The Colorado Department of Agriculture is excited to welcome Taylor Peterson as the Investigations Coordinator with the Bureau of Animal Protection (BAP) team. The mission of the BAP program is to prevent the neglect, mistreatment, and abuse of animals in Colorado. Peterson will work closely with the BAP Program Manager as well as local law enforcement, the livestock community, veterinarians and nonprofit organizations across Colorado to ensure complaints submitted to the BAP are handled within the process established by law.
“Taylor Peterson has strong experience as an animal control specialist with the Park County Sheriff's Office and is currently serving as a commissioned BAP agent. Her strong roots in rural Colorado and experience with both livestock and companion animals will be a great asset to the BAP team we are building,” said Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg.
Peterson served for more than three years as the supervisor of the Animal Control division of the Park County Sheriff's office and has direct experience with livestock. She has also completed numerous certifications and courses about livestock and equine animal husbandry as well as law enforcement specific trainings for animal control officers.
“Taylor’s significant experience in law enforcement and conducting investigations about animal abuse of companion animals and livestock will work well to complement my experience in education, outreach, and stakeholder engagement. This combination of skills will help us effectively and appropriately address the complaints submitted to the BAP, while expanding outreach and education about proactive approaches for prevention of abuse,” said BAP Program Manager Dr. Rebecca Niemiec.
Colorado has approximately 100 commissioned BAP agents who work for local law enforcement agencies or nonprofit organizations tasked with investigating allegations of animal mistreatment across the state.
“Through my work in animal control for both law enforcement agencies and nonprofit organizations, I’ve worked extensively with Taylor to help manage and investigate cases of animal abuse and cruelty,” said Kathleen Ruyak, a field investigator for the Colorado Humane Society and former Teller County Animal Control officer. “Throughout it all, Taylor has brought fairness, honesty, and a great perspective to difficult investigations. I am very excited for her to lead the BAP investigations through CDA so we can continue to work alongside each other to help protect Colorado's animals.”
The BAP program administers and enforces the provisions of the Animal Protection Act to improve animal protection across the State. The program, which operates on a complaint basis, receives numerous calls for support a year from law enforcement agencies, county offices, non-profit organizations, and the general public. On average, fewer than 6% of BAP cases have dealt with livestock and of that approximately 2% with cattle. Most cases (80%) are related to companion animals and 14% are non-livestock horses.
CDA is expanding the program’s capacity by adding the lead investigations coordinator, whose position will be funded in the short term with vacancy savings to fill the department’s immediate need to handle a large volume of complaints. CDA has requested additional funding from the legislature for this position as well as funding for a forensic veterinarian, to further increase the program’s ability to effectively address and investigate complaints.