If someone shows up at your door saying they are an animal protection officer, make sure that is what they really are.
The Executive Director of Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan, Don Ferguson, say they first heard of someone impersonating an Animal Protection Officer about a year ago in the north.
Since then, other reports have come in, mainly in the La Ronge and Ile-a-la-Crosse areas, and more recently around Regina and Swift Current.
In all instances, the owners didn’t relinquish their animals.
Ferguson says he doesn’t like to speculate, but he wonders if these are concerned individuals who have possibly reported an animal welfare concern but hadn’t seen any action, so may have wanted to remove or provide care to an animal.
Ferguson says APSS covers all areas of the province other than Regina and Saskatoon which have their own agencies.
APSS recently began wearing uniforms, so now all APOs wear them in the province and the APSS officers also drive white, marked F150 trucks.
All animal protection officers also have an ID card, so Ferguson advises if the person can’t produce identification , report them to the police.