New Wayne County policy gives pets a maximum of 14 days before killing

The Wayne County pound in Goldsboro notified its “friends” group last week that there will now be a 14-day maximum hold policy at the pound. Pound staff will now kill all animals without exception (including puppies and kittens),  after 14 days.  If the shelter is full, that time can be shortened.

The Wayne County pound actually has more space than other pounds in surrounding counties, with 162 primary enclosures, according to its NCDA&CS inspection report. For comparison, much larger Sampson County has only 95 primary enclosures in its pound, and the pound in more populous Johnston County has 128 primary enclosures.

The Wayne County pound killed more than 80 percent of the cats and almost 32 percent of the dogs who came in during 2011, for a combined kill rate of almost 57 percent.

People who would like to (politely and respectfully) let the animal control director and county manager know that the No Kill Equation, which has been proven to work in open-admission shelters in at least 54 communities,  presents a positive, life-affirming alternative can contact them as follows:

Animal Control Director Vicki Falconer
Vicki.Falconer@waynegov.com
1600 Clingman Street
Goldsboro, NC 27534
Phone: (919) 731-1439
Fax: (919) 731-1381

County Manger Lee Smith
County.Manager@waynegov.com
P.O. Box 227
Goldsboro, NC 27533
Phone: (919) 731-1435
Fax: (919) 731-1446

You can also write or call the Wayne County Commissioners.

A great idea would be to  email or print and mail copies of “No Kill 101,” “Dollars and Sense” and the Cliff Notes version of Redemption.

If you are a Wayne County resident, you may also speak for a few minutes during the public comments portion of a future Board of Commissioners meeting. Here’s a great example of such an address.

More distemper; Wayne County tries to get it right

The bad news is that the Wayne County pound has closed for three weeks after taking in some puppies who had distemper. But the good news is that they appear to be trying to handle it responsibly, instead of following the bad examples set by Duplin and Robeson counties.

It’s almost inevitable that sooner or later an animal with distemper will find its way into a pound, particularly in rural counties. That’s why Wayne county vaccinates upon arrival. Every animal impound facility should.

Furthermore, instead of waiting for the disease to spread (while keeping silent and sending out sick animals who infect others), the Wayne County managers actually decided to be proactive and close the facility before the deadly disease spread. And unlike other counties who decide it’s easier just to kill all the resident animals and start all over, Wayne County is hoping to keep its animals alive. From the Friends of Wayne County Animals Facebook page:

Friends, the shelter has confirmed cases of distemper. In order to contain and control distemper, the shelter will be CLOSED for 3 weeks to the general public. During that time, the shelter will be disinfected daily and the animals will be monitored for signs/symptoms of distemper. The shelter’s GOAL is to SAVE having to euthanize healthy animals. Our shelter vaccinates every animal (within age), so their hope is that no others will get sick.

Unfortunately, they will continue to take in strays, but they are a county pound and have a mandate. I would find it really distressing if one of my dogs got loose and ended up in a distemper quarantined pound. But if the shelter manager and staff really are being as diligent as they say, the strays might have a chance.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to say what chance a stray would have at that shelter absent a distemper quarantine, because Wayne County failed to report their 2010 numbers to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. And the NCDA&CS is not finished compiling the 2011 stats yet. I have emailed the officials in charge of the Wayne County pound and requested these documents, but there’s no telling if they will send them.