Animal Control points made

Dear Editor:
I would like to respond last week’s letter regarding the lack of letters from Bark At The Commissioners. After months of presenting testimony to the commissioners about conditions at the county kennels, we felt we had made our point. The issue was elevated from being totally ignored to one where everyone was aware of the problems. As such, we opted for a different approach of working behind the scenes.

The headline in last week’s paper about the commissioners spending $5,000 to improve the drainage problems at the kennels is evidence of our success. Numerous people testified of cross contamination problems due to the poor design of the kennels.

When our testimony was ignored, Bark At The Commissioners arranged to have representatives of the U.S. Humane Society meet privately with a commissioner and the county administrator. That meeting resulted in a letter of recommendations leading to their vote to correct the drainage problems. Every point in their letter had already been made by Bark.

Numerous other procedures and protocols have recently been implemented by Animal Control. We have no control over whether The Morgan Messenger chooses to report on them. The same applies as to why the recent Parvo outbreak at county facilities was not reported by the paper.

The letter writer also comments on an email campaign to the commissioners and blames Bark. Totally untrue. That campaign was done by groups from outside the county that were involved in the rescue of a German Shepherd dog from Animal Control. Bark had no knowledge or involvement in their activities. We find it silly that one commissioner stated that it paralyzed the county government. The commissioners received about 50 emails on the subject and it is hard to believe it could have taken more than five minutes to delete them.

Bark At The Commissioners will continue to work towards improving Animal Control and hopefully to have new kennels built. The present kennels are inadequate and in a residential neighborhood next to a church. They were supposed to be temporary and it is unfair to those whose lives are disrupted by the constant barking.

We feel that in the seven months since we started that we have already had a positive impact resulting in many changes. Whether it is publicly or behind the scenes, we have no intention of stopping our efforts.

Amy Lane, president
Bark At The Commissioners
Berkeley Springs

Editor’s Note: The “parvo outbreak” consisted of one dog with parvo that was turned into county officials in September, according to County Administrator Jody McClintock. The dog never actually entered the kennel. The Morgan Messenger was never informed of the incident by county officials or any other group or individual.