To the editor:
I am writing this letter to the Richmond County Commissioners and County Manager Bryan Land in response to the recent state investigation of the Richmond County Animal Shelter.
As an animal lover, a taxpayer, and a concerned citizen, I was outraged to learn that the staff working at the animal shelter were in violation of multiple rules and regulations.
Animals were not receiving adequate medical care. Vaccinations were not being administered in a timely fashion. Animals were being euthanized without allowing adequate time for their owners to rescue them. Water buckets were not being cleaned appropriately, and drain covers didn’t fit.
These are just a few of the violations pointed out in the final report. Hopefully each of you has had the opportunity to review the findings of the investigation. The animal shelter received a $2,000 fine which was reduced to $500. Even though the fine was reduced, it still does not change the fact that multiple laws were broken, and hundreds if not thousands of animals have been euthanized at the will of Director Bonnie Wilde over the last five years. Many people are concerned that if changes in staff, especially leadership, are not made, that the same laws will continue to be broken and the animals will continue to suffer, or die.
How many of you have a pet, or has a family member or friends that have pets? How would you feel if that animal got lost somehow, ended up at the animal shelter, and got euthanized before there was an opportunity for the animal to be rescued?
Bonnie Wilde has been employed as the shelter director for five years. According to the investigation, she has been in violation of multiple laws that have impacted the health and safety of the animals at the shelter.
It is time to accept her resignation, or terminate her. There is no other reasonable solution. It is time to get a new director that truly cares about doing a good job, that loves animals, and that cares about what is best for the animals of Richmond County.
Pamela Simmons Young,
Hamlet
