Two women posing as Wichita animal control officers removed dogs, police say

Two women have recently posed as Wichita animal control officers in incidents where they were taking animals they deemed were mistreated, a police official said Friday.

Animal control is a section of the Wichita Police Department, and “we don’t like anybody representing” the agency when they are not members, police Lt. Steve Kenney said. It makes it harder for real officers to do their job because people may be mistrustful of their identity, he said.

There have been a couple of complaints of people taking or trying to remove animals in recent weeks, he said. “They told the victims that they were animal control officers.”

On Friday afternoon, Kenney gave this corrected and updated account: The latest incident occurred around noon Tuesday in the 1500 block of South Palisade, near Harry and Waco. A woman and her husband confronted two suspects who were taking their dogs – a mother and her five 8-week-old puppies. The two female suspects presented themselves as animal control officers, and told neighbors they were removing the dogs because they were underweight.

The suspects left with the animals, which have not been recovered, Kenney said Friday afternoon.

The main goal is to reunite the owners with their dogs; the secondary goal is to prosecute the case, he said. If someone has the dog and puppies, they can return them to the owner or put them in the night deposit pet container at the animal shelter that is available after hours, at 3303 N. Hillside, near K-96, Kenney said.

Kenney described one of the suspects as a white woman, in her 50s, wearing dark blue pants, a dark blue shirt and a denim jacket. The other woman was in her 20s and wearing all dark blue clothing and a denim jacket. City animal control staff wear a uniform with a navy blue jacket – not denim – that includes a badge, and they carry a city photo ID, Kenney said.

The two suspects were driving a pickup with a kennel in back, and animal control doesn’t use a pickup to transport animals, Kenney said. Animal control uses white vans with “City of Wichita” on the side. If city staff remove a pet, they leave a note on the door on how they can be contacted, he added.

If anyone sees women matching the description, they should call 911, Kenney said.

In another incident, someone took a dog and gave it to a rescue group, and that group returned it to the owners, Kenney said.

Police don’t think the women posing as animal control are affiliated with any animal rescue groups, which have to be licensed, he said.

Although whoever is trying to remove dogs might have intentions to help animals, they are breaking the law by posing as animal control officers, Kenney said.

If someone thinks an animal is in trouble and it’s an emergency, he said, they should call 911. Otherwise, animal control staff can be contacted at 316-350-3360, he said.

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Two women posing as Wichita animal control officers removed dogs, police say."