![\"Chief](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Torreyweb.jpg\")
<\/a>In turn, HSUS is glad to have Chief MacKinnon on board.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are honored to join forces with Chief MacKinnon to combat animal cruelty, fighting and poaching through the National Law Enforcement Council,\u201d said Ann Chynoweth, senior director of the animal cruelty and fighting campaign for HSUS. \u201cBy fostering relationships across local, state, and federal levels of law enforcement and prosecution, we can make meaningful improvements to policies and actions that protect animals across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the SDHS, applauds the mission of the national council.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnimals need and deserve more laws that protect them, which will take collaboration from the best law enforcement professionals in the country,\u201d Weitzman said. \u201cWe look forward to the impact we\u2019ll be able to make together.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Chief for the past two years, MacKinnon oversees 20 Humane Society field officers who deal with abuse, neglect and animal-related crimes. Trained and certified as police officers, the field officers have responsibilities that cover the gamut \u2014 from an unleashed dog roaming a neighborhood, to bites, emergency calls about dogs kept inside hot cars with the windows rolled up, lost animals including wildlife, pet store inspections, poaching, hoarding, and rescues for animals suffering injury, neglect and abuse \u2014 inclusive of dogs, cats, rabbits, livestock and horses.<\/p>\n
MacKinnon credits his 34-year service as a law enforcement officer \u2014 and his love of animals \u2014 for his expertise in understanding this specialized niche of police work. Regardless of his former rank and job responsibility, the New England native said he was always involved in all things involving animal control.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest, therefore I always got involved,\u201d he said. \u201cMy police background equipped me with the tools necessary to conduct effective investigations and proper documentation for court convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief MacKinnon and his staff supervised about 2,000 serious abuse and neglect cases within San Diego County in 2015. In addition, the office responded to almost 10,000 service calls contracted from areas outside of San Diego that lacked the ability to provide animal service expertise. Cases included illegal cockfighting in El Centro and Imperial County.<\/p>\n
\u201cSan Diegans would be surprised at the amount of irresponsible pet owners within its community,\u201d he said. \u201cWe educate more than we enforce. Owners can\u2019t chain a dog to a backyard tree and say, \u2018I have a pet.\u2019 There are requirements \u2014 shade, water, shelter \u2014 at minimum a trolley system to run if they can\u2019t run free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty-five percent of San Diego\u2019s abuse and neglect cases involve livestock and horses. MacKinnon noted that San Diego houses more horses per capita than anywhere in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cHorses are neglected because they are expensive to maintain,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see really skinny, skinny horses; so thin, we have to seize them. The SDHS provides veterinary care while we educate owners to become proper caretakers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most field cases are reported by concerned citizens. MacKinnon described a case of ailing burros called in by a worker manning a telephone line. The worker overlooked a field with the small donkeys limping in pain from hooves that were up to 12 inches overgrown.<\/p>\n
\u201cVisitors, neighbors or people driving within a neighborhood will call \u2014 or apply online through the SDHS website anonymously \u2014 with their concerns,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cA dog may constantly cry and bark or there are hoarding or poor housing conditions that are obviously visible. Again, first and foremost, our officers work to educate rather than take law enforcement action. We want animals to thrive in a happy environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacKinnon spoke highly of SDHS\u2019s special response team that partnered with the Humane Society International to rescue 31 dogs destined for slaughter from South Korea\u2019s meat trade. Although healthy and docile, the dogs had never stepped foot out of a cage. They never walked \u2014 let alone ran \u2014 on grass before. They never experienced the sun, sniffed a bush or interacted with other dogs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese dogs were 130-pound full-grown puppies,\u201d he said. \u201cScared, they didn\u2019t understand human kindness. We supplied blankets, beds, toys, fresh water and affection for the first time. Although these stories break your heart, knowing the dogs will have great lives going forward makes the job worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacKinnon explained that cats are abused more than dogs, and blamed the majority of hoarding incidents on mental illness. Severe cases include housing up to 70 cats and 55 rabbits that forced the removal of the animals and condemnation of the houses.<\/p>\n
\u201cHoarding situations are incredibly sad,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to understand how any human or animal can live with conditions that endanger both health and safety. We work with a hoarding coalition that includes mental health professionals, medical staff and city services.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacKinnon said animal neglect is often fueled by financial hardship. However, SDHS provides assistance through low-cost spay and neutering services, vouchers for veterinary care, behavioral training, and extra food through its PAWS program.<\/p>\n
MacKinnon\u2019s list of accomplishments within the world of paws includes stints in Haiti where dogs are abused and beaten with rocks and war-ravaged Kosovo where domesticated dogs, abandoned by their fleeing owners, are hunted and killed for sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve witnessed horrible animal cruelty that\u2019s difficult to process,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cI\u2019m always concerned how my officers process compassion fatigue, a common occurrence among police officers, firefighters and our military. To constantly see terrible things hardens you. But we have lots of good stories that make it all worthwhile. Our officers are thrilled to know that a dog they rescued was adopted into a great home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Compassion fatigue is depicted as a gradual lessening of compassion common among those who work directly with trauma victims such as first responders. Symptoms include stress, anxiety, sleeplessness or nightmares, and chronic negativity. Professional and personal detrimental effects include decreased productivity, an inability to focus, and the psychological effects of incompetency and self-doubt.<\/p>\n
Chief MacKinnon \u2014 who provides a loving home for seven rescue dogs himself \u2014 said he will continue to work with the HSUS in 2016 \u2014 one on one \u2014 to improve the lives of animals. \u201cThe job\u2019s a perfect fit,\u201d he concluded. \u201cIt combines my passion for police work and my love for animals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Contact Lucia Viti at luciaviti@roadrunner.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Luc\u00eda Viti<\/p>","protected":false},"author":796,"featured_media":222556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Dog Chief\u2019 fights for defenseless animals","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/796"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}