Pets, People & Public Safety with Raymore Animal Control

Ever wonder what modern animal control actually looks like when it’s done with care, skill and community in mind? We sit down with Raymore Animal Control Officer Caleb Waller to explore the real work behind the badge: reuniting lost pets through accurate microchips, preventing bites with simple habits and building a safer city through education and consistent enforcement. No scare tactics here—just practical steps any owner can take to keep pets healthy and neighbors safe.

Caleb breaks down how microchips truly function and the one thing that most often delays reunions: outdated phone numbers. We dig into the health and behavior reasons for early spay and neuter, how leash laws protect even “perfectly trained” dogs from unpredictable moments and why supervision beats the “it won’t happen to me” mindset. You’ll also hear dog bite prevention tips you can use today, from not reaching through fences to keeping vaccines current so a bite quarantine can happen at home instead of the shelter.

Pulling back the curtain on operations, Caleb shares Animal Control's 92% live release rate and the partnerships with rescues, vets and wildlife rehabilitators that make small facilities effective. We talk about unusual calls—yes, roaming peacocks—alongside feel-good wins like the itty bitty schnauzer who bounced back and found a home. Caleb’s work with the Missouri Animal Control Association highlights how ongoing training in wildlife handling, legal standards and humane practices elevates service across the state.

If you care about pet safety, responsible ownership and how a city turns compassion into policy, this conversation is for you. Check out resources at Raymore.com/animalcontrol and follow Facebook.com/RaymoreAnimalControl for updates and adoptable pets. If this episode helped you learn something new, subscribe, share it with a pet-loving friend, and leave us a quick review—what tip will you put into practice first?

Learn more about the City of Raymore's Communications Department at www.raymore.com/communications

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Threads @CityofRaymoreMO

Transcript

Melissa Harmer 0:12

Welcome to Say More ina Raymore, the City of Raymore's official podcast. I'm your host, Melissa Harmer, Communications Director for the City. We're here with Raymore Animal Control Officer Caleb Waller. Hi, Caleb.

Caleb Waller 0:25

Hello.

Melissa Harmer 0:26

Tell me a little bit about you. Let's help our listeners get to know you outside of work. What are your hobbies and just share a little bit about you?

Caleb Waller 0:34

Well, I'm a big Sporting Kansas City fan, all the way, season ticket member, three years in a row now.

Melissa Harmer 0:40

That's impressive. Mm-hmm.

Caleb Waller 0:41

Sporting KC all the way. You know, we've been struggling a little bit lately, but we're getting it together slow slowly but surely. I've been uh here with Raymore for a little over three years now. Um I got started in animal control because it ran into family. My mom did it for Blue Springs for eight to ten years, somewhere around there. And she suckered me into it, and now here I am.

Melissa Harmer 1:05

I assume you have a love of animals, you have to, right?

Caleb Waller 1:07

Oh, big time. I have a border collie and a German short hair pointer at home. I definitely keep things interesting.

Melissa Harmer 1:14

But I do have a question. Do they think that when you leave them to come to work that you're just playing with other animals all day?

Caleb Waller 1:20

Do they seem like I actually have a routine when I get home that I have to sit down on my bed for at least five minutes and just let them smell me.

Melissa Harmer 1:29

Right. Because they're like, what have you been doing? They're mad.

Caleb Waller 1:32

They're mad.

Melissa Harmer 1:33

Well, understandable. Understandable.

Caleb Waller 1:36

I have to sit there and just let them smell me for forever.

Melissa Harmer 1:40

And then they forgive you and then you're all good.

Caleb Waller 1:41

Yep. That's good. And we move on with the day. That's good.

Melissa Harmer 1:45

So you found your way to Raymore, and tell me what it's like being an animal control officer. You probably don't really have a typical day, but what are some of the things you deal with in a regular day?

Caleb Waller 1:57

Probably some of our most common calls are just simple like animals running at large. Uh we don't get very many abuse neglects in Raymore. Thankfully. We're very lucky for that. We have a very wonderful community that definitely takes very good care of their animals. We pick up any deceased wildlife like roadkill or anything like that. Um we get a fair amount of calls about sick or injured wildlife that we send to like wildlife rehabilitators and things like that. But for the most part, with Raymore, there's it's it's a lot of community engagement and just going and talking to people and representing the city in a positive light. We also have an animal control facility that we are responsible for taking care of and feeding and watering the animals there, processing adoptions, getting them to and from the vet whenever they need to go, and things like that.

Melissa Harmer 2:47

And how much room do you have for dogs?

Caleb Waller 2:50

Six dog kennels and eight cat kennels.

Melissa Harmer 2:53

Okay. And what are the other types of animals that you've come across over the years that don't fit into that category?

Caleb Waller 2:59

Uh last year we had a bearded dragon that was actually found running at large in somebody's front yard.

Melissa Harmer 3:06

Wow.

Caleb Waller 3:06

Um and then we can get anything. We've had chickens before, uh, we've had a duck, lots of things.

Melissa Harmer 3:15

Lots of things. And then you, of course, are helping the turtles cross the roads and things like that, too.

Caleb Waller 3:19

All the time. Yes.

Melissa Harmer 3:20

Yes. So you're not just dealing with animals, you are, um, as you said, like a a major component of your job is also engaging with the public. So what kind of things are you sharing with members of the public?

Wildlife, Kennels, Odd Cases

Caleb Waller 3:33

A lot of our community engagement just includes education, um, educating animal owners about things like microchips, which there's a lot of myths about that we really work hard to correct. Microchips, it's a when we scan the dog, we get a 15-digit number, and then we have to run the information through a database that will tell us which company it's registered with, and then we have to contact that company to get the owner's information. And they won't turn over the information to just anybody, they will only turn it over if you work for a vet's office or uh animal control or a police department somewhere in an official capacity, and then if you don't want that official to release your information to the public, you can just tell them that you don't want that. So your information can still stay relatively private too if you microchip your pets.

Melissa Harmer 4:26

And it's important to if you change your phone number or your well, really your phone number, because that's connected to all the information on the microchip. So if you want someone to get in touch with you when you're if your dog decides to have a a grand adventure outside your yard, then definitely keep your information up to date.

Caleb Waller 4:44

Right. We're very fortunate a lot of the pets in Raymore are already microchipped.

Melissa Harmer 4:48

Um what else about pet care can you share with us that's important? I have something. Are you waiting?

Caleb Waller 4:57

I'm waiting on you.

Melissa Harmer 4:59

Spaying and neutering. Spay and neuter, very important.

Microchips

Caleb Waller 5:04

Spaying and neutering is very important. Spaying and neutering, it not only has a lot of health benefits, but if you have an unneutered male dog, it can also keep them from going out and roaming. Unneutered male dogs will quite literally go out and search for females in heat. So it has a lot of uh health benefits as well, as far as cancers and things like that. It can really reduce a lot of the risk of cancers in your dog. Um, it's definitely something if your dog isn't spayed or neutered that you should talk to your veterinarian about.

Melissa Harmer 5:38

Right. And personal experience for me, I adopted one of my dogs from Raymore Animal Control about probably eight years ago now. We thought she was a lot younger than she really was, just because she was so tiny and unfortunately malnourished and wormy. Um, and she wasn't spayed before her first heat cycle, and I don't know if she was spayed before her second heat cycle, and now she has mammary tumors, and it's gonna be a pretty big surgery coming up here in a few weeks. And in my research that I did, like how did this happen? Well, her chances if she had been spayed early would have been like half a percent to have this happen to her. And because she wasn't spayed at a an appropriate time, now she's going through this, which is not only like expensive, but it's scary. So please it's a lot more than spaying your dog. Exactly, exactly. So talk to your vet about when to spay neuter your pets. And we still - no matter how adorable and beautiful and wonderful and perfect your animal is, we don't need more, right? I mean, we have we ha still have a huge issue with unwanted um pets across the country.

Caleb Waller 6:51

So um That's why we say spay more in Raymore.

Melissa Harmer 6:53

That's right, spay more in raymore. Stickers coming soon, everybody. So what can residents do to keep their pets safe and to help you out?

Caleb Waller 7:03

A lot of it is just proper restraint and control. Um while your dog might be perfectly well trained and have really great recall, you can't control unknown factors like a squirrel running by and then your dog wants to chase after the squirrel. It's very hard to train against natural behaviors like a prey drive or anything like that. Um, and you can't control another somebody else's dog off leash that might be aggressive towards your dog. So proper restraint control is one of the largest factors in our experience here in town to help protect your dog against any kind of sickness or injury or anything like that. Other than that, supervising your dog anytime they're outside, because there's so many uh factors or things that could happen, you don't want to get the it won't happen to me mentality because as soon as you do, that's that's when something does happen. So Right.

Melissa Harmer 7:58

And so we have leash laws in all of our parks, on our sidewalks, anywhere in a public space in Ray more.

Caleb Waller 8:04

Correct. Anytime your dog leaves your own personal property, it is it has to be contained in a vehicle in a fenced-in area or in a leash.

Melissa Harmer 8:13

And coming later this year, we will have a dog park finally. Yes in the works.

Why Spay And Neuter Matters

Caleb Waller 8:18

I'm so excited for that.

Melissa Harmer 8:20

But until then, make sure that your dogs are leashed in our parks. So, what is the weirdest call or situation you've dealt with?

Caleb Waller 8:29

So I came here from uh Independence, so I dealt with all quite a few interesting situations over there. We had a guy in town who decided that he wanted to have peacocks living in his backyard, and it became a thing on Facebook where everybody would post these peacocks flying all over town, landing on their roofs, anything that you can think of. And so I never thought that I would see a peacock in the middle of the city until I went and worked for independence. Just so you know, they're very hard to catch.

Melissa Harmer 9:01

I was gonna say, did you have to wrangle one or two?

Caleb Waller 9:04

Well, uh they're very hard to catch when you don't clip their wings.

Melissa Harmer 9:07

Oh.

Caleb Waller 9:08

So eventually we got the owner to get them, and he got their wings clipped, and they were relocated to a farm where they can be legally owned.

Melissa Harmer 9:19

But live a happier, freer life.

Caleb Waller 9:22

Correct. They're uh no longer social media stars, but what are some of the challenges of your job? Animal control can be really difficult in the aspect of it's not like working for an animal rescue. You really have to be able to remove your feelings about something and interpret what is required by the law. You know, you get into this job because you love pets and you want what is best for them. Um, and it's kind of difficult to obviously separate your feelings from the matter and just look at the facts. The most difficult part is just navigating these difficult sectors with the the public on that. And obviously there's situations where which I'm very open about with anybody who asks about euthanasia at the shelters and things like that. I'm more than happy to educate people on on things like that to correct some of the misconceptions. Um, actually, a certified no-kill shelter here in Raymore. Our live release rate for last year was 92%.

Melissa Harmer 10:33

What is the what is your favorite part of the job?

Caleb Waller 10:35

I would say my favorite part of the job is the winds. Um, like just today we uh posted on Facebook about a dog. We had this uh little little schnauzer type dog come into the shelter a couple months ago. The thing weighed like three or four pounds and it was incredibly underweight.

Melissa Harmer 10:52

Wow, what are they supposed to weigh?

Caleb Waller 10:54

Ten to fifteen. Oh my goodness. He was yeah, he was a skinny little guy. Um and he was all matted and everything. And so, you know, you take them in, you give him some groceries and try to clean them up a little bit. Um, a lot of those dogs we tend to send to like rescues and things like that, um, so we can free up some of the municipal resources to be able to continue serving the community and keep our kennel spaces open so that we don't have to refuse animals. But the wins like that were you taking this dog that's obviously been neglected, and you know, you get him the resources and the care that he needs, and then you get the photo a couple weeks later of him getting adopted, and it's the cutest thing that you've ever seen in the world. That's my favorite part of this.

Leashes, Safety, And City Rules

Melissa Harmer 11:36

Very cute, very cute. Well, that's great. Where can our residents learn more about Raymore Animal Control and find resources and information on pet adoption and just a little more about you all and and your duties?

Caleb Waller 11:50

So there's a pretty good information on uh Raymore.com/animal control. There's financial resources, rescue resources, anything that you might need. And if it's not on the website or you have questions beyond what's described on the website, I always urge people to give us a call. I'm very big on being transparent with the public as far as correcting any misinterpretations that they might have about animal control. Um so if you want to come out, take a look at our facility, look at our trucks, see what we're about here in Raymore, just give us a call, show up at the shelter. We're here s normally here seven days a week at full staff from eight to six.

Melissa Harmer 12:26

And then also um you share a lot of good information on the Raymore Animal Control Facebook page, which is Facebook.com slash Raymore Animal Control. So you can look that up and follow. Clearly, animal welfare is a passion of yours. And in addition to being an animal control officer here, you're involved in some other things in the area of um animal welfare.

Caleb Waller 12:49

So uh Captain Billings and I uh recently we went to the Missouri Animal Control Association conference last year, which was really good. Those are opportunities ours really good to network with other animal control agencies to kind of get a gauge on what we could possibly do better here in Raymoor. Obviously, I'm not biased, but we are the best. So pretty good, yeah.

Melissa Harmer 13:11

Yeah, pretty good. I agree.

Caleb Waller 13:13

Um and then I had the opportunity to join the board of directors for the Missouri Animal Control Association. So that's been a lot of fun. Um so I'm in charge of hosting the mini MACA trainings. That's just a day class that the Missouri Animal Control Association does for animal control professionals across the state. We're doing one here in a few months for wildlife and exotic handling. Fireflies Wildlife Rescue is gonna come out and bring some live animals for us. So that'll be a lot of fun. It'll be a very good training. The Missouri Department of Conservation is gonna come out as well and tell us a little about what they do. But the Missouri Animal Control Association's main thing is they are what sets the standard for the certification course for animal control officers across the state. So we host it's a four-day class that they do, um, and they do it at a different location each year.

Melissa Harmer 14:05

Well, that's exciting. How do you feel about exotic uh animal handling? That's like snakes.

Caleb Waller 14:11

Uh snakes, birds, uh Fireflies Wildlife Rescue has a raptor, which is very cool.

Melissa Harmer 14:17

Uh, what's a raptor? Because I'm thinking of dinosaur

Caleb Waller 14:22

bird.

Caleb Waller 14:23

Oh. Is it a true name? Is that the name? Raptor? That's what she called it. I don't know.

Melissa Harmer 14:28

I guess I was thinking of a veliciraptor. Yeah. A raptor. Huh. So you don't have any hesitations with any kind of animal. Like you're not afraid of any kind of animal.

Caleb Waller 14:42

There's definitely fear at first when you start in animal control, and then you definitely get comfortable. It's very easy to handle animals when you understand their behavior and have the correct tools to do it. That's why I always encourage the public to always call first. Don't try to catch or pick up random stray dogs that you see out and about because you never know how those animals could react. Definitely focus a lot on uh dog bite prevention. Um, it's uh dog bites can be very dangerous and they're not good for anybody. Um so we try to educate people on ways that they can avoid getting bitten by dogs. Simple things like avoiding disturbing dogs that are eating, sleeping, playing with toys, things like that. Even your own dog, because dogs express emotion the exact same way people do. Um they just do it with their teeth, like toddlers, all the time. Other simple things like do not reach through fences, vehicles, or kennels to pet a dog. Don't walk over to your neighbor's house and reach over their fence. Um, dogs have a very common behavior called barrier aggression. That's why a lot of people think that dogs hate the mailman is because they see them through the door every day. And so they get that instinct to protect their property or their area. Um, and they can act aggressively when that happens.

Melissa Harmer 16:00

Sometimes I think my dogs are gonna go through their window. That's right by my mailbox on the porch. Yeah, they do not like any delivery people of any kind.

Caleb Waller 16:07

I have a raccoon living under my front porch right now that walks out always at like two o'clock in the morning, and my dog just will scream, and I'm afraid he's gonna break the window one day. He's gonna do it. Dang. And then circling back to keeping your dog restrained, uh, making sure that your dogs are secured properly at home and in public settings is very important. Addressing problem behaviors early with training and professional guidance. Trainers can definitely be a key part into making your home life with your dog a lot more healthy and enjoyable. I definitely have the belief that dogs should be allowed to be dogs. I also have the belief that dogs shouldn't bite people or shouldn't act aggressively in any situation. Yeah, socialization and desensitizing your dog to a lot of different situations is definitely incredibly important while they're young. Moving on in dog by prevention, the next super important thing is ensuring your dog is always vaccinated and licensed as required. So, in the case that your dog does bite somebody, they're required to do what the state calls a 10-day rabies quarantine. Dependent on some circumstances. If if your dog is current on its rabies vaccine, it gets to do that quarantine comfortably at home. If it is not current on the rabies vaccine, um, then it has to come to the quarantine at our facility here in Raymore.

Melissa Harmer 17:27

And rabies, you you have to vaccinate your dog against rabies. If your dog happens to eat a bat or whatever, you know, there is it's 100% fatal if your dog is not vaccinated before the fact. So make sure that that is something you're absolutely doing, absolutely necessary.

Shelter Wins And Resources

Caleb Waller 17:46

And then last but not least, always make sure you supervise children around dogs. Dogs can get stressed out by children because of how quickly they move sometimes, and then children can get over a little overzealous a lot of the time, and they love to pull on things, so they'll pull on tails, ears, and paws, which with a lot of dogs is uh those are areas that they try to protect instinctively, so it can cause some negative reactions.

Melissa Harmer 18:10

All good tips. Some numbers from 2025 with your year-end review. 1,335 calls for service answered, 213 animals that you that kind of went through the shelter that you took care of at the shelter, adopted out 25 animals to new homes, 54 animals were transferred to partner rescues, 113 animals returned to their homes, and a 92% live release rate as you mentioned earlier. That that's a lot of calls through the year. Do you ever have super busy, super busy days where you just can't keep up?

Caleb Waller 18:48

100%.

Melissa Harmer 18:49

Those happen.

Caleb Waller 18:50

They do happen.

Melissa Harmer 18:51

Um in waves, kind of.

Caleb Waller 18:54

It really does. Everything will kind of hit at once and then it'll be stale for a little bit and then it'll pick up again. Um everything always happens at the exact same time.

Melissa Harmer 19:03

How have we been doing I don't want to even mention it, I don't want to jinx anything, but kitten seasons coming up here. Have we even had a kitten season or have we been pretty good about no influxes of kittens?

Caleb Waller 19:17

For the most part Raymoor, we are pretty we try pretty hard to control the stray cat population. So we do a lot of trapping throughout the entire year, not just during kitten season. So during what they call kitten season, we might get two or three litters throughout the year. But we have a lot of really amazing rescue partners that will step in and help us out when we do get those and will take them in for us so it doesn't take up all of our kennel space.

Training The Pros: MOACA Work

Melissa Harmer 19:43

Great. Thank you so much for chatting with us today about you and about uh your work here at Raymore Animal Control. And also just to let everybody know that even though we appreciate the work Animal Control does all year long, coming up in April, there's an entire week dedicated to animal control, which is Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week. And that's the second full week of April. If anyone wants we'll be sharing more information on our social media coming up that week, and um, it's a really good just chance for everyone to to share their uh appreciation for the work you do around here. So thanks in advance. Thank you. Thank you for being here today.