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The Straight and Narrow Road

There lay a straight and narrow road ahead of me. The pavement is unadorned; it is littered with debris. All around me are dead shrubbery, not a single hint of green. I can see other paths far off in the distance. Those paths are beautiful and awe-striking. Many walk those roads, despite the fact that I’ve seen and foretold of the doom at their destination. Their roads are downhill, and very easy to tread on. My path ascends uphill, creating much difficulty. Yet, while weary, I press on because I see a great light, and golden gates in the clouds. There, a crowned man beckons all to come, and flee the path of immorality and death. Few obey, but those who reach Him are richly rewarded. Though I grow tiresome, and many fall away from the straight and narrow road, I continue on, strengthened through the call of the crowned man. When I reach the top, I am greeted by the crowned man in scarlet robes. He says to me “Well done, my good and faithful servant, in whom I am well pleased.” I rejoice greatly with all those who came before me. Here, we spend all of eternity praising our Master for saving us from everlasting torment.
Logan Flagler
10-23-24
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Using GPS

Throughout my career, I have used GPS in several organizations that I have overseen.  Here are a few war stories:

In Portland, we received a call that one of our vehicles had kicked up a rock and cracked the caller’s windshield.  We checked the location of the incident against the GPS of the vehicle that the guy reported.   We found that the vehicle was on the other side of the County when the incident occurred.  We discovered that people get their windshield cracked and begin looking for a government vehicle on the road to blame the incident on and get a free windshield replacement.

In Jacksonville, we received a call about one of our drivers driving recklessly.  We pulled up the GPS data and found that our driver was driving 50 miles per hour in a 35-mile zone.  The caller was right.

Also, in Jacksonville, we deal with a lot of impatient callers who are calling in to see where the truck dispatched to their address is.  We can look at the mapping software and advise them.  It was not uncommon that we’d see the vehicle pulling up in front of their house and advise them to look outside the window.

GPS finds the best use for new drivers who are unfamiliar with your city.  It helps them get around.

GPS systems help advise your dispatcher as to which vehicle is the closest to the incident location.

We lost one of our employees in Fairfax County.  He had pressed the emergency button on his radio, and we were able to find the location of his vehicle via GPS.  When it started getting dark, we dispatched a helicopter and asked him to shine his flashlight straight up, and the helicopter pilot was able to direct our search to him.

GPS is a wonderful tool.  I used the it in Jacksonville to map the locations of raccoons that had tested positive for rabies.

In Salt Lake City, I used GPS to map the locations of dogs that had been declared dangerous.   I have heard of communities that have online mapping to let neighbors know where the dangerous dogs are in their neighborhood.

As an oldtimer, I use GPS when I am using the public transportation system in my city.    Google has a feature where you can share your location (not with just China (joking)).  So when I go out the door, I turn on Google Maps, and my daughter can track me when she turns on her Google Maps.  If I am headed out to a soccer game, she can see how far I am away.

You would be remiss if you didn’t take advantage of the tools that are available to you.

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Its not their fault!

I was reading comments following the recent incident of one of our police officers shooting a dog.  Many people conclude that the dog was not to blame.  On that, I agree.  Dogs become confused, especially when some stranger is yelling at them.  Time and time again we see evidence that many pet owners are not smart enough to own a dog.  Any reasonable person would realize that the best way to control your dog is with a leash.   If you can’t figure out the purpose of the leash, you should not take your dog into a crowd.

Every effort that the person attempting to control the dog made it worse.  Their excitement just further excited the dog.  During the two separate altercations that the police had with the dog, I did not hear a single person say “no” to the dog.  That is the first step in training dogs to be around people; to stop aberrant behavior.  This incident failed at all levels.

When the officer approached the dog the first time, the leash was on the dog, but no one was holding the leash.  Someone was stepping on the leash.  The officer should have seen the risk that he was entering into and demanded that someone take the leash into their hands.  It might have helped that he didn’t start with “his cop voice.”

In the second incident with the dog, the dog was off-leash.  The person near the dog could be clearly seen with the leash in her hand.  This makes no sense; the person had to be pretty stupid to take the dog off leash following the dog biting an officer just moments before.

Still using his “cop voice,” but a little more excited, the officer was yelling at the woman to hold the dog.  In addition to the woman being stupid, she was also very slow.  The dog began approaching the officer and the woman’s efforts to stop the dog only seemed to excite the dog more.

As slow as the woman was, the police officer was very quick in pumping four rounds into the dog.  Although the dog didn’t immediately die, it was in pretty bad shape.  I don’t know at what point that dog realized that he was acting badly; it is further evidence that people should be tested first before they are allowed to own a pet or have children.

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What do we seek?

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 1:22–25.

  • 1 Co 1:18 | For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
  • Mt 12:38 | Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
  • Ga 5:11 | But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
  • Lk 2:34 | And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
  • 1 Co 1:30 | And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
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The four primary characters in Proverbs.

There are four primary characters in Proverbs: the wise, the fool, the simple, and the scoffer. The wise embrace God’s covenant. Fools, on the other hand, are opposed to God, yet they are not beyond hope. The simple are those who remain uncommitted to either wisdom or folly, and because of that they are easily misled. Scoffers are proud and arrogant and scorn God’s ways. Other voices in the book include Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly, each of whom personifies the characteristics of her name, and the Woman of Excellence, with whom the book concludes.

Lydia Brownback, Proverbs, A 12-Week Study, ed. J. I. Packer, Dane C. Ortlund, and Lane T. Dennis, Knowing the Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), 7–8.

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Officer Involved Shooting

Our local police responded to a parking lot full of people.  From police footage, it appears that most of the people were homeless.  One police officer approached the group and was attacked and bitten by a dog.  It appeared to me that the dog was on a leash at the time.   The officer was walking off the attack when he came back into view of the dog again, which was now off-leash.    Another officer approached the dog’s owner yelling at her to control her dog.  Her attempt was feeble, at best.  He promised her that he would shoot the dog if she didn’t gain control of it.  She didn’t and the dog attacked again and was shot four times for its efforts.

In most circumstances, I would feel sorry for the stupid dog and its owner; but, people don’t realize the impact that has on the officer.  As an animal control officer, I could have taken the dog without killing it.  That’s what we do.  But, I don’t expect a police officer to handle the situation as I would have.  Police officers are trained to think with their guns when they are in danger.  So, given the circumstances, it was a righteous shooting. Although, a Taser would have been my first choice.

Before you start thinking that I’m all full of myself, keep in mind that most animal control officers don’t carry guns.  So shooting a dog isn’t an option.  If we are experienced animal control officers, we get out of our vehicles with a ketch-pole and leash in our hands.  The prospect of getting bitten doesn’t worry us as it does police officers.  Of course, we also get more experience facing down a face full of doggie teeth.

I recall using pepper spray on a Rottweiler once.  The owners complained to the police about my use of pepper spray and when the police sergeant came out to talk to the dog’s owners, the dog attacked him.  He came just short of shooting the dog.  Once the sergeant calmed down, he told me not to worry about the complaint.  I was a little embarrassed that I stepped out of the vehicle without my ketch-pole.  After all of these years, I still feel bad about using the pepper spray.

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Taking God’s Name In Vain.

When we become Christians, we belong to God.  He has placed an invisible brand across our foreheads, taking possession of His flock.  He has placed His name on us.  It is not enough to declare who we are, God expects us to show it.  When we don’t act like one of His children, we blemish His name; thus taking His name in vain.

I pray that we let our light shine; and that we wear His name well upon us.

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The First Climate Protester

When I was very young, maybe around 4 or 5 years old, I would get angry with my mother and go out and sit in the street in front of our home.  I might have been the first climate protester.  My mother would come outside to pull me out of the street.  I was too young to understand that sitting in the street was a stupid thing to do.  Well, actually, maybe I did.  I never once considered turning around and going back out into the street after my mother intervened.  I had gotten her attention and I was good to go.

The problem with modern-day climate protesters is that no one cares enough about them that anyone, except angry drivers, would pull them out of the street.  Once they have been pulled off the street, they get up and resume their spot in the roadway.  I find myself asking, “Where are their mothers?”  Would someone please love them enough to stop them from doing stupid things?

Sure, I want to breathe fresh air, but not from beneath the undercarriage of a passing motor vehicle.

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Controlled Substance War Story

That last blog reminded me of an incident involving controlled substances security.  Sorry! A couple of employees came to me to advise me that our veterinarian had left our controlled substances unsecured.  The veterinarian was on vacation and was the only person with the keys to the drug box.

While in the military, I spent a lot of my time studying.  I usually studied criminal investigation techniques, but I would often break from that training to pick up other useful knowledge.   As such, I learned locksmithing; to be more exact, I studied lock picking.

I simply picked the drug box lock and resecured the drugs.  When the veterinarian returned from vacation; I explained to the veterinarian what I had done.  It seems that the veterinarian only heard “lock pick” and “drug box.”

A few days later, I was visited by a trio of criminal investigators who were investigating me for breaking into the veterinarian’s drug box.  Fortunately, they got a good laugh out of it.  They went on to report my veterinarian to the State Pharmacy Board.  I don’t know what the best lesson to learn here was: to pay more attention to locking your drugs, paying more attention when your Executive Director is talking to you,  or just not being stupid (trying to get your boss fired without thinking it through).

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Hiring a veterinarian

Hiring a veterinarian can be the most challenging task that you might ever encounter. Your veterinarian will likely be your most expensive employee and the veterinarian position will be the hardest position that you will ever have to fill. During your interview with potential hires, you will keep asking yourself if there is any hope that you will get your money’s worth from that individual. Here is what you will encounter:

You need someone who can organize their time and be able to perform high-volume surgeries. But here is the kicker: they can’t be too fast or too slow. A veterinarian that needs two or three hours to complete a spay/neuter will be too ineffective on your staff; but, a veterinarian who completes surgeries within minutes will be taking shortcuts. I have witnessed veterinarians taking shortcuts in closing and substituting glue for sutures. I’ve seen organizations dealing with the bad press from people taking their pets home, only to complain about open wounds. And then the shelter has to pay for that person to take their pet to the emergency clinic to close the wound again. You can’t afford to be paying for many of those incidents. It is much cheaper to do the surgeries right, even if it takes a few minutes more.

Hiring a veterinarian is all about balance. That balance is very hard to find. As such, you need to think about “plan B.” If your local humane society operates a high-volume clinic, you might consider contracting with them for your surgeries. Some will even provide pickup and delivery services. “Plan C” is contracting with a local veterinarian who is willing to reduce their rates for a constant income source. Surgeries make up a small portion of a veterinarian’s business and you might find one who wants your business just to stay proficient.

A word of caution. Avoid “luxury veterinarians”; who might have worked at a luxury, government, or university clinic where that had unlimited resources.  There are hidden costs associated with “luxury veterinarians,” because they are used to providing deluxe services.  I discovered just how many dogs you can find with lime disease if you test for it. You are going to run up your veterinary costs if you treat every dog that comes into your shelter with lime disease. If you have the time and the money, go for it. If you are working with the same budget that I’ve had throughout my career, you have to stop short of providing luxury services.

Another word of caution is the handling of controlled substances. Although the shelter purchases the drugs, your veterinarian is the only one allowed to handle them. If you decide to fire your veterinarian, have another veterinarian in the wings to accept responsibility for the drugs. Come to think about it, you might want to schedule route drug tests for your veterinarian. I never did that and thinking back, I wish that I had.

I am going to get slightly off-topic. When I worked in Utah, employees who were in accidents when driving a government vehicle were immediately sent in for a drug test. At first thought, you’ll think that is a stupid idea, until you start to realize that the accident could have been caused by someone on drugs. Does meth make you drive a little more aggressive? I think that it might. Of course, back in those days, Utah had the third-highest meth use in the Country.