Never bitten

When Norwood Animal Control Officer (ACO) Henry Cerqueira says he’s never been bitten, well, that’s not quite true.

In his 33-year career as the Norwood ACO, he said he’s never been bitten by an animal. But just last week, he said he was dropping his wife off at Logan Airport, and in going around the car to get her luggage out, he was, essentially, bitten by a bridge.

“All of a sudden, whoosh!” he said. “My leg went right into one of the expansion joints. The rubber had fallen through.”

Cerqueira said he had parked in front of a State Trooper at Terminal E, and the trooper asked if he needed an ambulance, as he had a not insignificant abrasion on his leg.

“It went all the way to my crotch, but just think about it, if I was a little kid, they would have fallen through,” he said. “The statie asked if I wanted an ambulance, and I said my wife was just leaving for Europe, and he goes ‘You got to go to Terminal C.’ So I dropped her off and went home to ice my leg. But can you imagine? Just one day after retirement.”

Technically, Cerqueira is still on the books to help out at the Norwood ACO, which he said he started way back in 1992. Though technically this was his first day of retirement, he said it’s been quite a ride in Norwood.

A collection of photos put together by the Norwood Animal Control Office to showcase Cerquiera's service to the Town of Norwood and its residents - no matter what shape or size they may be. · Courtesy photo

Cerqueira said the Town has changed since he started, mainly because there are so many more people here. He’s got a bevy of interests, from the storied history of Portugal to the storied history of farms around Norwood and Walpole, but he said animals have always intrigued him from an early age growing up around the farms in the area.

“I grew up on a farm, and downstairs I have a ton of books on dogs,” he said. “I’ve always been fascinated with animals. I constantly watch documentaries and stuff. I just think it’s amazing how nature takes care of everything and also it’s amazing how in this modern-day world, just how little people know about animals.”

Cerqueira said this has bled over into his job as an ACO. He said he has seen quite a bit in Norwood, but the one thing that has always been a problem is that of education around dogs and their breeds. He said every dog in existence has been bred for a purpose, but in many cases, dogs are purchased for their looks and with no prior knowledge of what their instincts push them to do. He said that causes problems and leads to a lot of calls for him and, now at least, his crew.

“Every single breed has a specific job, and when you get these dogs the problem is a majority of people don’t look into the breed, they just get them for their looks,” he said.

Cerqueira gave the example of an Australian Blue Healer, which, like many breeds, was bred to pen and herd cattle. He said they instinctively try to keep the cattle together by biting their heels, and that can be problematic when you don’t have cattle to herd.

“You have kids running all over the place but the dog wants to keep them together,” he said. “So he’s going to start biting them to stay together.”

He said while he knows there are a lot of people who take care of their pets properly, those people aren’t usually interacting with him. It’s those people who inherit a dog, or don’t know what they’re getting into or simply do not have the faculties anymore to take proper care of the animal. He said, however, that many times they are able to find a good home for these pets or get them to a shelter that can properly care for them while they wait for adoption.

But Cerqueira said there are many other sides to the job as well that you probably wouldn’t expect.

“People think we just run around catching dogs and cats when they’re loose,” he said with a laugh. “You see a lot of stuff, and you have to have a strong stomach. You see a lot of problems people have, but you’re getting involved because of the animal.”

He said, for instance, he used to go with the Norwood Police Department on drug raids (not too many such raids anymore) because he could deal with any animals there much better than the police could.

“They knock the door down and guess who’s the first one going in?” he said laughing. “Because of the dogs, it was me, but we haven’t had one for a long time.”

Other times, he said he would have to come in to take care of an animal after their owner had died. He said it can be disturbing; like one instance last year where the owner had died for about a month before anyone realized, and he had to go in and retrieve the deceased woman’s dog.

“The dog was still alive,” he said. “There was no sign of the owner. She was under a bunch of cardboard. She had already mummified, I guess, and so there was no longer flies or a smell – I mean there was a smell of dog – but she had been in there so long she had mummified basically. So we’re going into a lot of different cases here.”

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Cerqueira said they have a lot of wildlife calls as well, and he said there are certain rhythms to issues. He said rabies first started making serious headway here in New England back when he first started, and it jumps back and forth between the raccoon and skunk populations. About every six or seven years, he said they would see calls and serious drops in populations.

“It’s almost like being a farmer,” he said.

The other big wildlife issue he has to deal with is coyotes. These animals were originally mostly eradicated from New England during the period of colonial farming. Massachusetts had, at one point, very little woodland for animals to hide in and many predator species were actively hunted to keep livestock safe. But now, those populations are moving back in, and coyotes have been tested and it has been confirmed that they have the DNA of wolves, coyotes and domestic dogs in them. So they are very smart.

Cerqueira said it’s led to a lot of pets being taken and eaten, and he recommended that, when and if you see a coyote, you haze them as much as possible. You don’t want them be comfortable around people.

“People need to make them feel uncomfortable, but what they tend to do is be quiet and try to take pictures of them, and then the coyotes aren’t threatened by humans anymore,” he said. “There are a lot of them. But they are so intelligent, you hardly ever see them.”

Cerqueira said he has lost pets in the past, and recommends residents always keep an eye on their pets when outside. The coyotes have been known to use hunting tactics to grab a pet and can jump over even eight-foot fences, with prey in their mouths, to get away.

“They’re so smart, I mean never do you get one hit by a car,” he said. “Never do they get into a trap. They’re unbelievably smart.”

Cerqueira said he has loved his time in Norwood, but for a while he was the only ACO for the Town, as well as at one point, the Town of Walpole. So he’s not had a vacation in a good while. He said that’s just part of the job. If you get a call for an animal at 5:01 p.m., you can’t just clock off. You have to go, and he said he’s been working with the newest ACO, Briana Hernandez, for a few years now and feels that the office is in really good hands. And hopefully, he’ll be able to give her a vacation or two, though now he’s helping out with some other rowdy critters: his three grandkids.

“She’s got great instincts and she’s great with the animals,” he said. “But if they ever need help, I’m helping with my grandchildren, but sometimes you need two people.”