The recent allegations against Guilford County Animal Shelter, Davidson County Animal Shelter and the United Animal Coalition are shocking. The Rhino Report has left the NC animal advocates devastated.

Rhino Report: http://www.rhinotimes.com/Content/Social/Social/Article/Animal-Abuse-Findings-Open-Door-To-Further-Investigations/-2/-2/556

How could this have happened in a shelter that was celebrated for their fight against animal cruelty?  How could a shelter so public about adoption and community outreach have let so many animals die of sickness and disease in their care?

On the surface it appeared that the Guilford County Animal Shelter was one of the strongest shelters in NC.  Now we find ourselves sitting and waiting for the outcome of an investigation alleging that hundreds of animals suffered a slow death within the walls of the “community animal shelter”.

There is an opportunity here to say that we can avoid this in the future. Let’s turn our anger and frustration into reform.  Virginia (and other states) requires animal shelters to be transparent about their numbers. It is hard to hide when the numbers are public, including financials.  The general public can access intake and euthanasia numbers on the NC DOA Animal Welfare Section website.   Most shelters report but some choose not to.  There is no requirement to report DIK (dead in kennel), so the number of animals that died in the Guilford County Animal Shelter was unknown to the public, rescue groups, and animal welfare groups. To compound the issue, United Animal Coalition is a private non-profit which made public record requests unattainable.

There was a failure on behalf of the County, United Animal Coalition Board, the NC DOA Animal Welfare Section and others to protect the homeless pets in Guilford and Davidson Counties. While this was is a terrible situation, there are other shelters in NC with issues that are just as egregious.  Let’s take this opportunity to create transparency in animal shelters by asking for reform in reporting.  The community has the right to know how many animals die at the animal shelter and how many are pulled by rescue groups.  In the majority of cases our tax dollars are contributing to both oversight and the care of the animals.

Join NCVAW in asking the NC DOA to create mandatory reporting for all NC shelters to hold animal shelters, and the agency that oversees them, accountable.