The Oct. 6 County Commission meeting began normally.
911 Director Paul Lewis said his transition with Craig Strawderman has begun, and that Strawderman is attending meetings and meeting people.
Hardy County Health Department director Bill Ours said flu season has begun, and encouraged everyone to get vaccinated. He suggested citizens talk to their doctors about whether the COVID vaccine was a good idea, and reminded the room that measles is in Hampshire County.
Sheriff Steve Dawson said the Moorefield Police have begun covering the schools as the School Resource Officer is out on medical leave, and expressed his appreciation.
Several quick agenda items took a few more minutes, then Leigh Ann Walters approached the Commission regarding the dog pound.
Walters requested the Commissioners take a serious look at the pound and its management. She said it’s not maintained, that dogs don’t always have access to clean water, and often have nowhere dry to walk.
She reported a puppy outdoors with its mother with no bedding and requiring medical attention.
She said she filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the pound’s water usage, and found an entire week of constant water consumption in February. She interpreted that data to indicate no one went to the pound during that week to realize there was a leak.
Walters alleged that dog warden Jim Shupe takes dogs to his home, that he denies adoption requests but sometimes does adopt dogs out to someone he knows.
“The standard is what other counties have,” Walters said, referring to Grant and Hampshire counties. “Why should their taxes…go farther than ours?”
The median incomes in Grant and Hampshire Counties are around $62,000 to $63,000. The median income in Hardy County is about $49,000.
Hampshire County has around 24,000 citizens. Grant has around 11,000, and Hardy has around 14,000.
Commission president Steven Schetrom noted that County spending on the pound has increased significantly, from around $17,000 a few years ago, to a little over $79,000 last year.
While acknowledging improvements are needed, he said neighboring counties spend between $180,000 and $200,000 on their dog pounds.
He also said other counties’ pounds fall under their Parks and Recreation departments, but Hardy County’s Parks department is not funded for the pound, and only has three full-time and two part-time employees, compared to Grant County’s eight employees.
Walters had suggested forming a committee; Schetrom thought that was a good idea.
Commissioner David Workman noted that the Hardy County pound is a holding facility, and that dogs are not intended to be there very long.
Workman said Shupe works with Potomac Highlands Animal Rescue (PHAR) to get adoptable dogs to rescues in Northern Virginia.
All three Commissioners agreed the discussion will continue, and that a committee would be a good idea.
Schetrom said he considers the charge of no adoptions to be a failure, because he created the pound’s adoption form. He also created a volunteer application.
Workman expressed concern over whether insurance would cover volunteers at the pound; Schetrom said he thought it would.
“We’re not a rescue,” Workman said. “It wasn’t designed to be a rescue. I think that’s part of the conflict: What’s the stated purpose of the pound?”
Ours, from the Health Department, spoke briefly about animal bites, and how many the county has.
“I will say this publicly,” Ours said. “We will have someone in Hardy County die of rabies.
“We need a lot more animal education. We need a lot more from the Humane Society. Every day, I get these calls. We spend hours calling people back, just making sure: Does the animal have a rabies vaccine?”
Workman brought up the statistic that, per the dog tax money the Assessor’s Office brings in, there are only about 2,500 dogs in Hardy County. He then observed there are likely 2,500 dogs in Moorefield alone, if not more.
The dog tax is $3 per dog in the county, and $6 per dog in the municipalities. The money is paid annually to the Assessor’s Office. That money is earmarked specifically for the pound.
“Our citizens are not contributing to the dog tax, and that’s a problem,” Workman said.
County Coordinator Wendy Branson said, year to date, the County has received $8,885 in dog taxes, and that doesn’t even cover Shupe’s salary for the year. The County has to cover the shortfall.
Citizen Polly Long said she’d heard Shupe does not have insurance.
“I hope he has insurance,” Schetrom said, as Shupe replied, “No, I don’t.”
Branson explained the County’s insurance would become prohibitively expensive, and other options wouldn’t insure Shupe because he is not a County employee. Shupe is a contractor.
“I do this for $1200 a month,” Shupe said. “I’m up there every day. I don’t care what the report says.”
Shupe went on to explain he cleans kennels in the evening, because then he’s not in other people’s homes covered in waste and dirty water.
He said he does adopt dogs out, that he’d done so within the previous few days. He said the dogs he takes home, he considers his own.
He said the County had been good to work with, because they don’t make him euthanize dogs after five days, which is the law, and they let him work with PHAR.
“I pick them up in this county. Do you want them to go back out in this county?” Shupe asked. “I’ll end up picking them up again, them or their pups.”
When asked why he takes dogs to his home, he said it’s because he doesn’t have room at the pound.
He thanked several people for their donations, including a woman who’s donated food for the last five months and a man who donated raised dog beds.
“I do it for the dogs,” Shupe said, “and nobody else.”
Schetrom had to repeatedly call for order as citizens questioned Shupe, who responded. Tempers flared and volume increased.
Shupe left, Schetrom regained control of the meeting, and said further discussion would occur in the committee. He asked Walters to get him names of interested volunteers; she agreed.
Several people laughed as Branson began her monthly briefing, which always begins with an update on the pound.
Branson said Shupe picked up nine dogs in September. PHAR took seven, and owners came for three. Four dogs are being held pending police investigations.
There are 14 dogs in the pound.
Branson said that after an earlier story about the pound broke on WHSV, a rescue in Virginia requested photos of all the dogs in custody. She said she helped Shupe get photos, and sent them.
Branson said she visited the pound on Oct. 2, and found it in “typical” condition. The dogs all had food and water. Shupe planned to clean that afternoon.
She said there’s a floor grate with a broken section, and she’s obtaining bids. She requested paint for the exterior, and said she talked to Parks personnel about helping.
She said Shupe drove 305 miles for the job in September.
Schetrom closed the topic by correcting a previous data point: He said the County pays 100% of dog food costs at Southern States.
The next regular meeting of the Hardy County Commission is Thursday, Nov. 5 at 9 a.m. The date changed from Tuesday for Election Day.
The public is encouraged to attend. The meeting is streamed live on the County’s Facebook page, and is available for viewing after.
