At the June 10th budget workshop meeting, the following occured. If our County Commissioners unanimously passed allowing volunteers at the shelter and for them to contact Clai Martin, shelter supervisor, someone needs to explain to me why the shelter staff know nothing about contacting Clai. Animal Shelter – Commissioner Pierce said he would like to propose using volunteers to clean the Animal Shelter once a week, saving the County $7,000 per year. Commissioner Pierce said he would like to have those volunteers contact the County Manager if they were interested. Commissioner Pierce said he would then like to take the $7,000 and contact the local high schools that have masonry classes to see if partitions between the cages could be built to prevent the transfer of diseases. Commissioner Pierce said he would also like to propose a pilot program in the amount of $10,000 for euthanizing larger and older animals that would not be adopted. Commissioner Pierce said he would like to see if this program would work and to seek monies from other grants. Commissioner Pierce moved to spend $10,000 on a pilot program for euthanization of animals, focusing on the older and larger animals. Added to the motion was the County’s use of volunteers who had said (at a previous Commission Meeting) they would clean the cages, and take the $7,000 savings and build partitions between the cages. Chairman Sides seconded the motion. Commissioner Mitchell said he did not have an issue with volunteers or using the $7,000 to build the partitions. Commissioner Mitchell said at this moment he did not support the $10,000 for the lethal injection. Commissioner Mitchell explained that Animal Control Staff had been unified that the best and most humane way to euthanize animals was through the use of the carbon monoxide gas chamber. Commissioner Mitchell went on to state that staff would have to manually inject the animals, which could put staff at risk. Commissioner Mitchell said the safety of staff had to be considered. Commissioner Mitchell said the Animal Control was USDA inspected and the County passed inspections. Commissioner Mitchell pointed out that what happens at Animal Control was the best the County could do. Commissioner Mitchell said he would be open to requiring the sterilization of animals prior to leaving the shelter. Commissioner Mitchell said the Health Department, through Animal Control, had several different potential plans to accommodate the goal, mainly requiring space for a vet to come on site to perform the procedures. Commissioner Mitchell said in the past there had been issues of adopted pets wanting to be taken home immediately, whereas sterilizing would require extra days and possible euthanization. Commissioner Mitchell said prior to changing the euthanization program, the County needed to get to the core of the sterilization program. Commissioner Pierce said he understood Commissioner Mitchell’s concern which was why he recommended the larger and older animals for the pilot program. Commissioner Pierce agreed on sterilization and saw no reason not to have the animal sterilized after the adoption fee was paid and require the waiting period prior to the animal being able to leave the shelter. Commissioner Mitchell said he felt the adoptions would decline if there had to be a waiting period, but he was willing to try anything. Commissioner Mitchell said there were too many animals leaving the shelter that were not getting sterilized once they left. Commissioner Pierce said if the adoptions declined, at least the ones going out of the shelter would be sterilized. Commissioner Mitchell brought up the fact that there were low cost sterilization options in the County now. Commissioner Mitchell said the County may need to think about increasing the adoption fee to cover the costs. Commissioner Mitchell mentioned that now may be the time to consider moving Animal Control 9 under the Sheriff’s Office, putting more emphasis on control, and begin spinning off adoption efforts to volunteer groups. Mr. Page said the worker’s compensation issue was a main factor in the lethal injection option, noting the potential in dealing with dangerous animals. Mr. Page said an option could be to use the $10,000 and take the animal to a vet. Commissioner Pierce said the issue was to try to start the program to see if it would be cost effective. Commissioner Pierce said he would like to see how far the $10,000 would go and if there would be an affect. Commissioner Pierce also agreed that he would like for Animal Control to go under the Sheriff’s Office. Commissioner Mitchell recommended the possibility of partnering with a no-kill group. Chairman Mitchell said he would support $10,000 toward a lethalization program as long as there would be coordination with Clai Martin, the Animal Control Supervisor and Barbara Ellis, Health Department Director, in the program’s implementation. Chairman Sides said it was not a small problem in Rowan County. Chairman Sides went on to say that there were 6,000 animals put down per year. Chairman Sides said he would like for the volunteers to contact Clai Martin to set up when they would volunteer rather than the County Manager. Commissioner Mitchell brought up the fact that volunteers might not show up and the result would be the County having to call a contract company to come in to clean. Commissioner Pierce said he would need to see three (3) consecutive months of activity by the volunteers prior to implementing the spending of monies to build partitions. Mr. Page said the waiver that was proposed would not be enough and the County would still need to be protected. Upon being put to a vote, the motion on the floor passed unanimously.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 22:28:01 +0000
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