Animal Control experiences overcrowding, closures
STAFF REPORT
The Bedford County Animal Control is “running things a little different,” said to Josie Lowery, Director of BCAC, during the Law Enforcement Committee meeting on Oct. 17.
Due to their overcrowding, they have had to close some of their kennels instead of taking dogs in.
“What we did was shut down stray intake for a couple of weeks. And in that time, I’m hoping that it gave the rescue time to recover as well as us because we had so many animals down there and nobody is adopting,” said Lowery. Lowery added that anytime they have aggressive dogs that pose as safety threats, they will always bring those animals in.
“So far it’s working. Kind of like a roller-coaster, we have to take so many in and then we just have to kind of halt on that.” As of Oct. 17, Lowery said she had opened the kennels back up.
“Now I will tell you in the two days that we opened back up again, I’ve already used 50 percent of my kennels. It doesn’t take long,” said Lowery. “I felt going forward it’s going to be a yo-yo effect. We’re going to have to shut it down for a little bit to catch it back up.”
Bedford County Mayor Chad Graham added during the meeting that they reached out to surrounding counties to see if they, too, are experiencing the same kind of “phenomenon” with this approach.
“We’re pretty much in line with how they’re trying to deal with the overcrowded and people abandoning dogs,” said Graham.
“For about two years now, animal control agencies have been struggling,” said Lowery. “I’ve reached out to the surrounding counties — some smaller than us, some larger than us — and their motto has kind of been, if the strays aren’t doing anything, let’s just kind of let them go or leave them out there.”
Lowery finished, “I don’t seen an end in sight for this. So we will do our best to maintain our standards. I always hold my shelter to higher standards in my personal opinion to make sure the county is safe.”
