Orange County NC Website
them to have an examination room in order to get the low-cost spaylneuter program <br />going. The other half of the building has always been wildlife and still will be. APS has <br />foster care and vet services, low-cost spay/neuter program, dog training, emergency <br />response service, problem pet hotline, cruelty investigation, and the halfway home <br />adoption center, which is funded by private contributions. The animals from surgery will <br />be able to recoup in this halfway home. In order to make all of this happen at its present <br />level, the expense column is $1 million dollars. She would like to see a concentration on <br />animal paver and not people power. She would like to see complaints handled through <br />the APS instead of the media. She said that the APS board invites the external <br />evaluation. <br />Erin Furr, a volunteer at APS for many years, said that she has seen dedicated <br />staff. She said that the shelter is nearing a 50°~ adoption rate because of the dedicated <br />staff and volunteers. She spoke about a dog that she fostered named Chance, who had <br />a gunshot wound in between his eyes. He also had an embedded collar. A home was <br />found for Chance, and the couple said, "I can't imagine our life without him." He is <br />treated like royalty and they call him Chancellor. In most shelters, the dog would have <br />been euthanized the day he came in, but the APS staff wants to give every animal a <br />chance to be adopted. <br />Claudia Sheppard, a veterinarian and a volunteer at the shelter for the past five <br />years, said that the shelter has been accused in the past of having poor disease control <br />in the light of a recent outbreak of feline panleukopenia. This is a new disease. As soon <br />as they expected that a death was due to this disease, they put changes into place to try <br />to deal with the outbreak. All kittens were placed in one room and the total number of <br />animals at the shelter was decreased. She said that they did all they could to control <br />this outbreak. This disease was new and infected many shelters. The Board of County <br />Commissioners had sent two vets to inspect the shelter and they found no problems with <br />the shelter {the first vet) and the other vets found problems with the facilities and not with <br />animal management. She invited the people who have made accusations of inadequate <br />disease control to come to the shelter and volunteer and learn about disease control. <br />Kris Bergstrand, a veterinarian, said that she would like to respond to <br />accusations that have been made toward her. She said that she has been to the shelter <br />and she has adopted animals. She is amazed that she is so powerful as to bring in a <br />federal investigator. She said that she made one phone call to Carol Woodleaf and left <br />her a message on her voice mail. Ms. Woodleaf then left a message on her voice mail. <br />She never wrote a letter, but just said that she had some concerns. She said that she <br />never brought anyone in from three hours away. She supports the Board of Health's <br />suggestion to use the Humane Society of the United States. She distributed a copy of <br />her statement. <br />Stacy Hughes, a previous APS employee at the wildlife sanctuary, gave some <br />observations. She provided a written statement for the County Commissioners. She <br />said that during the past few months before the end of her employment, there has been <br />a continued pattern of shifting of blame and responsibility at the APS. She said that staff <br />repeatedly requested a written protocol in how to deal with disease control issues, and <br />were repeatedly told that it was someone else's responsibility. There is also the issue of <br />legalities involving the proper way to run a wildlife center. She has concerns about the <br />AP5 reopening the wildlife center because they have already demonstrated a serious <br />lack of regard for U. S. Fish and Wildlife regulations. <br />Jerome Schiro, a resident of Hillsborough, said that he is an oncology nurse at <br />UNC with Department Safety and Infection Control responsibilities. In May of 1997 he <br />chose to reevaluate his profession as an RN and accepted a position as a kennel <br />technician with the Orange County APS. For almost one year, he cleaned and <br />