As founder of the Treasure Coast Herpetological Society, animal control officer Bruce Dangerfield is used to handling every type of snake found in Florida. He even kept a selection of the six venomous varieties in his garage until he got bitten and nearly died.
Bruce Dangerfield is a Vero Beach cop, but a cop with a difference. Though he wears a blue uniform, he does not carry a gun and does not possess powers of arrest. Instead of the cruisers used by other officers, he drives a white Ford Ranger, and his weapon of choice is a four-foot-long catchpole with a noose on the end.
Dangerfield is the VBPD’s animal control officer, a job that keeps him as busy as any cop on the beat. In his four years with the department, he has faced down alligators, Bufo toads, feral cats, gators and – his specialty – a variety of venomous snakes. Yet some of the most dangerous creatures he has to contend with are human beings.
“People can become quite irrational when you threaten to take away their pets,” he says.
Read the entire article in the February 2004 issue
True Tails is a series written by Amy Robinson for Vero Beach’s dog lovers. Ask Amy about your dog’s behavior by clicking below.
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