The Yadkin Co pound functions primarily as a pet killing facility, killing more than 70% of its dogs and cats in 2013:
The NC Department of Agriculture regularly inspects the state’s pounds in order to hold them to bare minimum standards which do not in any way include lifesaving. The state has passed Yadkin Co many times. But on November 6, the inspector took issue with a number of sub-standard conditions and practices evident at the facility and did not give Yadkin Co a passing report. The full inspection report can be read here. It was signed by the same inspector who had just given the facility a pass one month earlier.
Among the failings noted during the November 6 inspection:
- Sick cats were being housed with healthy cats.
- Sick cats were not receiving veterinary care.
- Three cats were being housed in an enclosure that had old, dried blood on the walls, and none of the three were bleeding.
- There was so much old hair and debris in the cat area that the ventilation system was clogged.
- Excessive amounts of food and feces were present in the cat area.
- Build up of food and debris in the dog area is an ongoing problem.
- Staffing was inadequate to provide care for the number of animals at the facility.
The local FOX affiliate visited the pound to see conditions first hand. The reporter noted there was still old, dried blood on the walls in the cat area.
FOX8 spoke with Jessica Wall, assistant director of Yadkin County’s Human Service Agency, regarding the state’s bare bones standards and the county’s failure to meet them. She appears to be in total denial:
“We’re meeting those requirements, we’re meeting what needs to be done and even in a lot of instances, we’re going above and beyond,” she said.
As for the “excess feces” and dried blood in the cat enclosure, Wall also cited employee performance.
“There might be that here’s not enough attention to detail, but if that’s something that’s happened, it’s been brought to our attention, we’re going to address it, and it has been addressed. Those issues have been corrected,” she said.
There might have been some teensy problem but most likely not, because the Yadkin Co pet killing facility is super awesome.
FOX8 asked Yadkin Co chairman Kevin Austin about the understaffing problem:
As for the number of employees at the shelter, Austin noted that the county employs two full-time staff members at the shelter, on top of the animal control personnel designated by the sheriff’s office.
“There was one employee there the day of the inspection, but we have two staff; we had one who called in sick,” he said.
But that doesn’t appear to jive with the inspector’s notes in the report:
The county has 30 days to correct the problems that don’t exist and are already fixed anyway. In the meantime, a 70% kill rate apparently qualifies as “going above and beyond”. This will surely be a source of great pride for the lost and homeless pets in Yadkin Co and the taxpayers funding their deaths.
(Thanks Clarice and Arlene for sending me this story.)
Animal shelters are outdated and a big change needs to be made, possibly sanctuaries. We need people who love animals more than the money which is available to them!
This is no way to treat animals. They need to eliminate the killing staff, who doesn’t realize that animals are priceless companions! We desperately need shelter reform!
THE GREATNESS OF A NATION AND ITS MORAL PROGRESS ARE JUDGED BY THE WAY IT TREATS ITS ANIMALSGHANDI…
There is no way this shelter passed inspection a month ago with this going on. It sounds like the inspector finally got fed up with their empty assurances of fixing things and just got pissed off enough to fail them.
The failures here are symptoms of chronic issues, not acute. Sounds like another facility that would best serve its community by being burned to the ground and having a few trees planted in its place.
Yeah I didn’t buy that “must have JUST happened” excuse either. If you read the report, it sounds like they were leaving shit lying around (literally and figuratively), the inspector told them to move some of it, they did but started piling other shit in the same place. That kind of blatant laziness (or perhaps spitefulness?) may have triggered his reaction.
Lazy, spiteful or just plain stupid?
All of the above.
Gotta find out who that inspector was and see if I can them them transferred to this part of the state. The Harnett County shelter has almost identical issues and just killed (“depopulated”) all its cats because of contamination. Of course, the Harnett County shelter also contracts with Ralph “Dr Death” Houser to provide (ahem) veterinary services via telephone; otherwise there is no vet at all.
And all costing taxpayers $112.53 per animal.. WOW.. Most if not all could have been spayed/neutered and sent home with a bag of food for half of that..
A friend from that area tells me that one of the Animal Control officers routinely kills every animal on Friday so she doesn’t have to come in on the weekend, and that an employee (volunteer?) takes home animals to keep them from being killed by this officer.
FOIA the records for a 3 week period to see if there is any noticeable pattern.
I wonder if the recent hiring of a new Animal Welfare division director at Dept of Ag had anything to do with it?