Attorney shares animal shelter improvements

NEW CUMBERLAND -- Building maintenance at the Hancock County Animal Shelter was shared Thursday with the Hancock County Commission.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mike Lucas presented the information during Thursday's commission meeting as the shelter prepares to hold its Open House, scheduled for Saturday at the shelter on Gas Valley Road in New Cumberland.

The Commission took control of shelter operations a year ago.

Lucas pointed out some of the successes of the shelter from the past year, including changes to its infrastructure, which he said has improved the quality of the building and animals.

Among those were the elimination of a rodent infestation that had previously taken place along with a weed overgrowth, which was suspected to cause the rodent infestation. He also reported the cleaning of the structure's ductwork.

"There was an effort to clean the ductwork, which was at fairly considerable expense to the county," Lucas said. "It had been several years apparently since that had been cleaned, according to the folks who did clean that, and what this had done, at least it was suspected that this had added to the problem of sick animals in the past. This was cleaned up."

Lucas also said leaking pipes had been repaired; molding missing from walls was addressed and remedied; the exterior of the shelter was re-painted; and outdoor kennels were fixed to prevent animals from escape.

One major point Lucas discussed was the elimination of a waiting list and the implementation of an open-door policy, which prevented the spread of what he described as "hidden euthanasia," which he said there was no way to track.

"Animals are not wait-listed, whether it's someone who once referred to, in some situations, an involuntary waitlist or a waitlist, it's still a waitlist," Lucas said. "What we're essentially saying is that when you waitlist animals, you're shutting the door in their face, so to speak, and forcing them to survive on the street, taking the chance against Mother Nature, other animals, disease, injury and what not."

The other point brought up was that, although there have been animals put to sleep at the shelter, none of the animals were put down for the purpose of creating space, and that the staff has been able to either find areas at the shelter to house the pets or adopt and/or foster the animals.

"Nothing has been put down just to create space," Lucas said. "They are not simply a place to warehouse animals, and they accept essentially all comers. If for any reason it's an exotic animal that cannot be housed at the shelter, they find suitable placement for it, so nothing has been turned away, and nothing has been put down to create space."

More information and statistics will be available during the open house.

(Rappach can be contacted at srappach@reviewonline.com)