If You Have an Escape Artist you Might Know Marissa

West Richland Police Department sent out an exceptional congratulatory post on Facebook earlier this month to their Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer, Marissa Rodriguez and we would like to extend our appreciation also!

If you have ever had an escape artist as a four legged friend you may have come in contact with animal control, as I did not long ago. My daughter was visiting from Colorado and she brought her puppy "Boo." Boo had lived with us in West Richland prior to their move to Colorado, so she was familiar with her surroundings while visiting. We never had an issue with her wandering off while she lived there so we never expected her to do a disappearing act! I was in charge of Boo one afternoon while my daughter took a day trip to Leavenworth. Well, this may or may not be the reason my daughter doesn't really want to have kids, I lost her dog so why would she trust me with her toddler?

I ran to the gas station and I left her in the fenced back yard, where she had been left MANY times before and NEVER expected her to pull a Houdini! Well, she did! After hours of having the entire family and neighborhood searching for her, searching every social media lost pet site and calling every shelter I had to make the dreaded call to my daughter and tell her I lost her dog!

Little did I know Boo was safe and doing a "ride-a-long" with one of our West Richland Police officers. She had been spotted running around the neighborhood and someone called WRP in order to keep her safe from the busy street. Boo had a collar with her Mom's number on it so it was easy enough to locate us and have us come down to the station and bail her out. I know there are fees when you have to retrieve your pet from an officer but in this case I got to the station only moments after the officer dropped Boo off for "booking," so they were nice enough to just turn her over to me on her own recognizance.

I appreciate all our officers do on a daily basis, there are so many different jobs and behind the scenes we forget about but I just want to extend the congratulations to Marissa and tell her thanks for keeping our furry friends safe! Congratulations Marissa!

West Richland Police post from April 1, 2021;

We would like to congratulate Marissa Rodriguez, our Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer, in receiving 2nd place for the Washington State 2020 Bucky Award. Pasado's Safe Haven offers this annual award to raise awareness about crimes against animals and to recognize the officers and prosecutors who do exceptional work on these difficult cases. In co-recognition for this award is City Attorney, Michael Rio, the Prosecutor in this case. Also with this award came a personalized painting by pet and $1500 dollars split between WRPD and Michael Rio’s attorney office and is used for further animal cruelty investigation and prosecution related training. Thank you for your outstanding work Marissa.