How did this happen?
The recent allegations against Guilford County Animal Shelter, Davidson County Animal Shelter and the United Animal Coalition are shocking. The Rhino Report (link) has left NC animal advocates devastated.
How could this have happened in a shelter that was celebrated for their fight against animal cruelty? How could a shelter so public about adoption and community outreach have let so many animals die of sickness and disease in their care?
On the surface it appeared that the Guilford County Animal Shelter was one of the strongest shelters in NC. Now we find ourselves sitting and waiting for the outcome of an investigation alleging that hundreds of animals suffered a slow death within the walls of the “community animal shelter”. How could one animal suffer with a broken back for an extended period of time in their care while another was given thousands of dollars in medical care in the public eye?
In the last several months Dr. Patricia Norris, Director of the Animal Welfare Section of the Department of Agriculture, has conducted investigations in several animal shelters across the state with shocking results. It appears as if the Animal Welfare Standards in NC have been optional before the direction of Dr. Norris. How could the community know that there were issues if the agency that oversees animal shelters was not bringing these issues to light? Hundreds of complaints were called in into the NC DOA Animal Welfare Section on animal shelters, yet action was rarely taken. It seems that the root of the issue was lack of oversight and mandatory reporting.
There is an opportunity here to say that we can avoid this in the future. Let’s turn our anger and frustration into reform. Virginia (and other states) requires animal shelters to be transparent about their numbers. (Link to Virginia reporting website).
It is hard to hide when the numbers are public, including financials. The general public can access intake and euthanasia numbers on the NC DOA Animal Welfare Section website. Most shelters report but some choose not to. There is no requirement to report DIK (dead in kennel), so the number of animals that died in the Guilford County Animal Shelter was unknown to the public, rescue groups, and animal welfare groups. To compound the issue, United Animal Coalition is a private non-profit which made public record requests unattainable.
There was a failure on behalf of the County, United Animal Coalition Board, the NC DOA Animal Welfare Section and others to protect the homeless pets in Guilford and Davidson Counties. While this was is a terrible situation, there are other shelters in NC with issues that are just as egregious. Let’s take this opportunity to create transparency in animal shelters by asking for reform in reporting. The community has the right to know how many animals die at the animal shelter and how many are pulled by rescue groups. In the majority of cases our tax dollars are contributing to both oversight and the care of the animals.
Join NCVAW in asking the NC DOA to create mandatory reporting for all NC shelters to hold animal shelters, and the agency that oversees them, accountable.
Thank you Dr. Patricia Norris for your strength and conviction to enforce the laws that we have on the books that protect homeless animals. This has been a tough pill for the NC animal welfare community to swallow, but it is our hope that the outcome will be change.
What can you do? Sign the attached petition asking Commissioner Troxler for a transparent and mandatory reporting system for animal shelters in NC: Petition to Reform Reporting for NC Animal Shelters