Animal Services
COVID-19
The Idaho Falls Police Department and the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter are implementing adjustments in conjunction with the world-wide effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. These adjustments are intended to be temporary and have been made with CDC and Eastern Idaho Public Health guidelines, as well as our continued mission to serve the people of Idaho Falls, firmly in mind.
- Idaho Falls Police Officers and Animal Control Officers have been issued personal protective equipment (PPE), in the form of gloves, masks, and other items. You may see police officers and animal control officers wearing these items as they respond to calls for service around the community. These measures are precautionary, and should not be any cause for discomfort or alarm.
All in-person non-essential service interactions at the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter are temporarily halted. This includes the following functions.
- Microchipping.
- Youth group activities and tours.
- Casual visitors. Visitors will only be allowed for adoptions, reclaiming animals, or found animals.
- Intake of stray cats (Unless the cat is injured).
- Routine owner surrenders. (Please contact the shelter by calling (208)612-8670 for assistance with resources to continue to care for your pet or other options.)
The Idaho Falls Animal Shelter will be scheduling appointments for essential services only Monday-Friday from 10 am - 3 pm.
Examples of essential services include reclaiming a lost pet, turning in a stray dog and turning in a stray sick or injured cat, and scheduled adoptions. The shelter is not accepting healthy stray cats at this time; they should be left where they were found. Most stray cats are free-roaming and likely belong in the area they were found. The following Idaho Falls Animal Shelter functions will continue with the listed adjustments to ensure the health of staff and necessary visitors.
- Adoptions & Reclaims of Lost Pets- If you find an animal that you are seriously interested in adopting you can come in to meet that animal by scheduling an appointment. If you are not serious, please refrain from coming into our facility to ensure the health of staff and necessary visitors.
- If your pet is here, please come in to reclaim your pet as quickly as possible by scheduling an appointment with shelter staff.
- You can check our current list of adoptable/stray DOGS at https://www.facebook.com/pg/ifanimalshelter/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155079940105102
- You can check our current list of adoptable/stray CATS at https://www.facebook.com/pg/ifanimalshelter/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155079917150102
- Owner Present Euthanasia – This service will be by appointment only and must be made in advance by calling (208)612-8670. We have instituted a two-person limit at these appointments, and those two individuals will be required to wear a mask to prevent potential transmission of illness to staff.
- Pet Licensing – we will continue to sell pet licenses over the phone only, and a tag will be mailed to you. Please contact us at (208) 612-8670 for this service. A current rabies vaccination is required to purchase a license.
- Emergency owner surrenders- We will accept emergency owner surrenders only. All other surrenders will be asked to wait until further notice. Please call ahead if you wish to surrender your pet so that we can evaluate our kennel occupancy to see if we can accommodate your pet safely.
- Field operations- We will respond to all calls as usual until further notice.
We take the health and safety of our community very seriously. We believe these measures will help us to best protect our officers and civilian staff, while allowing us to continue to serve the citizens of Idaho Falls.
We appreciate your continued support of the Idaho Falls Police Department and the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter, as well as our community’s cumulative efforts to support each other through this unprecedented time. We are at our best when our community works together.
Follow the City of Idaho Falls and Eastern Idaho Public Health on Facebook for credible and timely information about COVID-19. Stay in touch with the Idaho Falls Police Department on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
What Idaho Falls Animal Control Officers Do
- Investigate, prevent and stop animal neglect and cruelty
- Educate the public about animal welfare
- Protect public health by removing deceased animals from public by-ways
- Enforce animal-related laws - such as dogs at large, barking dogs and animal neglect - by issuing citations if necessary
- Protect the public from dangerous and/or aggressive animals
- Quarantine animals who have bitten or attacked
- Rescue animals that are in danger, sick, injured, lost or unwanted
- Work to reunite animals with owner or find animals adoptive homes
- Mediate disputes neighbors have about animals
- Assist other law enforcement agencies
- Respond to calls regarding animals in traffic, loose livestock, and wild animals causing problems in urban areas
How to Contact an Animal Control Officer
Idaho Falls Animal Services Officers are on duty from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Weekends. To reach us, please contact Police Dispatch at 208-529-1200. After hours emergency situations will be handled by Idaho Falls Police Officers.
When an Animal Control Officer Responds to Calls
Calls are handled on a priority basis. How quickly an Animal Control Officer responds to a call depends upon the priority of that call and how many calls of a higher priority are occurring at that particular time. For example, calls involving an injured animal or immediate danger of injury or harm to a person (from an animal) are the highest priority. Conversely, calls regarding a barking dog might take a longer response time. Your patience and support is appreciated.