Meet Your Furry Coworkers
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Did you know many County programs involve animals? Some are even employees.
Animals work with many departments from the Sheriff’s department to Library and the District Attorney’s office.
Meet some of your critter colleague that help make San Diego County a great place to live and work.
Pest Detectors
The Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures has several detector dogs that help inspectors sniff out packages that come through the mail that may contain pests or diseases harmful to local agriculture, landscapes and the environment.
Check out the dynamic duo of Owen and Senior Agricultural/Standards Inspector Melissa Sinkovits. Watch them as they look for pests hiding in packages containing plants, soil, fruits and vegetables shipped to San Diego
K-9 Partners
The Sheriff’s K-9s are loyal guardians who serve and protect our communities. Their handlers say they are intelligent, driven and reliable. There are currently 27 dogs in the County’s K-9 unit who are trained in protection, detection and putting drug traffickers in the doghouse!
K-9 Milo recently found dozens of counterfeit Oxycodone pills hidden in a car’s fuel tank. See how proud he is.
Search and Rescue Dogs
There’s a lot of training that takes place for a search and rescue team. Especially, if you’re a dog. Volunteer handlers and their K-9s must pass a six month SAR academy followed by one year of additional training for the handler and K-9 to be certified for search and rescue. The K-9 Unit trains once a week to meet or exceed state and federal standards.
Members of the San Diego Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Canine Unit need to go in a moment’s notice when someone goes missing. Also, see this adorable “pup-date” about bloodhound Albert.
Park Ambassadors
Meet Franklin, a park ambassador, who greets guests at San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center. Franklin is just one of a handful of animals at demonstrations hosted by County Parks across the region. There’s also Winnie and Doris, a pair of pigs, and Holly, Pearl and Jam, a trio of goats, who call Los Peñasquitos Ranch House home. And lots of birds with big personalities, including Buster the red-tailed hawk, Tango the Swainson's hawk and Mutah the great-horned owl, serve as park ambassadors. Many of the raptors are housed at El Monte County Park and venture out to special events like Movies in the Park and during “Hawktober”.
It’s a Bug’s Life
Helping kids learn about insects is one of the many ways the County’s Agriculture/Weights & Measures Department helps educate the community. In this video, entomologist Tracy Ellis and her crew brought a collection of creepy crawlers to San Pasqual Union Elementary School.
Want to learn more? In this video, entomologist Dr. Bodil Cass shows off the Plant Pest Diagnostics Lab located at the County’s Agriculture/Weights & Measures Department.
DA Dogs
The District Attorney’s Victim Advocate program works with 11 therapy dogs. The dogs, and their humans, meet with frightened or intimidated crime victims and witnesses to provide a calming presence during legal procedures at courthouses. Earlier this year, Ollie, a golden retriever, who goes to work each day with Victim Advocate Magen Queen, was even featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Bzzzz, There’s Scaly Animals Too
It’s not all furry friends that work with the County. There are some scaled ones too! The County’s Vector Control Program raises and “adopts” out mosquitofish. This small but mighty fish help control backyard mosquito breeding in fountains, ponds, birdbaths and other standing water sources.
Get your own for free provided by the Vector Control Program at several locations across the county!
Reading to Dogs
Several programs including Love on a Leash, Ruff Readers and Paws for Reading encourage children to increase their reading skills and self-confidence by reading out loud to therapy dogs.