Gaston County Animal Shelter failed recent state inspection
Critics of the oft maligned Gaston County Animal Shelter gained new ammunition against the facility after it failed a recent state inspection.
The unannounced, annual review by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Veterinary Division took place Nov. 12. State inspector Shelley Swaim cited serious structural problems and issues with animal overcrowding that violated North Carolina’s Animal Welfare Act.
Swaim also identified animals that were unacceptably injured or unhealthy, and others that weren’t being provided food and water adequately.
To view the inspection, click here, or click the link at the top right of this page.
Some of the grievances were addressed immediately. The shelter has until Jan. 1 to fix most of the problems.
The state will make another unannounced visit to the shelter sometime after Jan. 1 for a follow-up inspection, said Dr. Lee Hunter, director of the state agriculture department’s Animal Welfare Section.
Gaston County Animal Control administrator Reggie Horton said he has taken the failed inspection seriously.
“We’re going to make every effort to comply with the state guidelines,” he said.
But the bulk of the issues stem from structural problems at the long outdated shelter, which bolsters the need to build a new facility, Horton said.
County commissioners determined last year that the shelter is beyond repair and has to be replaced. But the current economic climate has put those plans in jeopardy, as a new shelter could cost more than $5 million, said County Manager Jan Winters.
“Obviously we’ve known for a long time that the animal shelter has outlived its time and needs to be replaced,” said Winters, who learned of the failed inspection Tuesday.
Conditions draw criticism
The state began inspecting public and private animal shelters in 2006, visiting each a minimum of once a year. The Gaston shelter has had several reviews since then, and while it has never failed, inspectors have regularly criticized the condition of the animals and the facilities there.
Only once, at a private shelter in Hendersonville, did the state find conditions so egregious that the facility was forced to shut down immediately, Hunter said.
Gaston County’s shelter had 78 dogs and 49 cats within its 75 primary animal enclosures on Nov. 12. The state has a formula for determining how many animals can be kept in one “run” based on the size of both the enclosure and the animals.
The inspector last month found that some food and water receptacles were damaged, and that there was not one food receptacle provided for every adult dog – the minimum required by the state.
Horton said many of the local shelter’s enclosures are equipped with one food and water dispenser each. The hard plastic containers refill automatically, limiting the time that shelter workers have to spend paying attention to it, he said.
Horton said he didn’t realize those automatic food dispensers weren’t in compliance with state law. But those will now have to be removed, and individual food and water bowls will be provided for each dog.
“That’s certainly something we’ll come into compliance with,” he said.
The inspector found that several animals had health issues that were questionable. One dog had “multiple bite wounds” on its neck, and there was blood in the kennel, the inspection stated. Other animals had nasal discharges and were coughing.
The shelter has a responsibility to isolate and treat such dogs and cats, or if they can’t do that, to euthanize them, Swaim wrote in her inspection.
There is no veterinarian on staff at the Gaston shelter. Horton said medical treatment can’t be offered for most animals because they don’t stand a good chance of being adopted, and will likely end up being euthanized.
But a lack of space at the facility also makes it hard to quarantine some animals that show slight signs of illness, he said.
“Overcrowding really puts us in an awkward position,” he said.
Structural issues
The majority of the problems found at Gaston County’s shelter seem to stem from the facility’s age, Hunter said. Those are the issues that have surfaced most often in the last three years.
“Most of the violations here are typical of older public shelters,” he said. “Certainly, if Gaston County builds a new facility, these problems should go away.
”
The November inspection found that concrete floors throughout the facility and kennel are damaged and unsealed, and that they need to be sealed or painted.
Metal tracks on vertical kennel doors are rusted and have exposed sharp edges which could injure animals. And there were more than four dogs in several primary enclosures, Swaim wrote in her report.
Horton said the county will have to decide whether it wants to spend money to repair the shelter when it has already determined that wouldn’t make sense financially. Putting a sealant on the floor would only stave off the problem in the short-term, he said.
Winters said county commissioners have already authorized building a new animal shelter. But the economic downturn led them to recently put a hold on all capital projects until at least February, when the county’s financial situation will be reviewed.
The county has already retained an architect who has done some preliminary work on designing the new facility. But it is still trying to find a suitable site for it, and hopes to build the shelter on county-owned land so new property wouldn’t have to be purchased, Winters said.
“We’re trying to avoid spending any additional money,” he said. “I think we have a short list of sites we’re looking at.
”
A new shelter could be funded in the next budget cycle, which would allow construction to begin in late 2009 or 2010, Winter said. But that’s a best case scenario.
Gaston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mickey Price said the new shelter will have to compete with other financial needs. The county must figure out how to pay for $175 million in school bonds and plan for an expansion of the local jail as well, he said.
“Those three things are probably going to be at the top of the pecking order,” he said. “And it’s all going to be tough because of the economy.
”
You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826.
Click here to read the state’s report.
Check back at gastongazette. com for updates on this story.
Source:
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/animals_27703___article. html/inspection_state. html
