Animal Shelter News | North Carolina

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Local Animal Shelter Investigated After Leak

POSTED: 4:53 pm EDT May 16, 2006

LEXINGTON, N.C. --

The North Carolina Department of Labor is investigating a potential safety hazard at the Davidson County Animal Shelter.

The labor department said a worker complained about having to hold his breath after turning on the gas to kill animals.

The Davidson County sheriff's office said there was a gas leak, but Sheriff David Grice didn’t comment further. Stay with WXII 12 News and WXII12.com for updates.

Article published May 17, 2006
State inspects animal shelter

By Ese Isiorho
The Dispatch

The North Carolina Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating reports of malfunctioning equipment at the Davidson County Sheriff's Office animal shelter.
Lt. Rick Skeen of the animal shelter and Sheriff David Grice have both confirmed that there was a leak in the euthanasia chamber carbon monoxide line, but they said the problem was resolved Thursday.
Skeen said the line did not leak constantly.
There were also complaints by an anonymous tipster last week that the door to the euthanasia chamber was broken and employees had to crawl in while holding their breath to get to the gas line - a charge Grice denies.
"That is not correct, and we do not do things like that," the sheriff said.
The N.C. OSH was unable to confirm or deny these allegations.
"We can acknowledge that we have an investigation going, but once we open up an investigation, any information has to be withheld until we issue citations or a letter saying that there's nothing wrong," said Juan Santos, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Labor. "We did receive the complaint and sent an investigator on site (Monday)."
Findings on this investigation will not be available for a few weeks, Santos said.
Grice said that the chamber was inspected Monday, and everything was fine.
"Based on an anonymous complaint, OSH came, and we had already had the line repaired," Grice said.
The line had been broken for three or four days before maintenance repaired it.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also received an anonymous tip that the shelter was not operating properly. They sent a letter to Grice and County Manager Robert Hyatt stating they had "received a complaint alleging that the county's animal shelter staff is using a carbon monoxide gassing box with a damaged door in an attempt to kill animals."
Other allegations included "that a worker was ordered to kill animals in the damaged box and that the worker had to hold his breath after turning on the gas and the animals died slowly and suffered greatly."
"If these allegations are true, then a law has been violated," said Teresa Lynn Chargin, animal care and control specialist for PETA.
Though no one from the animal rights organization has visited the county shelter, Chargin said the complaint "sounded very real.
"We're waiting for some assurance from the county that this has been investigated and resolved," she said.
Grice denied the allegations from PETA.

Ese Isiorho can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 228, or at ese.isiorho@the-dispatch.com.

Animal lovers in Davidson County celebrated a victory two months ago when they dedicated the county's new animal shelter that some have been lobbying for since 1992.

But the 6,000-square-foot shelter on Glendale Road has sat empty since then as county officials grappled with the method to be used when animals must be put to death. Some say that the delay has been frustrating because the animals and employees at the old shelter on County Home Road have had to endure the hot weather this summer. Built in 1957, the shelter is small, often crowded and not air-conditioned.

"We would love to be in it now," said Lt. Rick Skeen, the director of the animal shelter. But "this has been so long coming (that) we can wait two or three months."

The debate over whether to use carbon monoxide or lethal injection to kill the animals was finally settled last week. County Manager Robert Hyatt said that the county ordered equipment that uses carbon monoxide.

Hyatt said that the piece of equipment - which some call a "gas chamber" - should be delivered by the end of September. The shelter will open after that.

Animal advocates had pushed for the use of lethal injection, calling it a cheaper, more humane method because it kills within seconds.

Animal shelters in Forsyth and Guilford counties use lethal injection.

Members of the Davidson County Humane Society and the Animal Center of Davidson County, the nonprofit group that led the drive for the new shelter, had offered $10,000 toward the cost of lethal injection. But Hyatt said he found that it would cost the county substantially more than that to hire someone trained to do the injections. He said that the new chamber cost about $6,500.

"We're still very interested in pursuing the lethal injection if we found someone who'd offer a fair price," Hyatt said. "We haven't stopped looking."

Davidson County destroys more than 7,000 animals a year, an average of 30 a day. Sometimes as many as 80 are destroyed in a day.

Eve Roser, a member of the Animal Center Advisory Board, said that though the carbon-monoxide method was not everyone's first choice, the new stainless-steel chamber will be more humane than the concrete-block room where animals in a cage are gassed.

Richard Varner, the animal shelter attendant, said that the cage is sometimes crowded with too many animals.

The new chamber will hold a maximum of six animals. Varner said that they will not be put in a cage first.

Varner said that shelter employees are eager to move into the new shelter, which is about three times as large as the one on County Home Road. The new shelter has 48 animal pens, compared to 25 at the old shelter, and also has a separate room for sick animals, puppies and cats.

Roser said that it will be an "inviting" place for those who want to volunteer as well as for the public. She said that animal advocates plan to begin a public-education campaign from the new shelter on the importance of having pets spayed or neutered.

The county is also expected to adopt a mandatory spay-neuter policy and increased adoption fees similar to those in Forsyth and Guilford counties. The increased costs would cover the spay or neuter operation as well as vaccinations and shots. "It's going to be a big step," Skeen said of the new shelter. "Maybe not a walk on the moon, but it's going to be a big step for Davidson County."