Trending
RCHS has served Randolph County abused, neglected, and homeless animals for 64 years and as cooperative County partners for animals picked up by their animal control (AC). Our staff covers after-hour 911 calls, assists on legal cases, and guides law enforcement through triage/proper documentation.
We do not euthanize healthy, adoptable pets to make room for other healthy, adoptable pets. This often results in a full shelter but is the reality of this philosophy. Spay/neuter is the most effective way to control pet overpopulation, so we have issued 600+ vouchers (grants and savings) over the past three years without County assistance.
We request funding annually from the County Commission. That's been $80,000 for a decade, about 30% of our budget. With rising costs, that amount is now closer to 20%. We presented Commissioners Kesling and Siler with a $90,000 request.
With no prior conversation, Siler said that they are planning their own facility under their control and our funding would be cut. He said he "hasn't seen improvement in (shelter) facilities since (he) was a kid", though he's only "driven by." Patently false. We are a very different facility in every way from 20 years ago.
Never once has he asked questions about operations or working together for solutions to perceived problems. This was the first time we had met/spoken with him. We were not out of the parking lot when his announcement posted without knowledge of all commissioners.
Siler is getting information from a previous commissioner who clearly intended to force RCHS to be a kill facility or cut funding (he illegally ordered the ACO to dump seven pregnant cats on our property). We have asked for statistics about calls so we could target those areas with TNR but never received it. The recent ACO said on record in a City committee that "unless this shelter is made to euthanize cats to make room for more, there's nothing I can do."
Siler says the Mineral County animal control is the model for this new facility. Their website/ACO confirmed that they euthanize regularly. Yet Siler continues to claim this new facility won't be a kill shelter.
If it is to be "no kill" and "no animal will be denied shelter," what will be the capacity, and what happens when it exceeds that? How will room be made for them humanely? Why aren't we having substantive conversations on how we can solve together whatever issues our county has? If commissioners perceive a deficit, why aren't we discussing it?
Siler's plan is for grant funding to build, but where will operations funding for salaries, utilities, maintenance, insurance, vet bills, pet food/medicine come from? That would be much higher than supporting the Randolph County Humane Society, who has the staff and expertise.
We call on the Commissioners to share their plan to do a better job at managing the animal population humanely apart from RCHS vs what could be done by working with us to expand or build new facilities, start a spay/neuter clinic, help with vet costs, etc.
Tina Vial
The Randolph County
Humane Society
Board of Directors