Police Chief Kevin Lynch introduced the newest member of the department last Wednesday, Oct. 11, welcoming Heather Simmons as the town’s new Animal Control Officer.

“Today's really a special day as we continue to re-engineer the Bristol Police Department and one extension of that certainly is our Animal Control division,” he said. “We put out a wide net to try to find somebody…and one of the challenges was how do we expand the services of the education center here. Heather had a lot of great ideas and vision.”

A Tiverton native, Simmons graduated from Tiverton High School and URI. An expert in the field of animal and wildlife care, Simmons has worked for many years as a wildlife educator, researcher, and rehabilitator with the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island. She has also worked for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.

“I believe she's going to be an asset to the animal shelter, bringing a new outlook for the future of the Bristol animal shelter and the residents of Bristol,” said Lynch.

“I’ve been trying to evolve into this ACO field for probably the last six or seven years; it's been a dream of mine,” said Simmons.

She also has an interesting specialty that may result in the shelter housing more birds than they have in years past.

“You'll probably see pigeons in the shelter because I specialize in pigeon rehab — that's a nonprofit I'm trying to start as well,” she said. “I’m very excited.”

So should residents reach out to Simmons if they find an injured pigeon?

Absolutely. Specifically domestic pigeons — which you can identify because they are typically white and/or tagged. “I’ve been trying to adopt them out to folks who want pigeons,” she said. “Folks who have aviaries.” She has adopted out about 100 birds locally.

“It's really an education,” she said of wildlife rehabilitation. “It’s always been a learning experience.”