Trenton, NJ is extremely over-crowded with dogs. The animal shelter is almost always full of them, and the Trenton Animal Control officers are out in force everyday trying to keep the strays off the streets and out of dangerous situations. However...what if they can not get to a dangerous situation in time A dog attacks a person, dogs are fighting, an animal is hit by a car and in severe pain and distress....these are all EMERGENCY situations. Though, Trenton Animal Control vehicles are not emergency vehicles. They never had sirens, and their red flashing lights that were on top of their trucks have now been changed to yellow, making their response time to a dangerous situation slow and full of delays. For safety reasons, this is unacceptable. Just recently Trenton police officers had to open fire on dangerous dogs, and shoot them dead. Had the well trained and competent Trenton Animal Control officers been able to respond to these situations in a more timely manner, this may have been avoided. The smaller dogs that were being attacked may have survived, and the larger dogs may not have had to die in such a violent and potentially painful manner. Most importantly, any time a weapon like a gun is discharged in a residential area, even to shoot a dog that is attacking, it poses a risk to people in the area. Gunfire should be the last resort. Had a dog been attacking you, would you rather have a police officer shooting at it...right in your direction Or would you rather a trained animal control officer be able to respond to your plight as quickly as possible to assist you without the gunfire aimed in your direction With that being said, the five city animal control trucks need to have their red lights put back on, and be accompanied by sirens. The City of Trenton needs to realize that the Animal Control Officers are responsive to emergency situations just as much as any other emergency vehicle. They need to be able to get to dangerous animal incidents to control it in a professional manner, which only they are trained to do. By signing this petition, we can begin to let the city officials know that the Trenton Bureau of Animal Control responds to our emergencies and assists us with our animal problems, which can turn violent. Therefore, they need to be treated as emergency response vehicles.