Deputy Chief Joe Seskey and Animal Control Officers Alex Cooke and Megan Boyd at the Cooke’s and Boyd’s graduation from Rappahannock Criminal Justice Academy to receive their state certifications as animal control officers. Photo Contributed.
Six months ago, Joseph Seskey was an Alexandria police sergeant overseeing logistics for special events. Today he’s traded in his police badge for a new one, as deputy director of the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria and the city’s chief animal control officer.
Skills that Seskey honed in his nearly 25 years with the Alexandria Police Department — especially his work as a detective in criminal investigations — are translating well as he guides the shelter’s animal control officers on how to investigate animal cruelty cases and how to interpret the laws that govern such cases. Seskey is also involved in the League’s disaster planning and management, animal adoptions and care, and community outreach.
"Before we hired him, Joe was well-known in the City of Alexandria and had many connections with community organizations and groups,” said League executive director Megan Webb. “Charlotte Hall, our chairman, had told me about him, and when I asked former City Manager Vola Lawson if she knew him, she lit up, smiled wide and said, 'Oh, yes! He's wonderful.'"
“Coming here was a really great decision from my point of view,” Seskey said. “I really love the city of Alexandria, and this job has provided a new way to serve the city.”
Seeing the city’s animal services close up has been eye-opening for Seskey. As a police officer, most of his contact with the city’s furred and feathered residents had been routine complaints such as barking dogs. “The most rewarding aspect of the job so far has been our success stories,” he said. “The animals come in here that are sick or injured or have been poorly treated, and we’ve been able to help them in some way — and see the results.”
Seskey regularly steps out of the office to assist with animal emergencies, such as responding to calls about wildlife in distress. Most recently he helped rescue a mother duck and her ducklings that had nested on the roof of a building in Old Town. He is also working hard to expand his team's ability to investigate cases of animal abuse and neglect. They currently have three cases of animals that they rescued from severe neglect that they are preparing to charge the owner's criminally.
Seskey, 46, was introduced to animals at an early age, milking cows and feeding pigs on the farms of his relatives in New Mexico. He grew up on the East Coast, mostly Fredericksburg, Va., and has called Alexandria home since 1990. He calls himself an “animal person” and claims some 128 “pets”— the shelter’s head count on a recent day.
“My chief goal in this job is to establish the League as the experts on animals for the city of Alexandria,” Seskey said. “We want people to rely on us. We are here for them.”