Quarantine over, alternative control services in place for stray dogs
The official quarantine for the dogs and puppies taken from the now-closed Fayette SPCA has been lifted by the state.
State Department of Agriculture (DOA) staff visited the animals Monday at the Animal Friends of Westmoreland kennel in Youngwood and determined that the quarantine is no longer needed.
“Animal Friends is working with their veterinarian and following their own protocol and time frame for the adoptions,” Logan Hall of the DOA stated Monday.
The Fayette SPCA last week decided not to appeal the Aug. 12 revocation of its state operating license following failed state inspections in July and August. The animals that had been housed there, 44 dogs and nine cats, were relocated to the Animal Friends shelter in Youngwood, but remained under quarantine until health issues were resolved.
Still unresolved, at least in part, is what municipalities are to do when they get calls about stray dogs or what residents should do if they are no longer able to care for their pets. Brownsville Borough is one of many Fayette County communities that had contracted with the Fayette SPCA for animal control services.
“I guess after reading the paper the other day, we’ll have to make other arrangements,” said Councilman Jack Lawver, who oversees the borough’s code enforcement committee, as well as economic development.
Tom Curry, the health, code and zoning officer in Connellsville, said the city still doesn’t have a good answer as to what it will do for animal control now that the Fayette SPCA is permanently closed.
“We have to come up with another alternative,” Curry said.
Curry noted that Connellsville Township recently contracted with Hoffman Kennel in Delmont for animal control services, a company the city has used in the past.
“The only reason we switched to the SPCA is because they could take cats and he (Hoffman) isn’t set up to take cats,” Curry said.
Kennel owner Gary Hoffman said he can handle up to 100 dogs and has taken in some cats in the past.
“The problem is, the shelters that I work with are full of cats right now and people don’t adopt cats like they do dogs,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said he has mailed proposals to some Fayette County communities and entered into contracts with three municipalities since the Fayette SPCA closed. Hoffman said his facility isn’t a no-kill shelter, but it comes close.
“If it weren’t for the pit bulls and vicious dogs, I probably wouldn’t have to kill any dogs,” Hoffman said.
As it is, Hoffman said his kill rate is about 5 percent. Hoffman said he works with area shelters, moving dogs around to give them the best chance of being adopted.
As for people who come across stray dogs in their neighborhoods, officials said there will be little change. The Fayette County Emergency Management Agency has sent a notice to Uniontown and other municipalities to let them know that residents can still call 9-1-1 if there is a problem with a stray dog endangering an area.
“During daylight hours, we contact the state dog warden, and after hours and on weekends Hoffman Kennels is helping out,” said Sue Griffith, spokeswoman for Fayette County EMA. “We get a great deal of animal complaints.”
Griffith said Hoffman is handling strays only, no injured or abandoned dogs.