The Richmond County Animal Shelter and Humane Society have reopened their doors to the public after a few changes.
Monday the shelter opened back up after the hiring of a new director, Rebecca Davis of Ellerbe, who has begun to oversee operations as the county finishes up renovations in and around the facility.
“We are approaching completing and are in the process of interviewing and hiring the rest of the staff,” said County Manager Rick Sago on Tuesday.
According to Sago, the rest of the staff includes two part-time administrative employees, four full-time kennel technicians and one part-time kennel technician.
“We will officially take over the operations once the new staff is hired in the next weeks,” said Sago. “We continue to meet with the Humane Society who is working on rescuing, fostering and adopting pets.”
Renovations to the facility include resurfacing the floor, “making it easier to clean and eliminating the harboring of bacteria,” said Sago, as well as painting, installing new doors, upgrading the computer and phone systems and placing new gravel in the outdoor run.
“We’ve also done some plumbing work and carpentry,” said Public Works Director Bryan Land. “A tremendous amount of work has been done.”
“The renovations that the county has done and are still doing are wonderful and is improving the quality of our shelter everyday,” said new Director Davis. “I am greatly enjoying my new position.”
The discussion that began last year between the Humane Society and the county manager centered around financial struggle on the Humane Society’s behalf, and an inability to keep the building up to code. The Humane Society Board and Sago discussed turning the shelter over to the county for several months before coming to this agreement.
“I think it is a win-win partnership and will become the shelter that others come to tour and model theirs after,” said Davis. “I expect nothing but greatness.”
The Richmond County Animal Shelter is located at 529 Highway 74 west.
— Staff Writer Dawn M. Kurry can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 15, or by email at dkurry@civitasmedia.com.
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