RFP Staff
♦ The Rowan County Commissioners voted 5-0 Monday for the “Pierce Proposal” to end the gas chamber at the county animal shelter. On April 1st, all animals, save for deemed aggressive will be euthanized by lethal injection. When Rowan County Animal shelter obtains additional equipment and employee training, aggressive animals will also be euthanized by lethal injection. At this point the gas chamber will cease to exist.
The county will hire a veterinarian who will assess animals as they come to animal control and attend to any medical needs. A “no-kill” shelter is the future goal. Commissioners won’t pursue a grant from the Humane Society to defray the costs of dismantling the county’s gas chamber. The county commissioners also voted to move an adoption center to the West End Plaza and place the animal shelter under the control of the county manager to speed the changeover process along.
The 5 commissioners voted to hire a veterinarian charged with spaying and neutering animals prior to adoption. According to Vice-Chairman Craig Pierce persons who adopt will receive a voucher for their pet to be spayed or neutered. In the past some individuals don’t follow through on spaying or neutering, leading pet over-population. On site spaying and neutering will change that. This approach, according to Pierce, will place sterilized animals into the population and they won’t return with litters of puppies and kittens. This in turn decreases the amount of adoptions. Less sterilizations will decrease the amount of money spent on that department.
Kendra Lambert, a Rockwell resident, told the Rowan Free Press, “This is a great day for the animals of Rowan County. The county commissioners demonstrated their care and thoughtfulness for animals with their very humane plan. So many of us hated the thought of the gas chamber.”
A video of the commission proceedings is contained in an earlier report. You can find the entire discussion of the animal shelter issue here:
