NJ animal officer gets sprayed by skunk he was saving from disturbing situation

⬛ A skunk was left to die in a trap in a creek in Phillipsburg

⬛ An animal control officer rescued the animal from drowning

⬛ Authorities plan to arrest the person responsible for this act of cruelty

PHILLIPSBURG — A Washington Borough animal control officer was sprayed in the face by a skunk while trying to rescue it from a harrowing situation.

Officer Robert Lagonera took to Facebook to talk about his ordeal.

On Aug. 3, in Phillipsburg, the skunk was found in a Have-A-Heart trap, which someone tossed over the side of a bridge and into a creek, leaving the poor animal to drown.

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“They missed the deepest part and the skunk was treading water trying to survive. Upon seeing this when I arrived, I felt terrible for the poor skunk and decided to say “screw it” to the bed sheet and proper “skunk in trap” procedures," Lagonera wrote on the social media site.

There is a video of Lagonera tiptoeing into the creek and successfully carrying the trap and the skunk safely back to the bank. All the while, Lagonera can be heard telling a police officer on the bridge that he was sprayed in the face by the skunk.

He also shared on Facebook how angry he was that this poor animal nearly drowned at the hands of a human being.

“I want to take the opportunity from this call to explain something that saddens me to have to actually explain. Doing something like this is highly illegal. There is absolutely no reason in the world to do something like this. And I really, really want to have this next message sink in. If you are planning on purchasing a live trap and catching wildlife, think about it first and don’t just set a trap.”

He said that while it’s legal to set a trap for an animal that is considered to be a pest, there are rules on what a person can do after the animal has been caught. If that person violates the rules, like tossing the poor animal off a bridge, they will be prosecuted, Lagonera explained.

In the Facebook post, Lagonera made it clear that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has already identified the person responsible for throwing the skunk off the bridge into the creek and is in the process of charging this person.

The skunk seems to be okay.

After getting all of this off his chest, Lagonera had to share a bit of a humorous story. He apologized to the people at ShopRite on Route 31, saying he had to grab dinner after this rescue, and if they smelled “skunk” inside the grocery store, that was him. Plus, he thanked his wife and kids for putting up with the smell in their home.

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