CARTHAGE — Moore County is continuing to look for ways in which it can help more animals.
At its Sept. 17 regular business meeting, the board held a public hearing to hear about a proposed expansion and potential improvements to Moore County Animal Operations.
The Sheriff’s Office had initially approached the board about adding a surgical suite and in-house veterinary staff to its animal operations department back in August.
“The problem that we have been confronted with over the last year are complaints over our euthanasia rates being too high and our inept ability to run a county animal shelter as described by a few,” said Chief Deputy Andy Conway. “Our recommendation is to hire veterinarians and construct a surgical suite which is simply to provide that veterinarian with all of the necessary tools available in order to reduce euthanasia rates and to save as many animals as possible to increase their chances of adoption. In no way, are we hiring a veterinarian to be in competition with anyone.”
Some of the pros Conway listed were improved animal care, efficiency and cost savings with procedures, enhanced adoption rates, education and training and better emergency response.
Cons included the cost of hiring and supplying the suite, overdependency on a single vet and potential workload and emotional burnout of said vet.
“It is apparent that employing a vet at animal services can lower the euthanasia rate by providing advanced medical care and rehabilitation as well as quality temperament testing, but in the end, it may be cost prohibitive based upon expectations,” Conway said.
The current euthanasia rate for the animal operations department is 32.36% of which, 15% are sick and injured and 10.9% are due to temperament.
“For us to be a no-kill shelter, which is everyone’s goal, I think every person’s goal is to be a no-kill shelter, we have to be under 10%,” Conway said. “These are the numbers we are specifically targeting and these numbers will be posted every month on the county website.”
“I’ve always thought that civilizations were always measured by how they treated their elders and how they treated their pets, so let’s see if we can’t continue to get ideas and work toward a goal where we don’t have to put down any animals other than those that are sick or whatnot,” said Commissioner Nick Picerno.
The board also held a quasi-judicial hearing for text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance in regards to language surrounding accessory structures, primarily their size limitations.
Currently, the UDO requires accessory structures to not be larger than the primary residence/structure on the property.
However, the board recommended that the amendment regarding size limitations be sent back to the planning board in order to come up with concrete limits.
“There needs to be some limitation,” Picerno said. “You can’t just build an Amazon distribution center on it. So let them think about the lot size. We’re not trying to deny citizens rights to do what they want on their land.”
The Moore County Board of Commissioners will next meet Oct. 1.
