Controversy continues to spark regarding operations of the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter as former volunteers once again appeared at the Carter County Commission meeting Tuesday night to voice their concerns.
A group of former shelter volunteers spoke out at the January Commission meeting, and many of them returned for this month’s meeting of the county’s governing body.
“I am back this evening to continue to tell you the other side of the story and to be the voice for the animals,” Robin McKamey told the Commission on Tuesday.
Among the concerns expressed by McKamey was animals leaving the animal shelter without first being spayed or neutered. She said pets are being adopted out with only a contract between the shelter and the new owner where the owner promises to have the animal spayed or neutered. McKamey said the shelter is not following up on those contracts to see if the animals are indeed being spayed or neutered.
“We have to be looking at holding people responsible for not having the animals spayed or neutered,” McKamey said.
McKamey also questioned a contract reached between the County and Lincoln Memorial University for the spaying and neutering of animals at the shelter. She said her research showed it would be more cost-effective for the county to use the University of Tennessee’s spay and neutering service than to contract with LMU.
During her comments, McKamey mentioned the recent donation to the shelter through an endowment left in the will of the late Glenda Taylor DeLawder.
“I find it very interesting at this point once we have $1.2 Million donated that suddenly there is all this interest in the shelter,” McKamey said.
As part of the overall $1.2 Million endowment, the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter will receive a total of $540,000. Those funds were specifically earmarked by the executors of DeLawder’s estate to fund an expansion at the animal shelter and purchase a transport van which will be used to take animals to and from adoption events and veterinarian appointments.
McKamey was joined by several other former volunteers and pet foster parents at the shelter who also expressed their concerns with operations and the suspension of the volunteer and foster programs.
Following the public comments portion of the meeting, Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey stepped down as Chairman of the Commission and passed the gavel over to Vice Chairman Ray Lyons temporarily so he could address some of the issues raised by the former volunteers.
“Only in June of last year did I begin to see the seriousness of the problems here in Carter County with the shelter,” Humphrey said. “We realized the operations here are seriously underfunded. Even with the recent increase, it does not begin to cover it.”
Humphrey reiterated the fact that the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office is currently conducting an investigation into operations at the animal shelter and he suspended the volunteer and foster programs pending the completion of that investigation.
In other business on Tuesday, members of the Commission approved resolutions to clarify the county’s litigation tax fee schedule, encourage state legislators to support the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act, allow the Carter County Highway Department to complete a project at Happy Valley Elementary School, and to authorize retirement credit for unused sick leave for county employees.
The Commission also unanimously approved raising the county’s Tax Relief Aid from $20 to $40 for qualifying property owners.