Whitfeld County Sheriff's Office Adds 3 New Animal Control Trucks

  • Wednesday, December 11, 2019
  • Mitch Talley
Deputy Jeff Diak stands with one of three new Ford F-250 trucks used by Whitfield County Animal Control to transport stray dogs picked up in the county
Deputy Jeff Diak stands with one of three new Ford F-250 trucks used by Whitfield County Animal Control to transport stray dogs picked up in the county
photo by Mitch Talley
The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office added three new Ford F-250 four-wheel drive trucks to its Animal Control fleet, replacing three worn-out F-150s that had each been driven around 200,000 miles during the past decade.

“We had two 2010 models and one 2011,” Capt. Clay Pangle said, “that had went through multiple transmissions and other mechanical problems because the weight of our old containment cages for the animals in the back of the trucks just wore them out.”

The Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of three new trucks from the capital budget at a total cost of $93,000, plus $25,000 in upfits like lights, computers, and other law enforcement gear, and $16,000 for the slide-in animal compartments.

“We like how the trucks turned out,” Mr.
Pangle said. “We like the way they look, and they seem to be living up to what we got them for. We’ve got a lot of compliments from citizens on them.”

If they could talk, the dogs would likely agree.

The old trucks didn’t have any ventilation system for the dogs in hot or cold weather, other than taking the tailgates off and replacing them with mesh gates to let air flow through. To combat that problem, the new trucks have been outfitted with an electronic ventilation system, according to Mr. Pangle.

“It’s not an air conditioner or a heater, but it circulates air throughout the animal compartments all the time to keep them cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter,” he said, noting that the fans can be controlled by deputies from the overhead console of the truck.

“A fan will be blowing on them when they’re back there in 90 degree weather – it’ll probably be 100 degrees or more in the bed of that truck, but it’ll have fresh air blowing through and cooling them down,” Mr. Pangle said. “That was a big concern in the past for animal rights groups, who wanted to make sure that the animals were being taken care of.”

The new compartments also offer other advantages over the old cages, including lighter weight aluminum construction to decrease wear and tear on the transmissions and suspensions of the new trucks. In addition, the compartments have solid aluminum partitions between the animals so that they don’t try to fight with one another through the bars, as well as movable cantilevered panels that can be closed during cold weather to keep the dogs warmer or opened during hot weather to keep them cooler.

“We have four compartments - an upper section with two compartments that can handle smaller dogs like terriers or yorkies and a lower section with two large compartments that can handle big dogs like shepherds and pit bulls,” said Deputy Jeffery Diak, one of the three Animal Control workers using the new trucks (Brandon Norwood and Zach James are the others).

While Animal Control tries to limit the time dogs have to spend in the compartments, Diak says having four compartments allows them to answer more calls and pick up other dogs along the way if they happen to get another call as they’re heading back to the shelter, especially with the improved ventilation system.

Mr. Diak says there is just a small space at the top of each compartment so air can circulate throughout the whole container. “In the old trucks, if we had to carry two dogs at the same time, they could see each other and would sit there and try to fight each other,” he said.

The old trucks had only two compartments separated by a wire mesh so the dogs were facing each other, according to Mr. Pangle. “Even if they weren’t aggressive, they would still have that dominance thing going on in the back of the truck because they could see each other,” he said. “With the new trucks, I’m pretty sure the dogs are still gonna know there’s another dog in there, but at least they can’t see each other. When we used to have a smaller dog next to a very large dog, the little one was just scared to death his whole ride. They’re nervous enough as it is, but hopefully that separation where they can’t see each other will help that a little bit and they won’t be as nervous.”

But the dogs aren’t the only beneficiaries of the new trucks.

The public will be safer now, Mr. Diak said. “When we used to be out on a call, like an aggressive dog, civilians would sometimes come up to the truck and maybe try to stick their fingers in there to try and pet the dog,” he said. “A big issue we had at the shelter, where we take all the dogs we pick up, was once I got there, I’d go inside and start my paperwork on the dog, and sometimes people would just drop the tailgate and try to get the dogs out. And they wouldn’t know what kind of dog it was – could be a bite case, could be an aggressive dog, and they were just trying to pull the dog out.

“But with these new trucks, as soon as I  pull into the shelter,” Mr. Diak said, “if the truck is locked, the tailgate locks, too, and people won’t be able to access the back of the truck. Plus if I put a dog in there, I can lock that compartment so no one can access it.”

The Sheriff’s Office is also pleased to have four-wheel drive now. “We never know where we will have to answer a call,” Mr. Diak explained. “And having four-wheel drive is a huge advantage because there are places in the county that are hard to access without it.”

The four-wheel drive also comes in handy in case of snow and ice, Mr. Pangle said, noting that the Animal Control staffers are full-fledged deputies who frequently answer other types of calls, including some during inclement weather. “We just thought it would be good to get four-wheel drive this time,” he said, “because what snow we do get here, our Animal Control guys couldn’t go out because the old F-150s, you might as well pack ’em up because they’re not going anywhere in snow and ice. Now they will be able to get  out there and even help us out on patrol calls getting to some of the places where we might need a four-wheel drive truck.”

Another advantage of the new trucks is that the slide-in compartment unit in the back includes storage space the width of the truck, accessible from both sides and giving workers quick and easy access to items like poles used to capture aggressive animals and frequently used supplies. Another plus is the lights mounted inside each compartment and on the outside of the trucks, since deputies never know what time of day or night they’ll be called out to pick up an animal.

The new trucks, which are outfitted with computers same as a patrol car, also have larger cabs, with a back seat that offers plenty of space for uniforms, equipment, and long-gun storage.

It all adds up to much-improved conditions for deputies, the animals, and the public in general.

“These guys are working from the time they come in till the time they go home,” Mr. Pangle said. “They’re some of the busiest people we have here.”

Indeed, Mr. Diak says he answered close to 80 calls himself during his two weeks on duty in November. Figures from August 2018 to January 2019 show the staff answered 1,508 calls and picked up 531 dogs.
Whitfield County Animal Control’s new trucks have four compartments, including two sections at the back for larger dogs, according to Deputy Jeff Diak
Whitfield County Animal Control’s new trucks have four compartments, including two sections at the back for larger dogs, according to Deputy Jeff Diak photo by
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