New Hope Animal Control Officer Responds to All Sorts of Calls

Spring time is when Raelynne Benjamin’s phone starts to get a lot busier.

“Last year, I think it was like 400 to 500 cases in New Hope alone,” said Benjamin, the animal control officer with the New Hope Police Department. “The start of the transition between winter and spring is more so just a lot of calls about wildlife being active again.”

More animals are emerging and building nests and raising young now that spring and summer are upon us.

Benjamin handles calls that concern domestic animals, stray cats and dogs, wildlife entering yards and in the streets, and people who find baby animals.

“People call because they see something and they say, ‘Oh, I don’t know if this is normal or what to do with this, or how to be able to co-exist with wildlife,’” she said. Benjamin has worked in the veterinary field for more than a decade, so she brings that medical experience to the fore when it comes to answer questions or knowing how to handle a given situation.

“People get concerned when they see babies out and about, especially rabbits and like the fledgling robins. For the most part, it’s normal to see little rabbits on their own, as long as they’re fully furred, their eyes are open, they start crawling out of their nests,” said Benjamin. “I’d be concerned about that if they’re in your backyard and you had dogs.”

She has worked in New Hope long enough to start to recognize dogs and cats that habitually run away from home. She often takes strays and other animals she finds to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota in Roseville. 

“If you ever have a question you can definitely call and I can either come out and look at it myself, or get information over the phone,” said Benjamin. “Otherwise, the Wildlife Rehab Center is available to talk it over with you. Definitely if it’s injured, it needs help no matter what.”

New Hope

Cities Stories