RescueNews

A member of the Humane Society of Wilkes calls the county animal shelter a “death camp.” Linda Gorich, who is also a member of the society’s adoption committee, said some animals are being “destroyed indiscriminately at the end of a two-week stay even if the shelter isn’t full.” The criticism has Wilkes Animal Control Supervisor Junior Simmons wondering about his department’s future relationship with the Humane Society. “We appreciate all they have done and all they have been doing,” Simmons said. “But, if we continue to have the problems we have, it may be that we can’t continue to work together and have the same agenda.” Gorich, in a letter given to The Record last week, attacked policies observed at the Wilkes County Animal Shelter on Call Street in Wilkesboro regarding how long animals are kept before being euthanized. She said she also sent copies of the letter to county commissioners, County Manager Gary Page and the Humane Society. More extended stays would incur little additional county expense since much of the shelter’s food is donated, Gorich said. “Why aren’t the animals allowed to live as long as there is room and food available and given that precious extra time that just might be enough for an adoption to take place?” she asked. The brunt of Gorich’s complaints are aimed at Simmons. He recently came under fire after two cats were euthanized before the owner retrieved them from the shelter. Although Wilkes Animal Control picks up around 450 animals each month, Gorich said that in her two years with the Humane Society she has never seen all the cat cages or dog kennels full. “Now, that is rather odd, considering (the number of animals),” she said, adding, “I realize there is a limited budget and we cannot keep all these animals alive forever. But, conversely, we also do not need to be killing them needlessly either.”

Simmons, during a Monday interview with The Record, said that space has to be made for animals that are picked up daily. Still, he said, animals are often kept longer than the three-day mandatory minimum before they are euthanized. Looking at cards posted near the cat cages at the shelter, Simmons noted that one black and white cat had been there since Dec. 11. The dozen or so cats rested on clean newspapers. Their food and water bowls were full. “Does it look like these animals are being mistreated?” Simmons asked. Two weeks is about as long as dogs and cats are kept at the shelter. Simmons says that after that time, viruses, such as distemper and kennel cough, can easily spread among animals. Gorich said that the shelter receives donations. Wal-Mart, for example, donates food to feed to the animals. “That means there must be extra money at the shelter,” she said. In 1998, before Wal-Mart began giving the food, the county spent $2,062 for 223 50-pound bags of dog food and $136 for 19 25-pound bags of cat food, Simmons said. Last year, the county spent $1,063 for dog food and $58 for cat food. “That is nearly cutting it in half, but it’s not a lot of money to play with when you look at the total ($254,150 annual) budget,” Simmons said. He added that it cost the county $7 per day for a dog ($8 if quarantined) and $3 per day for a cat ($4 if quarantined). Through adoption fees, “The county gets all that back,” he said. Gorich said that although the budget is public record, “I personally have yet been able to get a look at it. Something always seems to keep the administrator from getting back to me on it.”

Simmons said he’s aware that the budget is public record. “We are audited annually and everything is done above board,” he said. “But no, I’m not going to pull the budget out at anyone’s request. They need to go to Gary Page (the county manager).” At The Record’s request, Simmons showed the 2000-2001 Animal Shelter budget. Line items included funds for salaries for seven full-time employees, equipment, maintenance, utilities and training. Gorich has other complaints. She said that Humane Society spent $500 to buy five metal dog platforms, which elevate the animals above the cement floor when kennels are washed. As of Dec. 15, 13 of the kennels lacked the platforms, she said. Simmons showed a stack of the platforms Monday. “These have just come in,” he said. “We’re going to try and install them this week.” Gorich says that Simmons has been given other donations that have been ignored. “He has a computer in his office to keep current figures on, but it’s not been hooked up yet,” she said. “That’s been over a year ago.” She said that the shelter has also been given an answering machine so that if someone decides to adopt an animal, a message can be left during weekends. “It’s not been hooked up,” she said. But Simmons says his staff does a good job. “I wouldn’t be afraid to put our shelter in the top ten in the state,” he said. Gorich sees things differently. “It’s just animal control. It’s not a shelter,” she said.

Forty-five seconds after the carbon monoxide gas is turned on, the animals fall into a deep sleep. They never wake. This is the fate of most dogs and cats brought to the Wilkes County Animal Shelter. Of the estimated 6,000 animals brought to the shelter last year, about 5,200 were euthanized. That’s an eight-to-one kill ratio. Animal Control Supervisor Junior Simmons calls euthanizing animals the most dreaded part of his staff’s duties. “No one here enjoys it,” Simmons said. “But there’s no way around it.” Animal control officers pick up around 12 to 15 animals each day. The shelter has 24 cat cages and 34 dog kennels. Unadoptable animals are sometimes “put down” after 72 hours, Simmons said. Simmons and his department has been the target of recent criticism. Linda Gorich, a member of the Humane Society of Wilkes County, calls the shelter “a death camp.” She says animals could be kept longer than they are. “People may call it whatever they wish,” Simmons said. “We do care about the animals, but we care about public safety, too.”

“Thank about what it would be if these unwanted animals were still running loose,” Simmons said. “Think about what farmers would go through in trying to protect their livestock. And, think about all the offspring all those animals would have produced.” Unlike some shelters, no animals are refused quarter at the Wilkes facility. “We take them all,” Simmons said. That’s why the percentages of animals euthanized outnumber those adopted, he added. The euthanasia method used is considered the state standard, Simmons said. Describing the task, Simmons said that one or more animals are placed into a stainless steel box stationed at the rear of the shelter. The smokeless, odorless gas is piped in from nearby upright tanks through a hose. “You can’t see it and you can’t smell it,” Simmons said. “When you turn it on, the animal passes out in about 45 seconds,” Simmons said. They are dead moments later. “When the animals die, they are in a very deep sleep. This is a very humane way of doing this.”

Puppies and kittens are taken to local vet offices where they are euthanized by lethal injection. Dog carcasses are disposed of in the Wilkes County Landfill in Roaring River. Dead adult cats are sold to a Greensboro laboratory for $4 each and used for veterinary research, Simmons said. It’s not a pretty picture, Simmons says. “But that’s the way it is.” And it’s not likely to change anytime soon. “We’re not the ones that loose the animals or abandon them at the end of a dirt road. We’re not the ones that drop them off in a subdivision or keep them tied at the end of a chain with no food or water or shelter,” Simmons said. “But,” he added, “we’re the agency that tries to prevent these things from happening.”