The Twin Falls Police Department has assumed animal control enforcement within the city limits, ending an 11-
year agreement with the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office to provide animal control services to the City of Twin
Falls.
The City decided to transition services back to Twin Falls police, so the department could more closely monitor
animal control enforcement within city limits.
The City paid $108,000 to the sheriff’s office in the 2010 fiscal year for services that included two full-time animal
control officers, who were tasked with enforcing animal control for both the city and county. About 70 percent of
all calls for service received by the county were by residents living within the city limits.
“Our approach is that we can pay for these services, or we can have more control over these services by handling
them ourselves,” said Twin Falls Police Chief Brian Pike. “We would prefer to monitor enforcement from the time
we receive a call for service to the time of disposition.”
By shifting animal control back to the city, the department will also be able to utilize two current officers, who
were removed from airport law enforcement positions after the Transportation Safety Administration reduced
funding to Magic Valley Airport. Animal Control Officers Ed Gudgell and Steve Nutting were reassigned from airport
law enforcement positions to work as full-time animal control officers.
Gudgell and Nutting trained with the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office animal control officers for several weeks
before taking over animal control duties on Friday, June 15th. The Twin Falls Police Department purchased a used
Bureau of Land Management Truck, which was then outfitted with equipment needed for animal control.
Animal control officers responded to 20 calls for service on Friday and identified several other violations. Most
calls for service were complaints about barking or stray dogs; however, the officers also responded to two reports
of vicious dogs.
“When we are not responding to calls, we want to increase our visibility in the community,” said Animal Control
Officer Steve Nutting. “We want to be in every area, with a focus on areas where we see continuing problems.”