WHY DOES EVERYTHING IN HARTFORD ALWAYS HAVE TO BE DIFFICULT?

This afternoon  I was working on installing security cameras at the new HPD substation at Trinity College at the corner of New Britain Avenue and Broad Street. And before you start the negative comments, I donated the majority of the system to HPD.

While I had gone out to my truck at one point, a small dog passed by me on the side walk, unfortunately a few minutes I heard a dog squealing and yelping and seeing that the same dog had just been hit by a truck. The operator of the grey pickup truck with a ladder rack  , obviously knew he hit the dog, since he initially stopped before speeding off west on New Britain Avenue.

Another driver got out of his car and despite the dogs growling, he picked the dog up and brought him to the curb. The dog was walking, although with a limp, but I didn't want him heading back into the street. I picked him up, grabbed a blanket out of my truck, and took him inside the substation to keep him from running off.

I called the police department Dispatch Center. Technically not a part of HPD  but sadly a separate agency that doesn't answer to the Police Chief. I explained that the dog was hit, the driver took off and I needed an animal control officer. The operator, took the address and my cell phone number and said I should get a call back from an Animal Control Officer. I guess we no longer call them dog wardens.

With the dog curled up on the blanket, I waited over an hour for a call or someone to show up to deal with this injured animal. After an hour I called the dispatch Center and spoke to a rude operator who stated "we are busy dealing with life and death situations right now". I asked him when was the last time an ACO had handled a life or death situation?" I asked him if I should just watch this dog die here wrapped in a blanket. He continued his rudeness , at which point I asked him to speak to a supervisor.

It should be no surprise to anyone that he put me on hold and no supervisor ever picked up the phone.

And this is where, I will readily admit, I have a luxury that most people being treated rudely by the Dispatch Center don't  have. I have the personal cell phone numbers of just about everyone at HPD from Chief Rovella, the Deputy Chief's, and most Lieutenant's. The shift Lieutenant, Charles Cochran intervened and even though the dispatcher said everyone was tied up, within a few minutes a patrol car showed up.

By this point the dog was starting to shake  and would wimper occasionally, I guess for a small pup getting hit by a truck he wasn't doing all that bad but he had been in discomfort for well over two hours now.

I found out later that apparently the ACO had signed off at the dog pound in Bloomfield but was unreachable for over two and a half hours. This would appear to also be a problem with supervision in the Dispatch Center. If someone was unreachable by radio for well over two and a half hours despite repeated attempts to raise him, shouldn't that have raised a red flag that someone should be sent to check on him? What if he was mauled by a dog at the pound and was injured?

It is just emtremely frustrating  that this Administration seems as though it can't get anything right, even dispatching assistance for an injured dog. Where is the accountability? We know the Department head was probably at home in Suffield by this point.

Depending on how the dog's trip to the vet went , and if he survives, my short interaction would make me think this this pup would be a great rescue pet for anyone, Even after getting hit by a truck and most likely he was in pain. He was never aggressive and layed curled up in my lap with his head resting on my arm like he had been around me forever. Please consider an adoption if possible