'It's just amazing': Chicago Animal Care and Control officer retires after 32 wild years

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Ricardo Aguilar has seen it all during his three decades working at Chicago Animal Care and Control, but now he's ready to retire.

CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot took a look back Friday at his wild career in a story you'll see Only on Two.

So many memories are in Ricardo Aguilar's photo albums. There are 32 years worth, filling many pages, showing the joy he experienced each day while working for Chicago Animal Care and Control.

"When I first started with animal control department, it was just about dogs and cats," Aguilar said. "That's the way I seen it. I never thought I was going to be holding an anaconda snake in somebody's house, in a bedroom. Or an alligator in somebody's house."

In December of 1990, at the age of 33, Aguilar cleaned cages and fed the animals. Six years later, he was helping prep animals for surgery. Then after 12 years of being inside Chicago Animal Care and Control, he was on the streets, as a Chicago Animal Care and Control Officer, for 20 years.

"Everyday was just like something different," Aguilar said.

Aguilar said you name it, he's rescued it. There have been hundreds of rescues. A variety of large turtles found on sidewalks and in yards, a rabbit in an abandoned home, a pony in an alley, a vibrant yellow woodpecker, a coyote in an office building and even a baby pig he rescued near 73rd and Western.

"I was running after him and I couldn't catch him (but) finally, I caught him. How they squeak, it was hilarious," laughed Aguilar. 
"It's just amazing to see all these animals in the city of Chicago."

Of all of his calls, one very large reptile stands out.

"When I got there, it was in the bedroom. I said, 'wow!'" Aguilar said.

One of the rescues that Aguilar took part in was with an anaconda from South Africa that was 8 feet long. It was the only time one was found in Chicago.

"The owner of the house said someone moved out and left an 8-foot snake there," he said.

Aguilar was also on Chance the Snapper watch at the Humboldt Park Lagoon in 2019.

"We just thought it was a joke. Where you gonna have an alligator in the city of Chicago, in Humboldt Park," wondered Aguilar.

He brought the reptile to Midway, making sure it was placed safely in a container to make its way to an animal sanctuary in Florida. Aguilar is proud to say he has sent all of the exotic animals he's rescued to sanctuaries.

One non-exotic rescue touched Aguilar's heart -- a cat, entangled in barbwire. He rescued it just a few days before Christmas in 2017. 

The razor-edged barbwire had cut through the cat's paws and belly.

"I took him straight to medical. The way I seen it, I didn't think he was going to make it," worried Aguilar.

They called it the Christmas miracle. Nursed back to health, colleagues named the cat Rikki Barb, after the man who rescued him. Today, Aguilar said Rikki Barb is in a loving home.

After more than three decades of caring for Chicago's stray animals and making sure they find homes, it's time to enjoy his grandchildren, great-children and to travel. But his passion for animals will never fade.

"It's just a lot of love for these animals," gushed Aguilar. "Having an animal, a dog or a cat, is something beautiful to have. It brings happiness to your life."

In case you are wondering, yes, Aguilar has brought work home with him over the past 32 years, adopting four cats.

In:
• Chicago
• Animal Rescue