Events and policies concerning the Chesterfield County animal shelter continue to make headlines. Since last March, when word escaped that 22 dogs had been shot rather than euthanized, county officials have been called upon by citizens, animal rights activists and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson to right what was wrong.
Most people agree, including Eddie O’Cain of the South Carolina Humane Society, who is charged with the duty of conducting inspections, that many improvements have been made to the shelter since last spring. But there seems to be no agreement on policies, or newly proposed pulling fees, between county council members and those directly involved with animal rescues.
Last week, Jerry Lynn Gaskins quit her position as director for the shelter because of “major disagreements in policy.” Before that, two of the three citizens appointed by council to serve on the animal shelter committee resigned their positions due to philosophical differences on how to solve the problems of animal control.
Joy Young and Nancy Kimrey both say they refuse to have anything more to do with the committee, leaving Karen Stangell as the only member of the committee that is not an elected official.
This week, County Council’s plans to hold a third and final hearing on Feb. 1, for an animal ordinance implementing pull fees, prompted negative reactions from animal rescue groups. Leading up to Wednesday’s meeting, a petition was circulating to prevent the ordinance from passing, and three different animal rescue groups were voicing concerns about the potential consequences of pull fees.
Chesterfield County Councilman Henry Plyler heads the animal committee. Serving with him are council members Douglas Curtis, Robert Cole and Crawford Moore. “As elected officials,” said Plyler, “the most important thing for us to do is provide the best services we can without over-burdening county residents.”
Chesterfield County resident Jim McGonical has said that for “too long the shelter has relied on donations and volunteers to operate a government entity. I have heard some members of council state that the shelter needs to operate as a business; I strongly disagree with that kind of thinking. The purpose of government is to provide service and protection to the community at large, that the private sector should not or cannot.”
“The reason we are fighting the fee so much,” said Nancy Bartow, rescue coordinator for Where Hope Lives, “is that to pay $39 for what would normally cost a rescue worker $10 to $12 to do … is ridiculous.”
According to Bartow, if the ordinance is implemented, “a local person can get a fully vetted dog for $100, but a rescue group would pay $39 and still have to pay vetting, boarding and transport costs.”
“The county council thinks that rescues are making money off the animals, which just isn’t the case,” Bartow said.
“I have rescued 1,500 animals from Chesterfield County in the last three years,” said Michelle Nuefeld. “Just in the past two weeks I have pulled over 25 dogs to safety. I would love nothing more than to continue to save lives from Chesterfield County. But if the council implements a pull fee that is unreasonable, I will be forced to walk away from Chesterfield and turn to surrounding counties instead. Sadly, we all know only too well there’s no shortage of animals to rescue.”
— Staff Writer Karen Kissiah can be reached by calling 843-537-5261, ext. 229, or by email at kkissiah@heartlandpublications.com.
To JudieKopfman. Please let me know if we can help. We work with rescues and can try to capture the dog and find it a good home. You can email me at kathrynhorton1@hotmail.com. It is very sad to see the unwanted pets wandering our streets. Thank you for caring and sharing.
The public should be able to request a copy of the recent ordinances passed...I think the financials regarding the shelter is also open to the public. Put in a request and take a look; you might be shocked at what the current way of doing things is costing you.
To JudieKopfman, if the dogs are still in your neighborhood, take them to the shelter or give the shelter a call to come out and get them. They are very nice people and someone will help you. If you are not able, let me know and I'll be happy to give them a ride.
The ordinances we are in favor of will lead to more spayed and neutered pets which obviously leads to less strays. In no way is this meant to punish the citizens, but to help alleviate the burden of supporting someone else's unwanted pets. I don't think it is fair that I should have to be financially responsible for taking care of an animal that I did not choose to bring home.
Pets are a HUGE responsiblity and should be taken as such, not brought home and hoarded, chained to trees and trucks, never to be played with or loved. Most people have no idea what the true cost of owning a pet is because they never give it a flea treatment, take it to the vet or bother to by it a collar. That is pet abuse and the shelter and rescue organizations from NY, PA, etc are not the answer to our negligence! I appreciate everything these kind folks have done but this is our mess to clean up, no one else's.
Making the citizens accountable for what they own is smart, and in my opinion should be a federal law, not a county ordinance. The economy is hard everywhere. So stop bringing home animals you can't take care of. When a volunteer comes to your home and offers to pay to spay your pet, say yes! For all that's right people think about it. If you can't afford one pet, you can't afford their offspring....let them help you or turn your pets in.
Sadly, the dogs I have seen in my neighborhood are extremely skiddish and run when anyone comes near them. I have tried so hard to befriend a little white one in hopes that I could get it to the Shelter before it gets run over on Front Street. I too know how tragic it is when someone just abandons a pet. It didn't have to be this way. The owner(s) could have just taken the little dog to the Shelter or have it picked up.