I’m not a fan of catchpoles – mainly because they seem to be misused so often – but I love that the Pinellas Co sheriff’s office in FL sent their staff for training in how to properly use the tool and then issued a press release about their first successful use!
Additional successes on November 14, 2011 included the use of the catch pole by a deputy to contain a dog and return it to its owner; help free a raccoon that had a small plastic jar stuck on its head in the Eastlake area; and remove a three foot alligator that had made its way into a residential area of Palm Harbor.
It’s a nice change of pace to read about law enforcement receiving proper animal handling training and then putting it to use instead of the usual “police shoot [fill in the animal]” headlines. Good for the Pinellas Co sheriff’s department!