The people that run this shelter are inhumane and need to be replaced:

In 2010, 3,984 of the 4,133 cats taken in by the Davidson County, North Carolina shelter—96 percent—were put to death. While dogs fared a little better, eight out of 10 were still killed: 2,846 of the 3,625 they took in, including every dog they deemed a “Pit Bull” or “Pit Bull”-mix as a matter of policy. With an adoption rate of only six percent, they weren’t even trying to save lives, choosing to kill them instead. But it was even worse than that. Although the gas chamber is legal in North Carolina, it is illegal to use it for animals that appear to be 16 weeks or younger, pregnant or near death because it takes sick, younger or older animals longer to absorb the gas, resulting in a slower and more agonizing death. The state also prohibits animals of different species from being put in the gas chamber together. But the employees of the Davidson County shelter did not care. Davidson County has a history of killing kittens and puppies using the gas chamber in violation of North Carolina law. It has a history of killing elderly and sick animals in that manner, which is also illegal.

That same year, shelter employees put a raccoon in the gas chamber with a mother cat and her kitten in order to sadistically watch them fight before they died: “The gas chamber has two windows, one on either side. The raccoon and the adult cat started fighting. Then they turned the gas on. The adult cat got on one corner and the raccoon got on the other, and as soon as they turned on the gas, the kitten started shaking and going into convulsions.” A contractor who was working at the shelter told the County Board that he heard the employees laugh when they did it. He said he was sickened by the incident, as were animal lovers nationwide who condemned the shelter for its cruelty and barbarity. 

Posted: Wednesday, August 20, 2014 8:45 pm

Scott Sexton/Winston-Salem Journal

LEXINGTON — Randi Hileman's heart sank when she saw a trail of dead dogs and cats in a travel lane along U.S. 64.

“I thought, ‘What in the world? Those poor babies,’” she said about the incident earlier this month.

What do you think about the use of a gas chamber at the Davidson County Animal Shelter?

Hileman and another motorist stopped and began the grim task of moving the corpses away from traffic.

Once that was done, sadness gave way to anger.

“Who could do such a thing?” she said. “It was just wrong.”

She took a few photos in hopes they might be used to find the person responsible. But when she found out what had happened, her anger was replaced by disbelief. Human error on a truck carrying animals that had been gassed to death at the Davidson County Animal Shelter caused their carcasses to be strewn along the road.

It was an accident — albeit grisly — and enough to reignite controversy over the way that animals in shelters are euthanized in the county.

Methods of execution

Word about the incident spread in a way typical of the age in which we live: Hileman posted her photos Aug. 12 on Facebook.

Not surprisingly, it blew up.

“No telling how many (animals) were on that truck,” she said. “It had to be a lot for the tailgate to fall open like that.”

Hileman said that hundreds of people “shared” her photos from places as far away as New Zealand and Ireland.

A local online group with more than 1,800 members called Concerned Citizens of Davidson County, which was formed as an outlet for political concerns and issues, posted the incident on its website. A few have posted comments and are turning it into a rallying cry for change.

The Davidson County Animal Shelter, you see, is no stranger to controversy — particularly as it pertains to the method that employees use to euthanize nearly 6,000 animals annually.

Davidson is one of about a handful of North Carolina’s 100 counties that still use carbon monoxide in a gas chamber instead of lethal injection to euthanize animals. Animals judged to be less than 16 weeks or younger in age, pregnant or near death are put down by lethal injection, per recommendations of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the N.C. Animal Welfare Administrative Code.

Animal-rights activists have said for years that gassing animals is cruel and causes them to suffer needlessly.

That’s probably true, but I can’t say that with 100 percent certainty because I’ve never seen an animal euthanized.

I have seen a person put to death in Central Prison, and I know that the state eliminated the use of the gas chamber following negative publicity surrounding the 1994 execution of David Allen Lawson, who appeared to scream “I’m human! I’m human” and “Don’t kill me!” for several minutes as he gasped for air.

Pushing change

Obviously, the two things are different.

Lawson shot and killed a man named Wayne Shinn, a 35-year-old from Cabarrus County who was begging for his life. Shinn had caught Lawson breaking into his home.

Lawson deserved to die. Dogs and cats in animal shelters don’t.

And that’s essentially what got to Hileman and prompted her to post photos on Facebook — we’re not going to publish them in the newspaper, but they are available atJournalNow.com — that rekindled debate over the shelter and its use of gas as a method of euthanizing animals.

Some used it as an opportunity to criticize elected officials who have done nothing to change the situation. Others suggested removing politics from the equation by having the animal shelter staff answer directly to the county manager instead of the sheriff.

“A few people were cutting me down and saying, ‘Why post that?’” Hileman said. “I posted it because it’s wrong. Nobody gives those animals a chance.”

Judy Lanier, the director of the Davidson County Animal Shelter, wouldn’t hear any of that after being asked Wednesday about the incident and the debate that followed.

“It was an internal employee mistake that’s been dealt with in less than 30 minutes,” she said. “Basically it’s a nonstory. There is one thread on one Facebook page where you’ve got less than 10 people beating a dead horse.”

A rather unfortunate choice of words from the director of an animal shelter, wouldn’t you think?

ssexton@wsjournal.com (336) 727-7481

Please sign this petition that will be delivered to the Governor , with a call for action.