Bedroom Bats, Stray Pets: Animal Control In Montclair Isn't Easy

MONTCLAIR, NJ — You wake up during the night to find a bat flying around the bedroom. What do you do?

The above scenario is just one of many reasons why a Montclair resident might call local animal control officers (ACOs), town officials recently said in a social media post. Read their advice for handling a bat in the bedroom at the bottom of this article.

What else does an ACO do in Montclair? Current services include:

• Pick-up and impound of stray and injured domestic animals when an owner is unknown or unavailable
• Pick-up of injured, sick or orphaned wildlife
• Transport of stray animals to impound facility
• Transport of injured animals to a veterinarian for treatment
• Transport of injured wildlife to a licensed rehabilitation facility
• Pick up, transport and quarantine of suspect rabies cases/specimens
• Handle animal bite incidents
• Issuance of summonses for animal-related violations
• Animal cruelty/abuse/neglect investigations
• Humane/Responsible Pet Owner Education to the community
• Patrol the community
• Removal of deceased owned pets from residence (for a fee)

In addition, ACOs in Montclair also deal with after-hours emergencies such as:

• Injured or sick domestic animals (when an owner is unknown or unavailable)
• Sick or injured wildlife (if an imminent life-threatening hazard exists to either the animal or a resident)
• Cruelty, abuse or neglect of an urgent nature
• Urgent situations in which Police/Fire/EMS require the assistance of an ACO
• Animal to human bites or rabies suspects
• Live bats encountered in living quarters, especially in bedrooms during overnight hours

Other services include:

• Animal Control will respond to calls involving wildlife within the main living areas of a home. Unfinished basements, garages, or attics are not considered living spaces. A resident with wildlife in one of these other areas should be directed to contact a nuisance wildlife removal company for service.
• Wildlife calls involving larger animals such as coyotes or fox which do not appear ill or injured do not need an Animal Control response and should be directed to the New Jersey Department of Fish & Wildlife.
• As per the Township contract, Animal Control will remove deceased animals from public property during normal business hours.
• Deceased wildlife on private property is the responsibility of the homeowner to remove.
• Deceased domestic animals on private property will be removed by Animal Control to scan for a microchip and to try to locate its owner.

In their social media post, officials provided some information for anyone who might need help in Montclair. It included:

WHO TO CONTACT - According to municipal officials, Montclair Township Animal Control Officers are available to Montclair residents “24/7/365.” Montclair residents can reach animal control by calling 862-621-9113 and leaving a message for the ACO on duty, who will call them back. For emergency situations that require immediate attention, residents are directed to call the Montclair police non-emergency line at 973-744-1234. Residents can also email their general questions or non-emergent matters to AnimalControlOfficer@MontclairNJusa.org. The township also has a smartphone app that residents can use to report issues, which can be downloaded via Google Play or the Apple Store.

ANIMAL BITES – “If you are involved in an animal bite, whether with a domestic or wild animal, please call Animal Control, asap,” officials said. “For wildlife, try to keep the animal that bit you within sight until an ACO arrives on scene. For domestic animals, get all of the owner's contact information so an ACO can contact the owner to verify the animal is current on its rabies vaccine and quarantine the animal as per New Jersey state law.”

So what should you do if the rare bat is encountered in a bedroom? According to Montclair officials:

“If you wake up during the night and find a bat flying around in your bedroom, DO NOT open the window to let the bat escape. Instead, exit the room and close the door behind you and put a towel on the floor under the door to contain the bat in that room. Then call Animal Control asap and an ACO will come to your home to secure the bat and send it for testing on the next business day.”

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