ACTION ALERT:  Tell your Fairfax County Supervisor to Support Wildlife Management BEFORE APRIL 26

Photo: Fairfax County

Please contact your Fairfax County Supervisor before Friday, April 26, to support deferring a decision on disbanding the Animal Protection Police unit. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the proposal on April 26.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering a budget proposal to disband the Police Department’s Animal Protection Police Unit and convert those positions to civilian Animal Control Officers who will be under the supervision of the Director of the County’s Animal Shelters. The Animal Protection Police duties include administering the Fairfax County Wildlife Management Program, mainly comprised of management of the deer herd and resident Canada Geese, with additional wildlife research and public information duties. The budget proposal states that the Wildlife Management Program will not be moved to the Department of Animal Sheltering, and that it will continue unchanged until a decision is made on how to administer the program. 

The decision not to place Wildlife Management under the Department of Animal Sheltering is commendable since the two programs are incompatible. However, disbanding the Animal Protection Police unit without deciding how Wildlife Management will be supervised and administered leaves that program and the officers who serve in that program without any certainty as to their futures. This uncertainty is likely to adversely affect the county’s ability to retain its Wildlife Management personnel and the ability of Wildlife Management to carry out its duties. 

ASNV recommends that the Board of Supervisors defer action on the budget proposal that would initiate the process to disband the Animal Protection Police Unit until after the Board has determined the best placement for the Wildlife Management Program to ensure its long-term success. To do otherwise is likely to degrade a program, due to a lack of qualified enforcement personnel, that is important to all wildlife in Fairfax County and the health of its urban forests.

The Board of Supervisors will decide the budget proposal on April 26. Please write to your supervisor before then to urge them to defer a decision until it determines how Wildlife Management will be administered. You can find your Supervisor’s name and email address here.

Thank you for your consideration,
Audubon Society of Northern Virginia