User:Gregoryrandall64

Gregory Randall City of Los Angeles Animal Services Wildlife Specialist

Officer Gregory Randall’s professional experience with domestic & wild animals spans 35 years. Officer Randall. who is an autodidact, is constantly involved in field work and studying wildlife technical journals, books & online courses from U.C. Davis on mammalogy. (an autodidact is a person who has learned a subject without the benefit of a teacher or formal education; a self-taught person.)

Officer Randall attends numerous wildlife seminars, symposiums & training courses ever increasing his knowledge on urban wildlife behavior, ecology, environmental issues

Officer Randall’s training with animals began during high school in 1980 working for Dr Robert Herman, DVM at Cahuenga Pet Hospital, while attending school. Officer Randall remained with Dr. Herman until his retirement in 1985. Officer Randall was trained as a Veterinary Technician during this time and was assisting the veterinarian with everything from grooming, feeding, and medical treatment of the animals to surgery, hospital maintenance, and clerical duties.

Officer Randall worked as an Animal Health Technician for a Pet Pride Cat Care shelter in Los Angeles that housed over 300 homeless cats.

From 1988-1989 Officer Randall worked for Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control as an Animal Control Officer License Collector.

In 1989 Officer Randall went to work for the City of Los Angeles Animal Regulation (Now Animal Services) as an Animal Control Officer where he remains today.

Officer Randall has had rescue encounters with dogs, cats, reptiles, horses, squirrels, deer, raccoons, skunks, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions and even pinnipeds just to name a few. His other duties have included investigating dangerous animal complaints, animal abuse violations, distance and permit violations.

In June 2002 Officer Randall was assigned to the Wildlife Division as Wildlife Specialist and was one of the cities two Wildlife Specialists; Officer Randall was assigned the Metro area, which covers from Mulholland Drive to San Pedro and from Santa Monica Beach to East Los Angeles. In 2005 when Officer Boswell was promoted to Lieutenant, Officer Randall became the sole Wildlife Specialist for the City covering 465.5 square miles and nearly 4 million people by himself.

Officer Randall has successfully brought about a change in the departments trapping policy by ending the departments needless trapping & killing of wildlife by the public for mere sightings.

Officer Randall's trapping alternative was introducing change in human behavior and via wildlife deterrents, frightening tactics, property alteration, and exclusionary methods. Traps provided to the public was now over and further not allowed for the public to use their own, rented or borrowed traps.

Over time this trapping cessation significantly reduced the needless euthanasia of wildlife and increased the ability of field staff to concentrate on more serious issues facing domestic pets and has saved many hundreds of man-hours that officers had to spend each year removing animals from traps and is an overall cost savings to the City.

Officer Randall’s trapping cessation brought praise to the Los Angeles Animal Services by John Hadidian the Director of the Urban Wildlife Program at The Humane Society of the United States who said “Los Angeles is typically one of the more progressive agencies, I consider this a welcome sign that others might soon follow." Other wildlife experts have commented in newspapers that “We commend the City of Los Angeles for resisting demands to remove raccoons and other wildlife.” One expert Dr. Robert Timm, a wildlife biologist and leading authority on coyotes from Hopland Research & Extension Center, University of California specifically made a trip to Animals Services to see the data that Officer Randall had collected. Dr. Timm commented that to his knowledge there is only one other agency that tracks data on wildlife to a high degree in Texas, but not even close to the extent of Officer Randall’s database. Dr. Timm indicated that he was impressed with Officer Randall’s knowledge and views on alternate humane methods on dealing with wildlife issues currently facing urban areas.

Officer Randall created wildlife statistical forms for recording complaints and tracking wildlife information.

Officer Randall developed a digital mapping program using the Digital Thomas Guide to plot out wildlife sightings that has increased his ability to truly see wildlife issues going on throughout the city.

Officer Randall along with Captain Wendell Bowers & former Wildlife Specialist Lt. Troy Boswell created new wildlife brochures called the "Encounters with Wildlife" series, and created two training videos “Encounters with Coyotes” and “Encounters with Wildlife”

Officer Randall along with Captain Wendell Bowers & former Wildlife Specialist Lt. Troy Boswell also the created the Wildlife Program Policy that has been providing the public with a much better understanding of wildlife issues, which has greatly helped to change the focus from killing or removing wildlife to one of learning to co-exist and be prepared for encounters with wildlife.

Officer Randall has repeatedly passed up promotion opportunities in the past to make sure the wildlife program survives

Officer Randall networks with wildlife rehabilitation experts that has allowed countless injured, sick and orphaned wildlife to be rehabilitated and returned to the wild rather than being killed. This networking has also brought about new wildlife training for department employees, which gives them hands on opportunities to learn about critical wildlife handling, stabilization, feeding, and care

Officer Randall conducts educational wildlife programs at the Los Angeles Unified School District giving positive experiences that the students have come to look forward to.

Courses, Degrees & Certifications: Certified Wildlife Rescue 1. Certificate of Training in Animal Control Officer I License Collection County of Los Angeles Certificate of Training Animal Care & Control City of Los Angeles Certificate of Training on Animal Cruelty and Human Violence. Certificate of Training Illegal Animal Fighting. Certificate of Training on Zoonotic Diseases. Certificate of Training on Interviewing & Evidence gathering. Certificate of Training on Animal Horders. Certificate of Training on Court Room Demeanor. Certificate of Training in Fundamentals of Supervision Certificate of Training in Verbal Judo Certificate of Training 597.1 Penal Code Requirements. Certificate of Training Predatory Mammals Certificate of Training for Wildlife Paramedic I Certificate of Training Circus Inspection Certificate of Training Urban Wildlife Management Certificate of Training Wildlife Rehabilitation Certificate of Training Disaster Preparedness & Animals Certified EMT 1A. (Emergency Medical Technician) Certificate of Training on Child Abuse Reporting. Certificate of training P.O.S.T. (Police Officer Standards & Training the Penal Code 832 Arrest and Firearms Course) Training on Mountain lion encounters Training on Housing Predatory Mammals. Training on Bio-Security & Infectious Diseases Training on Raptor Housing Training on Raccoon Care Training on Nuisance Wildlife Training on Animal Abuse & Youth Violence Training on Secondary poisoning and concerns with the use of anticoagulant rodenticides.

Memberships & Affiliations: California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitators