The Associated Press

ABERDEEN - Police in Aberdeen answered more than 12,000 calls last year, and the No. 1 complaint was about animals.

More than one-fifth of all police calls involved animals, or some 2,567 calls.

Traffic accidents, at 1,947 calls, came in second; 911 hang-ups were third, at 922 calls.

"In general, with animal-related calls, we are called upon a lot," said Police Capt. Dave McNeil. "Some of the calls revolve around neighbor disputes where one neighbor doesn't think another neighbor's pets are being properly cared for, and a lot of them have to do with an animal making noise or a dog running at large." The traffic accidents resulted in 162 injuries and two fatalities.

"We always see a high number of traffic accidents," McNeil said. "Unfortunately, accidents are something that occur at all hours of the day and any day of the week. We'd like to reduce that number, but at the same time I understand that when the human element is involved, that can be hard."