State ag stats say everything about the cats at the Regional Pound
Cat adoptions were very small at the Roanoke Regional Pound in 2011. Only 4 cats were adopted while over 2,500 were euthanized.
Last month at the June Board of Supervisors meeting, Lisa O’Neill of Angels of Assisi came to talk about how many Botetourt animals are ending up at her shelter instead of the Roanoke Regional Pound. She urged the Board members to follow the trail of money.
The trail of money is easy to find on the Botetourt end. Today Finance Director Tony Zerrilla confirmed that Botetourt County pays $158,000 per year as the county share of the regional pound.
If an animal is sick at the pound, the SPCA charges $25 for their vet to see the animal. If it needs care, the county pays for the further vet bill. All of this is in addition to the $158,000. One reason Angels of Assisi is used, is because they do not charge, but raise donations for their expenses.
Yesterday, Botetourt removed all of its cats from the Regional Pound, this confirmed by Joel Branscom, Botetourt’s Commonwealth Attorney. (The Roanoke Times has more on that here.)
Branscom said, “It is my understanding the Regional Pound is part of a contracted organization called ACS that runs both the Pound and the SPCA.” They are separated by a breezeway. Bill Watson is that organization’s executive director overseeing both organizations.
The most telling feature however is displayed in the Roanoke Regional Pound statistics from The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer services. It is the overwhelming euthanasia rate verses the puny adoption rate that catches the eye. 2011, 2010 and 2009.
Click on the three years for the entire cat and dog statistics, but here are snippets from 2011:
Cats euthanized in 2011: 2561 out of 3679. Adopted : 4 Transferred to another agency: 887
2010: 3432 out of 4338 Adopted: 30 Transferred to another agency: 666
2009: 3543 out of 4114 Adopted: 30 Transferred to another agency: 477
July 18, 2012 - 5:17 PM
Looking at the numbers for the last three years it doesn’t seem like they are putting much effort into finding homes for these animals. In 2011 they only adopted out 4 cats and euthanized 2561. What did they do, kill them as soon as they came through the door? Did they even give these poor cats a chance? It is sickening to think theses people go home at night and sleep,do they even care? What did they do with all the money they were supposed to use for the care of these animals? Do they get a bonus at the end of the year from the money they save?
The regional pound (RCACP) is operated by 4 local governments(Counties of Roanoke & Botetourt,Roanoke City, Town of Vinton) The RCACP is governed by an Advisory Board. Tony Zerilla represents Botetourt County on the RCACP Advisory Board. There are many question regarding the RCACP:
Why is Botetourt County not using a facility they fund and share responsibilty for oversight and operation? Is the RCACP breaking laws that warrant the Commonwealth Attorney’s attention? Does Botetourt County face legal liability if laws were broken? How much is Botetourt County spending for animal control services above the yearly $158,000 funding of RCACP.
This is simply insane. I don’t understand how the county is letting these people keep their jobs. I find it disgusting that these animals are being brought to a place which is supposed to ‘save’ them and make them better, but they end up dead regardless. These animals need a second chance at life not a second hell hole to be thrown into.
This is an incredibly sad commentary on what is actually done for these animals when they arrive at the Roanoke Regional facility. Even sadder is the fact that the irresponsibility of the people who allowed their cats to end up there is never addressed. Why as a community do we have a facility that condones this kind of irresponsibility and heartlessness by simply killing the cats and dogs these people decide they no longer want, can’t afford, etc. When are these people going to be held responsible for their actions?
JD I am asking many of the same questions you are asking. Some figures are not easily traced. But don’t worry, I am trying! That’s a whole lot of money for animal keeping when they add on more charges and kill so many of them.
As for the animal owners. I guess we will always have that in society, but many of these are strays generations from a happy home. When the owners are caught at least in Botetourt, they do take it seriously and press charges. Sadly most of us didn’t know when we called animal control about dogs or cats dropped on our roads that this is where they were headed.
Animal Control is doing their job and they have a huge amount of calls every year, but you know it must be overwhelming for them, too. It was truly a bold step to do what the officer did last week with the blessing of the Commonwealth’s Attorney office, which is pretty much say, “Enough is enough.” on something you are contracted to for $158,000 a year. That’s why the cats got moved. And still we have to pay it anyway from my understanding.
With the Rabies outbreak we’ve had for the past couple of years, you can’t let strays just run about either. But the animals can be adopted if given the chance. I agree that only 4 cat adoptions and over 2500 euthanized is just mind blowing. I own a rescue dog. For the first six months he cowered when we tried to pet him. He would have probably never been considered adoptable had he gone to the pound. Seven years later, he is the “King of the Hill” and a valuable member of our family.
PS I would encourage all of you call you Board of Supervisor members or email them. They control the purse strings. botetourt.org has all the numbers and emails! The next board meeting is this coming Tuesday at 2 p.m.
That’s our cat Festivus pictured above–adopted on the streets of Fincastle in 2001.
I may be wrong but I don’t think the pound is an adoption agency. That function is filled by groups like the SPCA and Angels of Assisi. That would explain why the adoptions are so low. those places can only take as many as they have space so they push adoptions and I think save all that they can.
Talking about the state ag statistics…why isn’t Angels of Assisi registered with the state of VA as an animal shelter?
Angels is registered, here’s the link http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_ar/cgi-bin/Vdacs_search.cgi?link_select=facility&form=fac_select&fac_num=4&year=2011.
As for your other remarks Matt. In the Commonwealth of Virginia most municipal run pounds do adopt out animals–look at the Salem shelter as a close by example. And true, the pound, by the choice of RVSPCA is not an adoption center. Perhaps the better question is this, why is it not open for adoptions?
ALL of GOD’s creatures have a right to live. It sounds like the County is Spending a lot of money and getting “Dead Cats” in return. Please investigate this and post what’s happening with the $158,000. $20,000 of this should go back in the budget for the LIBRARY if it’s not being used for the health and well being of these poor homeless kitties.
The Commonwealth Attorney is involved so there must be evidence or suspicion of a crime. If the Com. Attorney ordered the removal of the cats from the RCACP then there must be some legal grounds. CA Joel Branscom is quoted in the Herald article of 7/4 that he warned the RCACP Advisory Board, “When you misuse public funds, even one dollar is a felony. There is no leeway in that.” Is there misuse of public funds in the operation of the RCACP? The taxpayers deserve an answer…
It is my understanding the Roanoke City auditor is working on this and the crux of the problem allegedly is money. I have every faith that Branscom’s office is all over this, but remember there are jurisdictional things going on here. Even though we in Botetourt County toss in (at bare minimum) $158,000 per year plus vet charges, it is still located in Roanoke City. I can’t imagine Don Caldwell is ignoring it either. If you are on Facebook, go to the Roanoke No Kill Coalition page. About a month or so back, all of the 4 localities had representatives at a meeting that the public was not allowed in and the “No Kill” members howled pretty loudly about it on their Facebook. Branscom did confirm to me that meeting took place. There’s a lot here that none of us know, but I think enough of a high beam is being focused on it that more will be forthcoming. The Board of Supervisors meets at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. They control the purse strings. Maybe JD ought to ask them! I think what we should learn from this is never associate a non profit that must raise donations with a publicly funded entity under basically one roof with a single director. As the good book says, it’s hard to serve two masters.