All the animals at the Craven Pamlico Animal Shelter deserve to be treated with respect and given proper care.  

This petition is to advocate for the transfer in responsibility of the Craven Pamlico Animal Services Center from the Craven County Health Department to the Craven County Sheriff’s Department. Under the current structure, the Director of the Health department has failed to take appropriate action to address and prevent the inhumane treatment of animals and the inaccurate reporting of how many animals are being euthanized each year.  Here are just a few of the examples that have been discovered.

1-A dog named Fred was rescued by Animal Protective Services and the Sherriff of Craven County.  Fred became a local celebrity while visiting with our Sheriff.  The Sherriff called after a few weeks to inquire about Fred and was told by the Shelter Director that he had been adopted by a family in New Jersey.  This in fact was not true.  The Shelter Director lied to the Sheriff and this community as the dog had already been euthanized.

2- Another dog was left with broken extremities and in pain with no documented medical attention, pain meds, etc for 9 days while in the county shelter. The dog was rescued after nine days and taken to a vet where X-rays showed the damage. 

3- Dog with eye and anal abscess went an entire weekend without pain or other medications being administered, although medications were available after the dog had been treated by a vet. It was found the four medications were never opened.  The eye abscess burst and the dog, who likely could have been saved had they received the medication, had to be euthanized.

4- No records of county vet seeing, administering or managing the above animals while in shelter 

5- Euthanasia numbers do not balance on state reports or county reports

6-  The County Shelter, which is an open intake municipal shelter, has been refusing owner surrenders and limiting the number of feral cats allowed per week for intakes.  This is creating situation where the citizens dump the animals or worse, and also does not help with the continued over population problems our county faces, especially with feral cats.   We believe this is in an effort to manage euthanasia numbers reported to be more favorable.

7-Mandating ALL animals injured and/or needing emergency care must go to shelter during their open hours- not to a vet to receive immediate vet care. Animals can ONLY go directly to vet if the shelter is closed.

The issues again have not been solved or measures put in place to prevent them from happening again and again.  It's time to remove the County Shelter from the responsibility of the Craven County Health Department and move to the Craven County Sherriff's Office (CCSO) for more oversight and accountability.

In July 2019, the CCSO, led by Sheriff Chip Hughes, created the Animal Protective Services Division (APS) to facilitate the animal control within Craven County limits and also focus on enforcement of animal cruelty ordinances.  The team also focuses on the education of our citizens about responsible pet ownership, connects them to resources to assist with their animals, and also partners with the Colonial Capital Humane Society (CCHS) to assist with injured animals or puppies that need foster care to become ready for adoption.   In just the few years that APS has existed, they have built an active social media audience of over 11, 000 members.  They are active daily and sharing not only the stories of animal rescues and education to the public, but also actively promoting animals that need adoption for both CCHS and the county shelter. They’ve also worked to establish a fund driven by donations to help with the care and treatment of injured animals when the alternative fate without this would be euthanasia due to no county funds being allocated for this. They are creating even more tools than what are available to them for the good of the citizens and the animals of this county.    

Craven County has seen the tremendous impact the Craven County Sheriff's Office APS team have made in our community in the few years that have been in existence, and I can only imagine the impact that the transfer of responsibility would have on our ability to support the community even further and save even more lives. 

 We need more oversight and accountability for our County Shelter.  Transferring responsibility to the Craven County Sherriff’s Office would provide that.  Please add your voice to our petition so we can let our County Commissioners know what WE THE PEOPLE want for the humane treatment of our communities unwanted and abandoned animals.