Granite Shoals police chief says department isn’t pest control service; city grapples with animal-control issues

GRANITE SHOALS — Complaints about controlling wild animals is prompting a new look at city laws, but the police chief is warning his department isn’t a pest-control service.

"(In the past) we were getting calls from people with rats in their homes — and cockroaches," said Chief J.P. Wilson during a sometimes heated City Council meeting Dec. 13. "We can’t become the Granite Shoals pest control."

Any substantive changes could spell extra costs for certification and licensing of animal-control personnel, City Manager Judy Miller added.