Gloucester is not staffed to respond to all wild animal complaints, county officials said following an incident with a fox last week.

The fox apparently did not threaten anyone but was caged by a neighbor and the county staff later had the animal euthanized, Chief Animal Control Officer Stephen Baranek said.

“We can’t handle all wild animal calls,” said County Administrator Brent Fedors. Baranek said the animal control officers have a priority list, mostly handling dog, cat and livestock complaints. 

In addition, it’s harder to handle the volume of all calls Animal Control receives, he said, because he is operating with one fewer officer than he had a year or so. Baranek is assisted by deputy officers Jacky Wilson and Jeff Stillman, along with technician Cheryl Johnson.

Animal Control received 61 wild animal complaints in July, up from 37 the previous July. Baranek said that not all of those complaints are responded to because wild animal complaints oft...