Wareham's newest animal control officer may be small, but Officer Yeti is looking to make a mighty impact. 

The three-year-old ferret is the personal critter of Animal Control Officer Devin Cloutier. She said the ferret went everywhere with her early in life, and she recently bought him a tactical vest. 

"I brought him into work, I put the little vest on him, I went to go show my boss and he stuck a little badge on him," says Cloutier. "It was just perfect."

Officer Yeti's appointment isn't purely ceremonial. He often accompanies Cloutier on her rounds of the community. 

"He's not quite up to 40 hours, but he's been coming quite a bit," she said. "I feel like he's such a good icebreaker for a lot of situations, too, and he loves the community engagement he gets to do."

The work that Cloutier does covers a wide spectrum of engagement, with people and with animals. 

As Wareham's animal control officer, Cloutier handles pet complaints and welfare issues for dogs, cats and the like, as well as emergency calls for wildlife or for injured animals. 

"It's a lot of education with people — educating them on safe practices with wildlife, how to prevent them from entering your home, how to safely live amongst them," she said.