Inspector finds building problems at Pittsylvania County Animal Control

A 2008 state report found several areas of non-compliance at the Pittsylvania County Animal Control facility in Dry Fork.

The Animal Welfare League of Pittsylvania County has asked the Board of Supervisors to make improvements at the facility, including lowering its euthanasia rate. The Board’s chairman has appointed a committee to meet with the league to address conditions at the shelter.

On June 18, 2008, an inspector with Virginia’s Office of Veterinary Services found:

The animal shelter’s floor and wall surfaces “do not permit proper disinfection,” with surfaces that are “rough, porous, rusted, corroded, cracked and chipped due to age, wear and deterioration. The metal cages are rough/corroded as well.”

The kennel area is damp with debris accumulated on the chain-link, walls and floors.

Unsuitable enclosures for puppies. Wide gaps leave puppies vulnerable to injury and to escape.

A room available for isolation is not properly equipped and maintained. It’s not ready for incoming animals with possible contagious illnesses.

The Office of Veterinary Services is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Animal & Food Industry Services. The office notified the county of the findings in August 2008.

County Administrator Dan Sleeper responded to the state in a Sept. 25, 2008, letter, stating that the county had begun to better maintain the facility’s surfaces and will continue to routinely seal the concrete floors. Also, the county would be purchasing more kennel decks to keep the dogs off the floor.

Sleeper also stated in the letter that the county has kept puppies in large portable kennels for the short-term, but would be ordering separate puppy kennels to be delivered in the fall. In addition, the county has increased maintenance and light in the isolation room and will be upgrading with new isolation kennels. 

Sleeper said Tuesday there are no violations at the facility and that the shelter is legal. He declined to comment further on the report. Sleeper said he preferred to wait until the committee meets with the league to discuss the matter. Sleeper said he hopes the committee will meet in the first week of July.

The county purchased a house near the animal-control facility and officials have said it could be used to house animals.

Tonja Reynolds, vice president of the league, said the organization raised money and recently purchased pallets to get the animals off the concrete.

A more recent inspection of the facility, which took place June 10, revealed structural problems due to aging of the building, but no animal-care violations, said Daniel Kovich, staff veterinarian for the USDACS’s Animal Health and Welfare Office of Veterinary Services.

Details of the 2009 report were not available Tuesday.