes and rope we have in the van," Baker said.

The large animals are either returned to their owners, or temporarily stored with neighbours. The first concern is to get the animals off the road and away from the cars, Baker said.

Large animal calls also can eat up a lot of time for an animal control officer.

"A livestock call is generally way more time consuming than a dog call would ever be," Baker said.

Animal control officer Kim Lane knows that, having spent more than a few days chasing everything from herds of cattle to flighty peacocks around Langley.

"Often it's a pretty innocent situation," Lane said.

Aside from fences that are knocked down by accident, some farmers find themselves with escape artist animals on their hands.

That was the situation with Glover Road farmer Trudy Gerela.

She went out one day, leaving her 10 young cattle securely inside her fence.

When she came back later, everything looked fine.

"Nothing looked out of place," said Gerela.

But there was a note from Lane letting her know that the herd had gone on a little adventure during her absence.

One of the 10 cattle was a rambunctious little guy, Gerela said. He apparently pushed out one plank from a recently-repaired part of the fence and led the herd to freedom. They were spotted in a ditch along the side of busy Glover Road.

"You never want to have any livestock of any kind get out on any road, especially Glover Road," Gerela said.

An employee from Langley Auctions spotted the animals and alerted LAPS, and also helped get the animals squared away, Lane said.

"One of them was pretty unruly, he was trying to charge at me," Lane said.

Once she and her helpers managed to get that one animal back through the fence, the rest followed him meekly, she said.

With help, she got the board nailed back on and the animals were secure again.

"I was so incredibly appreciative," Gerela said. "I really have a full understanding of the consequences of what could have happened," she said.

On the advice of LAPS, she immediately added barbed wire between the fence boards, to prevent any future breakouts. She hasn't had a problem since then.

Lane appreciates dealing with farmers like Gerela, who keep their animals responsibly and make repairs when problems come up. The vast majority of escapes are in spite of farmers' best efforts, she said.

While cattle and horses are the most common livestock, LAPS officials have dealt with pigs, llamas, goats and a wide variety of other animals.

"There are certain things that can't be contained," said Lane. "I remember when I learned peacocks can fly."
© Langley Advance 2007