Animal's old building condemned, help needed

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Hendersonville Times, Hendersonville N.C. (copy)

 

 

September 15. 2004 12:00AM

 

Animals' old building condemned

Jonathan Rich

Times-News Staff Writer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dogs occupy every corner, even a prison cell, of the temporary

location of All Creatures Great and Small at the old prison on

Mountian Road. (PATRICK SULLIVAN/TIMES-NEWS)

 

An estimated 475 dogs and cats in the care of All Creatures Great

and Small are comfortably residing at the former county prison on

Mountain Road.

 

Where they will go next was in doubt. Over the weekend, city

officials condemned the shelter's building at 1050 Seventh Avenue.

 

" Like everybody else, we are trying to get ready for the next

storm, " shelter President Kim Kappler said Tuesday morning inside a

temporary location, which is scheduled to be used by the N.C.

Department of Transportation later his year. " We're up on a hill,

but all the dogs outside in the 10-by-10 kennels have to come

inside. If it gets as bad as we expect it might, our volunteers will

stay with the animals here around the clock, sleeping on cots and

air mattresses. "

 

Kappler desperately wants to avoid the situation last week when

floodwaters forced the emergency evacuation of the animals from the

shelter's home on Seventh Avenue. About 140 dogs spent the later

part of the week there on high ground, but all have since been

relocated to the temporary site the shelter has for at least the

next 10 days.

 

Seven dogs and one cat died at the shelter last week.

 

Condemned

 

Red signs posted at the front entrance of the shelter Saturday state

that the building was condemned because of the " poor condition of

the walls, overloaded floors, defective construction, decay and

dilapidation " of the shelter.

 

City Zoning Administrator Susan Frady and her staff met with All

Creatures management and said the wording of those signs may seem

harsh, but it is for the betterment of the facility.

 

" For them, it's just a factor of keeping the public out until they

can get it cleaned up, " Frady said.

 

No members of the public will be allowed inside All Creatures'

Seventh Avenue location until it has been inspected again by the

City of Hendersonville, Frady said.

 

That situation is fine with volunteers at All Creatures, who have

been busy trying to clean up the former home since the flood waters

began to subside Friday.

 

" We see this as an opportunity to repair and clean up the shelter

without endangering anyone who might want to come by seeking animal

adoptions or to see what we're all about, " said shelter manager Mary

Dunn. " We've blasted the place with bleach and disinfectant and will

tear down some of the non-load-bearing walls to make our space

bigger and keep it structurally sound. "

 

Last month, the N.C. Department of Agriculture issued a cease-and-

desist order forcing All Creatures to stop accepting any new animals

for adoption after inspectors visited the shelter in June and July

and found the facility unsanitary.

 

All Creatures' attorney Craig Justus subsequently filed an appeal of

the state's order, disputing several of the allegations. Justus

responded that the roof did previously leak, but not on any animal

enclosures, and repair work was already underway at the time of the

state's order.

 

Now, All Creatures management is prepared to return to that site but

say they would prefer to find a new, larger home somewhere else.

 

" We don't want to be here for lots of reasons, " Dunn said looking

out at Seventh Avenue from the shelter's entrance. " The city doesn't

want us here and we just want the animals to be safe. Right now,

it's an impossible situation, but we're doing the best we can. "

 

Changing tides

 

Charles Kirkland has been with the state vet division for nine years

and director of animal health for his department since 1999.

 

Tuesday, he said his office had been monitoring the situation his

last week and even been on site at the Mountain Road location to

offer advice for the future.

 

" This is now a rescue mission rather than regulatory situation and

we're providing contacts to offer them assistance, " Dr. Kirkland

said during a telephone interview from his office in Raleigh. " We

hope Ivan won't create any more problems so they won't have to go

through any of this again. "

 

 

http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/NC92.html

 

All Creatures Great And Small

1050 Seventh Ave. East

P.O.Box 2116

Hendersonville, NC 28793

Phone: 828-216-0693

 

Email: to contact us by email please contact adopt