The Inter-Mountain photos by Brad Johnson Officials with the Randolph County Humane Society, a private non-profit, are upset that a Randolph County Commissioner is looking into the possibility of the county owning and operating an animal control shelter.

The Randolph County Humane Society, which began in 1958, has over the past decade received $80,000 per year in funding from Randolph County.

ELKINS — Randolph County Humane Society officials and volunteers are upset about a Randolph County Commission social media post saying the county is considering creating and operating its own animal control shelter.

However, the County Commissioner behind the post told The Inter-Mountain Monday that no votes have yet been taken and no decisions made, other than all three commissioners agree that “this will definitely not be a kill shelter.”

Last week, the following post was made to the Randolph County Commission Facebook page:

“The Randolph County Commission is excited to announce that it will explore the possibility of constructing a county-owned and operated animal control facility for the first time in county history.

“Construction will be made possible by use of the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund money that the county has already received in part from the federal government; this construction will not be funded using county tax dollars.

“The Commission is dedicated to maintaining the safety of all county residents and believes that this project will further that mission by ensuring that no animal will be denied shelter. We are currently taking an inventory of all vacant county-owned property in order to determine a site for the new facility.”

That post had inspired 58 comments in response by Monday evening, with many urging the County Commission to continue providing funding to the Randolph County Humane Society, a private, non-profit organization that began in 1958.

For the past 10 years, the Randolph County Commission has provided $80,000 per year in funding to the Humane Society.

In a social media post over the weekend, Tina Vial, a member of the Humane Society’s Board of Directors, said she and other officials met with County Commissioners Cris Siler and David Kesling on Feb. 21 and presented a request for an increase in annual funding to $90,000.

Vial writes that Siler told her the county was “‘moving toward their own facility where they have control,’ and that, while he isn’t opposed to ‘helping us out,’ he’s ‘not in $90,000 deep.'” She wrote that Siler said he “hasn’t seen much improvement in (RCHS shelter) facilities since (he) was a kid.”

Vial writes that Kesling assured the Humane Society officials that “this is not a done deal, that it takes three votes to pass it. But then we literally were not even out of the parking lot from our meeting and Commissioner Siler posted the ‘big announcement’ apparently without Commissioner Kesling’s knowledge, which is even more troubling if our commissioners are not communicating with each other.”

“We stand ready — as we always have — to partner with this county and the City of Elkins (from whom we receive no funds) – to continue to provide the services we always have, and to talk about ways those services could even be improved,” Vial wrote. “But we were completely blindsided by this announcement, and given our direct experiences and the recent climate, we can only surmise what the intent of this new facility is, and there is very little about it that feels in line with who we know this community to be.”

The Inter-Mountain spoke with Siler Monday, asking for clarification of what the county’s plans are regarding a new animal shelter.

“I just felt we need our own facility, that is owned and run and controlled by the county,” Siler told The Inter-Mountain.

He said the county has an agreement with the Humane Society “that they’re supposed to take up to five animals a day, no more than 20 a week. There’s been several times that they’ve turned animals away for not having room, for cats especially … I just don’t think they’re capable of keeping up with what we need, and that’s why I think we need our own facility.”

Siler said he wanted to clear up what he called a major misconception spreading online.

“There’s a misconception that we’re thinking about creating a kill shelter, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Siler said. “A kill shelter has never even been considered. In fact, that’s what all three commissioners have agreed on, is that this will definitely not be a kill shelter.”

Siler noted that he was behind the Facebook post about considering a county owned animal shelter.

“This is my project,” Siler said. “I’m doing the research and the planning. I’m checking with different shelters around the state.”

He noted that, at this time, the plans include two full-time humane officers for the proposed facility.

“This is not anything against the Humane Society,” Siler said. “Actually, it will relieve a lot of pressure off of them, because we’ll take 30% of their animals, so that will help with costs for them, and they’ll have room for more animals.”

Siler stressed that no final decisions have yet been made regarding the county owned animal shelter proposal.

“We don’t even know if we are going to do this,” he said. “We’re just looking into it at this moment, to see what the costs would be and compare the numbers. But I can’t continue to give $80,000 to a facility that won’t even take animals when we need them housed.”