From Rams To Fans—

Retiring Animal Control Officer Recalls Colorful Career  

By Andrew Gorosko

Looking back over his 23 years as the town’s animal control officer, George Mattegat remembers many unusual incidents during his tenure — especially his encounter with a ram.

Most complaints that came his way concerned errant dogs. But the officer also handled calls involving other animals, including livestock such as cattle, horses, and sheep.

The retiring Mr Mattegat, 75, recalls the day the ram tested his mettle.

While on a livestock call, and while looking the other way, a mischievous ram took it upon himself to sharply butt Mr Mattegat’s backside with his considerable rack of horns. It hurt quite a bit, Mr Mattegat explained.

“I grabbed my [police] radio and I said ‘I’ve got to get out of here,’” he recalled.

To evade the aggressive ram, Mr Mattegat swung around by holding onto a nearby tree limb. He then swung around again on a second tree limb. But the third time he tried that maneuver, the ram got wise to the tactic and met him head-on, Mr Mattegat said.

Mr Mattegat grabbed the ram’s horns to stun the aggressive animal, scrambled over a stone wall, hustled back to his truck and got inside. The ram then started butting its horns into the truck.

The aggressive animal later rammed its horns through the clapboard wall of its owner’s house, forcing its head inside the building, Mr Mattegat remembers.

Tired of dealing with that problematic pet, the ram’s owner eventually disposed of it, Mr Mattegat said.

The bulk of the public’s calls for help involve barking dogs, roaming dogs, aggressive dogs, and dogs who wander onto other people’s properties without an invitation, Mr Mattegat explained.

Some calls, although made in good faith, can turn out to be frivolous, he said.

Mr Mattegat recalls an older couple who had barricaded their fireplace to keep out the strange animal that was trapped inside their chimney. On his arrival, the couple told Mr Mattegat of the unusual repetitive noise that the animal made — “skeeeeet, skeeeeet, skeeeeet.”

On inspection, he discovered that they had mistaken the mechanical noises being made by their oscillating fan for some type of odd animal being stuck in their chimney. Mr Mattegat explained the problem to them.

The animal control officer recalls an incident years ago involving two especially aggressive Dobermans on Route 34 in Sandy Hook.

“They were mean Dobermans. I sprayed them with pepper spray,” Mr Mattegat said. He was then able to snare both dogs from inside his truck. Police, who suspected that the residence harbored drug dealers, then arrived on the scene to investigate, he said.

In yet another incident, Mr Mattegat was called in to retrieve three horses that had escaped from their corral on Huntingtown Road. The animals were about one-quarter mile away from their home when he arrived. Mr Mattegat noticed that a school bus driver whom he knew was passing through the area. He asked the driver to sound the bus’s powerful air horn. The horses were so startled by the loud horn blasts, that they ran back to the comfort of their corral, Mr Mattegat said.

The animal control officer recalls one poignant incident involving a female dog and six newborn puppies.

Mr Mattegat said he found six abandoned newborn puppies in a box alongside Botsford Hill Road. He brought them to the dog pound where he attempted to nurse them with baby bottles.

The following day, Mr Mattegat received a call for help after a person had found a dog tied to a tree in Dodgingtown. He brought that dog to the dog pound. It then became physically obvious that the dog was the mother of the six mixed-breed puppies, which he had found several miles away the previous day, as the animals were similarly marked and were very happy to see one another.

All of the dogs, mother and puppies, were later adopted from the dog pound, Mr Mattegat said.

Approach

Mr Mattegat said his approach to dealing with complaints involving animals, particularly dogs, has always involved conciliation.

“It’s much better to have neighbors be friends, than to hate each other, because we’re only in this world for a little time,” he said.

“We’ll talk it over. I don’t like to hear people scream and holler because it hurts my ears,” he said.

“I’d like to thank the people of the Town of Newtown for being so nice…I hope I don’t have one enemy for having the job I had,” he said.

“Some people I gave summonses to are my best friends…They realized they were wrong,” he said. “It’s much cheaper to license your dog than to get a summons,” he added.

Mr Mattegat said he was greatly aided by Poundkeeper Pat Anzellotti in his many years as the animal control officer.

Mr Mattegat said he expects that his successor, Gerri Breyan, who recently started work with the town, will be very effective. “I do believe she will do a very good job,” he said.

Mr Mattegat has long been involved with raising money for various charitable causes, including aiding children with cancer. As he enters his retirement, he is seeking to hand over some of those responsibilities to others, and asks anyone interested in doing such fundraising work to contact him at 426-3228. 

Police Chief Michael Kehoe acknowledged that “George has been a mainstay in the animal control division of the police department.”

“He’s done a tremendous job. George has a wealth of information on animal control,” the police chief said. “I haven’t come across anybody who doesn’t like him…He always give you a warm and friendly feeling.”