The Vance County Animal Control Advisory Board met yesterday evening in the conference room of the County Administration Building to consider a request and remarks made by Margaret Peck concerning a trap-spay/neuter-return (TSNR) program for feral cats.
Peck make her remarks to the Vance County Board of Commissioners during their August 3, 2009 regular meeting.
Peck’s plan calls for Vance County to begin practicing TSNR for Vance County’s feral cat population as means of population control and as an alternative to euthanasia. She suggests that the cost of the plan be met by taxing fertile cats ($175) and dogs ($240) by including them on the county tax rolls. She has also suggested a tax on dog food.
The plan also calls for those dropping animals off at the shelter to sign a document which acknowledges that the animal will most likely be euthanised. Owners whose animals are recoved by Animal Control would also be compelling to pay for alterations to their animals.
Peck claimed that Vance County’s Animal Control’s practice of euthanasia “mispresents” the shelter, and that killing by gassing or lethal injection is not humane unless done by a trained professional.
Peck told committee members and the audience of about ten people that she does not want Vance County government to get involved in private business in reference to her proposed tax, but that there is no alternative.
Audience member J.L. Harris spoke in favor of the TSNR program. Vance County resident Karen Kwiatkowski told members that she realizes that the county is not “an affluent place”. She said that people turn to animals as a source of comfort without realizing what can happen if they do not alter their animals. She said that people need to be educated to take responsibility for animals.
Kwiatkowski also stated a need for the Vance County Animal Shelter to have an “upgrade”. The facility which was built in 1978 was characterized by Vance County Chief Animal Control Officer Alex Hargrove as “overcrowded” and currently beyond capacity in the number of animals it is sheltering.
A new facility was estimated to cost nearly $2 million.
Committee chair Rudy Abate credited Hargrove with “a 180 degree turn-around” of the shelter since taking his position four years ago. When Hargrove took the job, he had a staff of two. That number has since increased to five employees. Two of those employees are now licensed by the state to perform euthanasia.
Committee member Sara Coffey said that an increase in prosecutions for animal abandonment and neglect are also “helping a little bit”.
During the course of a conversation that frequently strayed from the stated purpose of the meeting, Hargrove commented about the difficulties of running an animal shelter. He said that people can “come into a forum like this and comment about euthanasia”, but he indicated that most have never been to the shelter.
Hargrove said that euthanasia of animals is now being done three-to-four days a week instead of Thursdays, as was the practice when he took over. He blamed the economy. He also argued that his first responsibility to the county is the control of rabies, although he confessed that there have been only four documented cases in Vance County in the last four years.
The head animal control officer said that 63 cats have been taken in or dropped off since Monday, September 14, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.
Regarding the issue of returning cats, Hargrove noted that residents would be concerned if feral cats that are damaging property were returned by the shelter to the location from which they were trapped.
Feral cats spray, can pull insulation from the crawlspaces of homes, and even scratch cars in a quest for warmth from the engine.
Member Janice Janke suggested to a compromise position to Peck. She proposed that “notched-ear” cats taken in by the shelter could be placed if Peck could assemble a list of people willing to take in the cats as well as financial donors willing to back the enterprise. Abate suggested that she form a committee to this end.
Janke told Peck that the committee could not ask the Vance County commissioners to enact her plan. She said that “we have to take small steps”. She maintained that forward progress is being made in animal control.
Notched-ear cats are feral cats that have been spayed or neutered. Their ears are notched or clipped so that humans who interact with them in the future are aware of their reproductive status. The plan calls for these cats to be introduced into stable cat colonies that are maintained by private individuals.
Harris pointed out that it is more difficult to introduce a new cat into a stable colony than simply dropping it off. He said, however, that it could be done.
Peck agreed to the plan as a compromise position.
Abate said that Peck should notify him when she has assembled her information and that he will call another meeting of the committee. His committee, which acts only in an advisory capacity to the board of commissioners, will then consider bringing the plan to the full board.