A New Focus in Franklin County

Humane Society Concerns with the Franklin County Pound

The Humane Society has made a very difficult decision to no longer use our energy fighting the lack of cooperation from the Franklin County Animal Control and Public Safety staff who do not view that they have a responsibility to save the lives of the animals that end up at the county pound.  The Humane Society’s top priority has been to rescue animals at the county pound. Our new focus will be to keep animals from ever going to the pound.  

We will continue to take in animals from the public and from any agency that wants to work with us to save the lives of animals.  One such agency that welcomes our help has only one Animal Control officer and she runs the facility, goes out on calls and still finds time to take photos of the animals and send out pleas to animal welfare agencies to help the animals.  She is very thankful to have the help of organizations like the Humane Society and always thanks us for saving lives.  This is in direct contrast to the uncooperative attitude at the Franklin County pound where we faced a constant battle to get information on animals, where animals were hidden from us, where animals were killed that we said that we would take and where county staff had no time to take photos of the animals to try to save their lives.  

When Humane Society staff and volunteers brought concerns to the attention of county pound staff, new restrictions were imposed on the Humane Society and the problems were covered up.  Multiple complaints about an inmate’s mistreatment of animals were made by the Humane Society staff, volunteers and other agencies yet the county pound staff treated the inmate as a staff member and had him wear a public safety cap, attend adoption events where he was outside of Tractor Supply unsupervised, and interact with the public at the pound.

Some examples:

Concern: The Humane Society asked county staff to change their policy of adopting out unsterilized animals after receiving information about dogs adopted from the pound having puppies. 

County pound’s response: The inmate made it a point to tell Humane Society staff that the county had made a new policy that all pregnant dogs would be killed.  A pound staff member verified this information.  Despite repeated phone calls and emails asking for clarification on this new policy, it was not until the Humane Society threatened to call the media about this policy that we received a return call from Daryl Hatcher of Public Safety asking us why we were asking inmate questions.  He was told that the inmate volunteered the information.  Hatcher said that this was not a policy and that the inmate and staff would be informed.  No apology was made for the heinous behavior of the inmate and staff member in repeating this horrific statement to the Humane Society staff member.

Concern:  Humane Society staff kept finding the cats caged at the pound with no food or water.  They filled the cat’s bowls and the cats ate as if they were starved.  When they told the inmate that the cats were without food and water and that they had filled their bowls, he told them that the cats were to be fed and watered only once a day.  

County pound’s response: The food and water was removed from the cat room after that so that the Humane Society staff could not fill the bowls.

Concern: Humane Society staff was recently at the pound taking photos of the animals.  The inmate opened a gate and let the dog he was walking charge at the Humane Society staff and the dog they were photographing.  When he was told to shut the gate, he cursed at the Humane Society staff members.  When this matter was brought to the attention of pound staff, she rudely debated the issue.   

County pound’s response: The Humane Society was informed that because of this incident, we could only take photos of the animals from 3-4 on Tuesdays or by appointment and that the animals would have to be photographed in their cages.   

Concern:  The inmate told a person visiting the pound that he “rough-housed” with the dogs and that one dog bit him.  That dog was killed by pound staff for behavior concerns.  The inmate told Humane Society staff that he hated cats.   

County pound’s response:  The inmate was given praise for doing such a good job by a county pound volunteer in a column in the Franklin News Post.  

The county pound had a very high kill rate for many years and after the public demanded change, an Adoption Specialist position for the pound was funded by a private donor.  The position was created to save animals lives by increasing adoptions and transfer of animals to rescue groups. 

The County staff now says that their job at the pound is public safety and not saving the lives of the animals at the pound.  The majority of the animals at the pound are not public safety risks and are there only because they are homeless through no fault of their own.  These are not cats or dogs that pose a risk to the public and they should be given every chance to make it out of the pound alive.

The current Adoption Specialist at the pound took credit in a television news story for the kill rate being lowered to 21% for dogs and 50% for cats in 2011 though it is the Humane Society that should be given credit for this.

The county pound is far too small for a county this size and would not be able to handle the numbers of animals that need help here without the hard work of the Humane Society staff and volunteers and the compassion of donors.  The Humane Society’s Adoption Center takes in many animals that would otherwise end up at the county pound including 714 strays and owner relinquishments in 2011.  We took in another 763 from pounds and other agencies.  70% of the dogs and 63% of the cats that the pound transferred in 2011 came to the Humane Society.

Humane Society staff and volunteers went the pound every week to take photos and transfer animals to safety.  Humane Society volunteers promote the animals at the pound on our Facebook and website pages and to other rescue groups.  This greatly increased the number of animals adopted and transferred from the pound. 

Many of the dogs that we rescue from the pound are ill or injured or hard to place breeds such as pit bulls and hounds.  We don’t only take in the easy to place puppies and when we do, we take the mama dog too.  We’ve taken in animals sick with parvovirus and heartworm disease, senior animals discarded by their owners, animals with broken spirits and broken bones, and several with gunshot wounds.  This is part of our mission to find a loving home for animals in need even if they need medical care and rehabilitation. 

The Humane Society’s Planned Pethood Clinic has provided over 40,000 spay/neuter surgeries as part of our goal to reduce the numbers of animals being taken to shelters and pounds or abandoned at dumpsters each year. 

The Humane Society is not the only group concerned about how the county pound is run.  In early April, a group of concerned citizens and representatives from Barn Cat Buddies met with the assistant county administrator about issues with the pound.  In response to the concerns raised, the county invited a group of representatives from animal welfare agencies to participate in a meeting on 4/18/12.  The Humane Society decided not to attend as several of the agencies that were invited do not rescue animals from the pound and will not do so in the future.  These are not the people who know what issues need to be addressed and they are not the people who will  roll up their sleeves and do what needs to be done to save lives at the Franklin County pound.

The public’s expectations of county pounds have changed.  The old days of shoot, shovel and shut up are over.  Information is easily shared and people want the animals at the pound to be given every chance possible.  Elected officials need to look past the reassuring statements that everything is being handled correctly made by county staff and listen to the concerns of the people who have been involved in rescuing animals from the pound.