The county’s new animal shelter, which opened in late January at the former Legendary Ford-Mercury dealership, now has less than 30 days to correct the “unacceptable” conditions for the housing of homeless dogs and cats found there during a recent state inspection.
However, the new shelter, which is operated by McDowell County Animal Outreach (MCAO), is operating as usual and the volunteers there are working hard to correct the problems, said Director Marsha Carroll.
“We are addressing each of the issues,” said Carroll. “We want the animals in our care to be as happy and healthy as they can be. We feel like they have been.”
Furthermore, the new shelter and its operations are open to anyone to inspect.
“We have absolutely nothing to hide,” said Carroll. “Anyone can come in at any time and see for themselves.”
Last year, the McDowell County Commissioners agreed to have MCAO take over the operation of the county’s animal shelter. The non-profit volunteer organization rescues and provides foster care for dogs, cats and other animals in McDowell. MCAO entered into a one-year contract with the county to provide animal shelter services for McDowell.
The new Adoption and Education Center opened in late January at the old Ford dealership after being approved and certified by the state inspectors. As part of the partnership, the county would no longer accept animals at the old shelter on N.C. 226 South. Instead, folks are being directed to new facility.
MCAO members said the new center would provide larger and better conditions for housing homeless dogs and cats. It would also reduce the euthanasia rate in this county and result in more animals finding new homes.
But on Thursday, March 8, an inspector with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services made a random visit to the new shelter and found cats and dogs there living in inadequate conditions.
At the time of the inspection, several kennels were found to be soiled and 21 animals were found to be without water. Five enclosures were lacking a water receptacle. Animals were also being kept in areas of the facility that were not originally approved for housing animals. The place directly behind the adoptable cat area lacks ventilation and is not an approved area for housing animals. Large cracks in the floors inside the adoptable dog building and in the isolation building had not been addressed since a previous inspection, according to the inspector’s report.
“These cracks need to be sealed ASAP,” reads the report. “Floors in both buildings are not properly sealed and are cracking/peeling.”
In addition, food, hair and debris were found building up along the walls in all areas of both buildings. One wire crate contained five dogs, which is considered “inadequate due to square footage.”
“Several cats were being housed together longer than 24 hours in crates that are also inadequate due to square footage,” reads the report. “Cross contamination remains an issue from the previous inspection. Some panels are in place but not all and kennels are not arranged to prevent cross contamination.”
Furthermore, the isolation building was found to be “heavily soiled at the time of inspection with food, urine, feces and hair.”
The van used to transport animals was also not clean and the enclosures used for transporting them needed to be more secure. Electrical covers were not in place at several locations posing a safety issue. The paperwork was checked on seven animals, all of which were not vaccinated for rabies. Other records were lacking on several animals.
“Several animals were exhibiting potential symptoms of disease resembling symptoms of parvo virus and kennel cough,” reads the report.
The directors of MCAO were told by the state inspectors that all the problems from the March 8 inspection and the previous inspection had to be addressed within 30 days.
Dr. Lee Hunter is the director of the Animal Welfare Section for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He told The McDowell News that his inspectors noticed a lot of things that were preventable. The inspectors met with the MCAO representatives and told them these conditions were not acceptable and need to be corrected.
“They were so extensive, it should not be allowed to get to that point,” said Hunter.
State inspectors did not shut down the new shelter. Instead, MCAO is being given time to fix these problems. But if they continue, the next step would be to issue a warning letter. And the step after that would be to impose civil penalties.
Hunter said the Animal Welfare Section can skip steps if the conditions call for it.
County Manager Chuck Abernathy said he spoke to Carroll about the problems found during the inspections. He has also visited the shelter.
“Marsha assured me they would be corrected,” said Abernathy.
Carroll told The McDowell News that her organization is working to correct these issues. Some of them, like the cracks in the floor, have already been repaired. All of the cracks have been filled and sealed. Making these repairs forced the volunteers to move some of the animals from one place to another. MCAO is also in the process of getting new kennels, which should be easier to clean. And the volunteers have all gone through training on how they should take care of these animals.
“It is very difficult to take care of that many animals,” said Carroll. “However, we can’t be discouraged because we are going to continue with this. We have protocols for the cleaning. We have gone over all these with each of volunteers.”
In addition, MCAO has trained the volunteers in how to make sure the cats and dogs have enough water. Carroll said that was her greatest concern.
“Those are some of the strategies we are working on,” she added.
Carroll said the shelter is doing very well. On Monday, 30 animals were taken in.
“Since we opened, we have adopted out at least 90 animals and all 90 of those animals have been spayed and neutered,” she said. “I am happy for anyone to come over. We are happy for anyone to come and see what we are doing.”
Carroll said folks can also contact the new shelter at 559-BARK (2275).
