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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:38 |
By ANNA LEE
Buncombe County is closer to having a new animal shelter, as the Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a motion on April 17 to build the new facility on Pond Road in West Asheville.
ìOur current shelter has been a disgrace for decades,î Commissioner David Gantt said. ìWeíve made a moral as well as a legal commitment to you. By the year 2012, weíre going to have zero healthy animals euthanized. I believe, if we work together, we can get this done.î
The current site, which is operated by the Humane Society under a contract with the county, was originally a maintenance garage built in the 1950s. Humane Society workers have long complained about the facilityís condition and in 2006, the board signed a contract with the organization stating its intention to build an animal shelter near the societyís planned adoption center. The group is in the process of raising $2.5 million to build the new center.
Although the boardís motion, as it was read by Commissioner Carol
Peterson, said the shelterís location was ìsubject to details regarding
cost,î Gantt claimed that the cost of the Pond Road location would be
only a little more expensive than the alternate plan of building it at
a proposed site near Lake Eden in Swannanoa.
ìWeíre going to build this shelter on Pond Road and weíre going to have the best shelter we can have,î he concluded.
The commissioners then voted 5-0 for the shelter, prompting applause from many in the commissionersí chamber.
Buncombe resident Bill McKelly summed up the sentiments of many in the
room when he said, during the public-comment session, ìI am extremely
delighted that a new shelter will be built. On behalf of the animals,
the taxpayers and the landfill, will everyone please spay and neuter
your pets.î
However, resident Jerry Rice said the public and the commissioners
should be more concerned about children in the county than about
animals.
ìHere in the Buncombe County School System, I see a lot of human need,î Rice said.
Shelly Moore, of the Asheville Humane Society, however, argued that the
problems of animals are not so far removed from the problems of
children.
ìThere is a direct correlation between violence to animals and violence
to people,î Moore said, thanking the commissioners for a proclamation
of prevention of violence against people and animals.
The proclamation states that ìthe kind and humane treatment of animals
has a strong correlation to the kind and humane treatment of people.î
To that end, the Asheville Humane Society, the Buncombe County
Sheriffís Office and the Department of Social Services was to have
hosted a joint workshop this past Tuesday at Calvary Baptist Church
titled ìHuman Violence, Animal Cruelty and Our Community.î
In other action, the board discussed a public meeting about zoning that was scheduled for this past Tuesday.
During the public comment session, resident Elaine Light raised a
question about what she called the ìmultifamily housing loopholeî in
the proposed zoning plan.
Commissioner Bill Stanley assured the audience that multifamily housing
would not be limited in a way that discourages affordable housing.
ìI certainly hope weíre not going to do anything to stop affordable housing,î Stanley said. ìWe canít.î
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