Judy Havercamp wonders:
If you have an employee who is abusing animals,
why do you not fire that person?
She indicates urgency:
Things need to be changed now.
Here’s
the video:
Why do you not fire that person? —Judy Havercamp
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 May 2011.
Videos by Johh S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
This speaker talked about when her mother took her to volunteer at
the old shelter, and how bad it was,
then about how the current shelter started.
When I moved back to Valdosta five years ago,
I couldn’t believe the change.
A real shelter and animal control officers
that had compassion.
I personally know some current and former animal control officers.
They are caring compassionate people with a deep love of their jobs.When I read about the cruelty and neglect allegations in the paper,
I couldn’t believe we had reverted back 25 years.
So she looked into it, requesting the files from the Dept. of Agriculture.
What I received was a slap in the face.
The Valdosta Daily Times was kind in their reporting….
You can listen to her yourself.
If taxpayer money isn’t being used to defend the defenseless,
what should it be used for?
Cheryl Hatcher said she has been
involved with Humane Society for a long time (which the Chairman vouched for)
and was among those who actually helped build the shelter.
There have been many discussions and conversations about things
not being done properly at the shelter.
And I really urge that you investigate what’s going on in the shelter.
I applaud you for putting cameras in the tack room,
although I think it’s been way too long to do that,
but I applaud you for doing that.I really think that it is
not a waste of taxpayers’ money when you’re investigating to make sure
that animals will be taken care of properly.
If we can’t take care of animals and children,
then the world is going to suffer.
I think that if it’s necessary to put cameras in the tack room
there are bigger problems that need to be taken care of at
higher levels.
Here’s
the video:
If we can’t take care of animals and children…. — Cheryl Hatcher
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 May 2011.
Videos by Johh S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
The animal shelter story isn’t just about animals.
It’s also about mismanagement.
It’s even about prison labor competing with local labor.
After Susan Leavins read from her statement to the Department of Agriculture
about a starving horse, pigs castrated without pain relievers or antibiotics,
and maggots in wounds, Chairman Paulk advised her she had one minute left.
Then she got to her main point:
Those board appointments will affect all of us for some time to come.
Here are videos of all of the 24 May 2011 Lowndes County Commission meeting
except the citizens talking about the animal shelter; those will follow.
Remember, much of the discussion already happened the previous morning
in the work session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
He’s back from Afghanistan and has a new plan to fight McDonald’s.
Vince Schneider asked the County Commission for an ordinance about hours.
After quoting from the U.S. Tenth and Fourth Amendments
and talking about privacy rights,
he read similar passages from the Georgia Constitution,
and this one, from
Section II. Origin and Structure of Government:
All government, of right, originates with the people, is founded
upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the
whole. Public officers are the trustees and servants of the people and
are at all times amenable to them.
He then read a definition of ordinance,
and noted that many ordinances deal with issues of safety, health, morals,
etc.
His recommendation: for the Commission to pass an ordinance
limiting hours of operation for such type of enterprises.
That’s the county attorney visible directly past Schneider
(under the microphone).
Of course it’s the commissioners who must propose and pass any ordinance.
That will require
This comment from Jane Osborn came in last night on
County Animal Shelter Issues. A good place to ask such questions of
public officials might be at
this evening’s County Commission meeting,
5:30 PM, 327 N. Ashley Street.
Sheriff Chris Prine is often in attendance.
-jsq
Abuse of an animal is a criminal offense. The GA Dept. of Agriculture
is a regulatory agency able only to issue fines, not pursue criminal
investigations. Why are these reports not on the desk of the sheriff of
Lowndes County for criminal investigation? Dismissing the allegations
because the people whose testimony was taken might be biased does no
service to the current or future animals that will pass through the
shelter.
In his County Manager’s report at the work session this morning,
Joe Pritchard reported on:
Issues that I think you’ve heard about… animal shelter.
Presumably the issues reported by David Rodock in the 15 May 2011
Valdosta Daily Times
Animal shelter probed
Use of drugs investigated; employees speak out
and
by Gabrielle Sarann for WCTV on 19 May 2011
Lowndes County Animal Shelter Probed:
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is keeping an eye on an area animal shelter and has cited it for several violations
“I’ve seen a lot of the animals come in the shelter and not got vet care
and sometimes that comes in the form of euthanasia,” says Susan Leavens,
an animal control officer for Lowndes County.This led several Lowndes County Animal Shelter employees to file a
complaint with the Georgia Department of Agriculture.It launched an investigation citing the facility for not providing
humane care.
Joe Pritchard continued in his report:
August of 2010 the Department of Agriculture called me and asked
for a meeting about issues of concern.
They expressed those issues centered around
maintenance of records …
what was classified as humane treatment.
Mr. Pritchard referred to “specific castration of a pot-bellied pig”.
He didn’t say whether he considered that inhumane treatment;
he merely discussed it after referring to things “classified as humane treatment”.
He continued:
Here is the entire Lowndes County Commission Work Session from this morning,
the same day it happened.
VDT or WCTV or WALB could do this.
Or the Commission itself could.
But since they don’t, LAKE did, and now you can see them dealing
with appointmments, alcohol, and animals.
If you have concerns about anything that happened,
or anything else related to the county government, there’s
a regular meeting Tuesday evening.
Videos are interspersed among
the agenda items:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Alden Hathaway of Sterling Planet said he hopes to expand the Wiregrass
Solar array in Valdosta to an additional megawatt, taking it from being
one of the largest in Georgia to one of the largest in the southeast.
This is the man
Sterling Planet Chairman Sonny Murphy singled out for praise.
This is the expansion project
Sonny Murphy promoted in the Sterling Planet press release.
Alden Hathaway knows what needs to be done, and
Pete Marte and Hannah Solar stand ready to do it.
Alden Hathaway also talked about how solar helps load distribution
on the electric
grid, lowering electric rates for everybody.
He remarked that once power companies realized that, they’d be for solar.
More on that later.
But meanwhile, let’s ask Mayor Fretti and Commissioner Crawford Powell
when they’re going to do this:
