Animal Control Officer Jennifer Condon with two of her dogs at home. (Courtesy photo)

By Alice Waugh

Almost every day is dog day afternoon for Jennifer Condon, the animal control officer for eight towns including Lincoln.

When someone calls their local police to report a stray pet, a dog bite, a sick or injured raccoon, or even a DUI arrest when there’s a dog in the car, the police in turn call Condon, who drives over from Maynard to deal with the issue. “If anything pertains to an animal, I’m on scene, domestic or wild,” said Condon, who is also the animal control officer for Concord, Hudson, Maynard, Northborough, Southborough, and Wayland.

Condon owns Boardman’s Animal Control, which has one full-time and one part-time employee in addition to her. She inherited the business from her father, who was also a multi-town animal control officer. As a senior state animal inspector, her job also includes inspecting barns and livestock to make sure the animals are healthy and well cared for. 

Her day starts at 6:00am when she does “roadkill run” in some of her towns. She’s able to remove a dead deer from the road with a winch system on her truck, and sadly, she sometimes has to humanely put down animals who were hit by cars and are still alive but badly injured (she’s licensed to carry a handgun for this purpose).

One of the more common calls Condon gets is for stray dogs and cats. “Dogs love me — they just come running up to me,” she said. Cats are harder to corner and she usually doesn’t try unless they’re sick or injured, in which case she transports them to veterinary emergency care. She checks each pet for an owner’s microchip, but if it doesn’t have one, it goes into her kennel for seven days, after which it goes to a shelter. 

Therein lies the rub. “You can’t be an animal control officer and not love animals,” she noted — and on more than one occasion, that’s meant she’s adopted an animal who wasn’t claimed. At the moment she has five dogs, including a Bernese mountain dog and a golden retriever who was found covered in paint by its previous owner, who had mental health issues. But that’s not all — her household also includes 13 rabbits, 36 chickens, two goats, two cats, birds and a ferret

“When you have to hold onto an animal for seven days, sometimes you fall in love,” she said. “You can’t be an animal control officer and not love animals.”

Condon does most of her field work when residents make animal-related calls to police and they in turn call her. Some callers ask for help with wildlife they’ve spotted near their home — most often coyotes and raccoons but also the occasional bear, bobcat, or turkey that may be sick or injured. She advises them to leave the animal alone (especially if it’s breeding season) unless it shows specific signs of illness.

Many calls involve dogs who are on the loose (though Lincoln does not have leash law), acting aggressively, barking excessively, or have bitten someone. When a dog bites a person, it must be put in 10-day quarantine even if it’s up to date on its shots. A pet bitten by a wild animal must be quarantined for 45 days.

When it comes to misbehaving dogs, Condon stressed the importance of proper training. She often refers people to professional dog trainers and approved dog day care centers — they can call her office at 978-897-5596 office or email admin@borardmansanimalcontrol.com.

Sometimes the calls are from the police themselves. She’s had to take charge of animals when police find them neglected or abused in cases where police deal with car accidents, domestic violence or drug abuse, elderly owners who can no longer care for their pets, deaths, house fires, etc.

Some of her more memorable cases haven’t involved pets. Condon was once chased down by a bull in Northborough, and she used to try to catch bats and other wild animals that had gotten inside homes, though those calls (as well as calls about injured or apparently orphaned animals outdoors) are now referred to a pest control service or a wildlife rehabilitator.

There’s no such thing as a typical day, and the variety of calls keeps the job interesting (see A year in the life of Lincoln’s animal control officer” below). A week in summer might include calls about a dog attack, a suspected rabid raccoon, a loose animal, a lost cat, kittens dumped at the side of the road, and a “dangerous dog” hearing with town officials (dogs that are deemed dangerous must go into an immediate 10-day house quarantine). 

“My mind is so open that nothing surprises me,” Condon said.

Fortunately, she’s never had to deal with a rabid dog, though her father did. Condon is allowed to shoot an animal suspected of having rabies if it’s obviously preparing to attack, but she can’t shoot it in the head because the brain needs to be intact for post-mortem testing. Dead pets (cats and dogs) suspected of having rabies go to a vet for testing, but for a wild animal, she has to decapitate it and send the head by courier to a state lab in Boston.

Winter means things are quieter for Condon, since people and pets tend to stay inside. In contrast, during the pandemic, she had more calls than she and her two employees could handle. “Everyone went out and got puppies, but most of these dogs weren’t socialized,” she noted — and once they and their owners rejoined the outside world, the dogs behaved aggressively with other people and animals or were neglected when their owners went back to the office.

In cases of neglect or mistreatment, “I’m very honest and very direct,” Condon said. “I’ll work with people, but people need to work with me in terms of fixing a bad situation.” Sometimes, however, owners have threatened her when confronted. “People are very protective of their animals, even if they’re bad people,” she said.

In an animal emergency, Condon advised people to call the police, who will immediately contact Condon and respond as needed. The state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife explains what to do if you find a wild animal that might be sick or injured and also maintains a list of wildlife rehabilitators that people can call.

A year in the life of Lincoln’s animal control officer

Total calls in 2024:

• Animal/wildlife calls 40
• Miscellaneous calls: 37
• Barn inspections: 30
• Complaint calls: 15
• Lost dog calls: 7
• Lost cat calls: 5
• Other cat-related calls: 4

Here are some of the more unusual calls in Lincoln that Condon handled in 2024:

• RP [reporting party] reports that a housing unit has been left empty and a cat was left behind. They have a possible home for the cat. ACO [animal control officer] can do transport but cannot take the cat in.
• RP reports that she had an incident with a dog walker with seven dogs. RP states the dogs were all over the place and the walker had no control.
• RP found a deceased owl on the property, looking for guidance on disposal. ACO advised to bury or double bag and into the trash.
• RP reports that she had an issue with dogs were being walked on leashes and one got away from the owner. The dog ran at her, and she felt as though the dog was going to attack her. ACO contacted [the owner] and advised him that the dogs should have muzzles on specifically because of the incident. ACO advised that dogs are unpredictable and need to be in full control, and that it’s in best interest of the dogs to be muzzled; otherwise, they are being set up to fail. Owner states that the dogs will be leashed and muzzled going forward.
• RP advises that a mother duck was killed and the babies were collected and now in a box. RP found a rehabber to take them.
• Police advise that a Great Dane is back wandering near the Weston line. ACO received text from Weston ACO who states she believes that the dog belongs to a construction person bringing the dog to work and letting it do whatever.
• Angell Memorial Hospital reports that a stray puppy, black and tan in color, was brought in by a Lincoln resident who found the puppy abandoned and injured. Per vet, the dog came in dehydrated, coat was clean, mentally abnormal, lethargic, with eye swelling.
• RP from Buddy and Friends Rescue is calling because [residents] have applied to adopt a dog and part of their screening process is to check in with the local ACO to determine if applicants are responsible dog owners. ACO confirmed with Town Clerk that both dogs currently owned by applicants are licensed and up to date with three vaccinations (rabies, distemper/hepatitis/parainfluenza/parvovirus, and leptospirosis).
• RP reports a coyote that is unable to move and his back legs appear to be badly damaged. Police on scene asked ACO to relocate animal to be euthanized. ACO contained the animal and contacted police to return to have euthanized. Animal euthanized with no issues.
• Blue heron located in back parking lot on the edge of the wood line. Injured bird noted to be standing on one leg; when we approached, the bird attempted to fly away but was unable to. Wrapped blue heron in a large towel and secured in an animal carrier. Called Tufts [Veterinary Emergency Treatment & Specialties] and given green light to bring in blue heron.
• A dog missing out of Sudbury now in Lincoln seen running down South Great Road towards Tower Road.