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8/2/05
Missing Animal Records and Gas Chambers
1. Please see the letter below which was sent to Dr. Wilkes yesterday.
See points 2 and 3 regarding gas chambers.
We asked if the State Vet has developed a form that addresses compliance against THEIR OWN REGULATIONS. Can you imagine developing new regs and then not using them in the inspection process?
And can you imagine having gas chambers out of compliance with some even closed by the state, and with no articulated procedure for follow-up?
2. Please see the attachment that lists the missing animal records for 2004.
This list of missing animal records should make you very angry.
a. Why are so many not complying with the law?
b. We find VAW/VVAW the only group watching and reporting on this.
Where are all the national and state groups involved in animal welfare with this? They so frequently use statistics from the state, but their statistics will not be valid with so many not reporting.If you look at the VDACS site and compare 2003 to 2004, you will see that there are fewer animals that have been through the system in 2004 than in 2003. THIS MAY BE TRUE, BUT IT EQUALLY MAY NOT. WE SIMPLY DO NOT KNOW because so many have not reported their 2004 numbers.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you when you start hearing about the success in the state re the pet overpopulation problem, and how the pet overpopulation problem is being solved.
c. Note in addition that we have not even started looking at animal records for other than public pounds. There are many, many other groups that have animals in custody, and we haven’t yet compared the records from 2003 to those from private groups for 2004 – and WHO KNOWS if the base line of 2003 was valid; it may also have many groups unreported.
3. Please contact those groups that have not turned in their 2004 animal records and ask why they have not complied with the law. Remember that all listed are public, which means that your property taxes support their work. This holds true EVEN FOR AN SPCA OR HUMANE SO-CIETY which is impounding animals and receiving public funds for doing so.
4. Please let us know what you learn. And if you are affiliated with a private group we have not yet checked out, ask your officers if they have complied with Virginia law and reported their 2004 animal record numbers to the state.
Thank you.
Lillian Clancy and Don Marro
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8/1/05
Dr. Wilkes –
- When we met last with you, Secretary Bloxom, and Bill Murray, the lack of reporting of 2004 animal records by some jurisdictions came up.
a. May we please see a copy of the letter that you sent as a “reminder” to comply?
b. We attach a list of jurisdictions receiving public funds that do not have their 2004 animal records available as far as we are able to determine.
c. We note that the animal records for 2004 ask for information about animals transferred in or out of the facility. However, there is no place on the form to list the facilities that animals were transferred from or to.
Is it your opinion (as it is ours) that with this information missing in 2004, it will be virtually impossible to ensure that animals accounted for accurately?
- Is there now a new inspection form that incorporates the euthanasia regulations your department adopted last November? May we have a copy? This is critical in assessing the compliance of facilities using gas.
- In the inspection reports we previously received from your office under FOIA, several facilities using gas were shown to be out of compliance, and two chambers were in fact ordered closed by your inspectors.
Have the chambers out of compliance, including those with closed chambers, been repaired and re-inspected?
Thank you.
Lillian Clancy and Don Marro