Animal advocates on new shelter: 'Going great'

McDowell County’s new animal shelter is now operating at the old Legendary Ford-Mercury dealership and working hard to make sure that every adoptable dog and cat finds a new home.

That was the message given to the McDowell County Commissioners Monday evening by Marsha Carroll with McDowell County Animal Outreach (MCAO).

“It’s going great,” said Carroll to the commissioners.

The new Adoption and Education Center is now open after being certified and approved by the state inspectors. The county will no longer accept animals at the old shelter on N.C. 226 South and transition those operations to the new facility, said County Manager Chuck Abernathy.

Late last year, the county agreed to work with MCAO to take over the operation of the shelter. The non-profit organization rescues and provides foster care for dogs, cats and other animals in McDowell. MCAO entered into a one-year contract with the county to provide animal shelter services for McDowell. Under the contract, the county will pay MCAO $50,905 to operate the new shelter for the first year.

The two large buildings will provide plenty of space for the housing of homeless dogs and cats until they could be adopted. MCAO plans to have a store for pet supplies, an information center and a dog park located behind the old dealership and alongside the Catawba River. The organization’s adoption and fund-raising events will be held there.

At Monday’s meeting, Carroll said there was a two-day period earlier this month when the property had a water problem and the site was not certified to hold adoptions. But that hot water problem was fixed very quickly, she said.

“As you know, there are bumps for anything starting out,” said Carroll to the board.

The new shelter at the old Ford place is now able to accept unwanted cats and dogs and find new homes for them. The new operation has liability insurance and had to spend $9,000 on kennels. Jim Isaacs and Walt Bagwell are doing the bookkeeping for the shelter and Carroll provided the commissioners with bank statements. A pancake breakfast fund-raiser at Fatz Café on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 4 also raised a lot of money for the new shelter.

More importantly, MCAO has a “huge number of volunteers” who are willing and able to help run the new shelter. So far, none of the homeless animals have been euthanized or sent off somewhere else to be euthanized. But a couple of them may have to be put down because they are too aggressive and cannot be adopted, said Carroll.

“It’s my job to make sure everyone’s safe,” she added.

A formal grand opening for the new shelter is being planned for the spring, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Carroll said she hopes to see the commissioners there.

Carroll asked county officials if the quarterly payment in March could be provided to MCAO sooner than originally scheduled. Although no vote was taken, the commissioners appeared to be supportive of the request.

“It is in our interest to make sure this succeeds,” said Commissioner Josh Dobson.

At the October meeting, Dobson expressed some skepticism about MCAO being able to take over this operation and asked the group’s representatives to prove him wrong.

“I am very excited and I hope the group is successful and it looks like they are on their way,” said Abernathy.

In other business, the McDowell County Commission:

• Approved the renaming of Baptist Side Road in Old Fort to Albert Joyner Drive. Otis Keaton, civic leader in Old Fort, asked that the county rename this road to honor the late Joyner who made a brave stand on behalf of civil rights in 1955. The commissioners approved this request subject to all the residents of the road being notified of the name change and a majority of them supporting the new name. An unveiling of the street sign bearing the name “Albert Joyner Drive” is being planned for March.
• Heard from Kit Cosgrove, executive director of Hospice of McDowell County. Cosgrove thanked the commissioners for their contribution of $45,000 for Hospice’s Center of Hope campaign.
• Approved having The McDowell News advertise the tax lien for all unpaid 2011 real property tax bills in the county.
• Heard an update from Facility Maintenance Director Terry DePoyster about the effort to build new restrooms at the Maple Leaf Sports Complex. The drawing for the new building should be ready later this month and the bids for construction will be opened in March.
• Heard an update from Emergency Management Director Terry Young about the complete consolidation of 911 dispatching services. The Sheriff’s Office communications moved to the new Emergency Communications Center on Monday, Feb. 6. It was a smooth transition with minimal problems, Young said.
• Heard an update about the county’s Volunteer Center and the McDowell Housing Coalition
• Approved the contract with the engineering firm to start the permitting work for the planned Nebo Water Filtration Plant.
• Heard an update on the Universal project. Abernathy said the survey has been completed and the property actually covers 350 acres, not the original 315 acres. The 400,000-square-foot Universal building and the 350 acres of land have an appraised value of $3.4 million. A closing for the sale of this property to the county is scheduled for late March. In addition, two companies have looked at the back of the building during the past five days.
• Agreed having Blue Ridge Security to continue maintaining the security at the Universal property.
• Appointed Rex Wood as an alternate member of the county Planning Board.