By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Adoptions are up at the Rowan County Animal Shelter, and citizens are advocating for more.
Close to 20 people gathered at the county health board meeting Tuesday evening to show support for efforts to increase the adoption rate at the shelter.
Three of them addressed the Rowan County Board of Health during the public comment period.
Dee Lazenby, of China Grove, asked the health board to consider allowing accredited rescue groups other than Faithful Friends to adopt animals for free or at a reduced rate.
“We deal with out-of-state rescues who are wanting our animals,” Lazenby said. “They don’t have the overpopulation up north like we have, it seems, because there are many that take our animals up there.”
But they don’t adopt many animals from Rowan because of the $70 adoption fee, she said. That fee comes with a voucher for a spay or neuter procedure, but out-of-state veterinarians often won’t accept them.
Volunteers like Lazenby have pooled their own money to pay fees for certain animals, but they say it’s hard to keep that up.
Lazenby said she checked with Cabarrus, Iredell and Mecklenburg counties to see how they handle fee waivers for rescue groups.
“Every county that I have talked to has said that allowing legitimate 501(c)(3) (nonprofit) rescues has dramatically increased their adoption rates, and I really wish we could do that here in Rowan County,” she said.
According to board member Barbara Andrews, veterinarians outside the county sometimes don’t want to take vouchers that would require them to contact the Rowan shelter for payment.
Just prior to taking public comment, the board voted to update its animal control policy. It will now allow individuals who adopt pets to be refunded directly, as long as they show an original receipt from a veterinarian for a spay or neuter procedure.
Lazenby said she is glad that policy has changed and hopes more will be done.Salisbury resident Richard Pardue, who owns a local group that helps rescue dogs, complimented the shelter and its staff for their work.
He said something needs to be done about the problems that still exist there, including repeated outbreaks of parvovirus among the dogs.
Barbara Hart, of Salisbury, said it’s hard to stop cross-contamination with the way the facility is set up now. She has not seen any improvements made to the county animal shelter in more than a decade, she said.
“But they’re working with what they have,” Hart said. “I really think that the board (of commissioners) in Rowan County needs to look at funding for the shelter.”
Two more people spoke about problems they’ve had with animal control, saying that the county policy isn’t strict enough when it comes to dogs that attack people or other animals.
The chairman of the health board, Rick Parker, said he appreciated everyone who came to the meeting and would look into their concerns and consider their ideas.
“I’d like to see us get to the point where all dogs who are adoptable are adopted,” Parker said.
Animal Control Supervisor Clai Martin then told the board that over the past several months, a continued increase in shelter adoptions has been “absolutely incredible.”
Earlier this year, Martin reported that adoptions had risen from 41 a month to 107 a month.
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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