State officials are on the case
Robbinsville – Two dogs fell into a sludge-filled pit and drowned this month, and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has issued a notice of violation to the property owner demanding action be taken.
This was the second time dogs have been found in a pit at the former Oak Valley Hardwoods location, also know as the Stanley Furniture Plant, off Snowbird Road.
Donnie Burchfield, owner of BTAC (Burchfield Trading & Clean Out) across Snowbird Road from the plant, heard a dog’s cries back in June and was able to rescue a dog he nicknamed “Valvoline” and return her to her owner.
Another dog’s cries were heard around Sept. 9, but Burchfield only learned about it on Sept. 12 and by the time he went to investigate, he found not one dog, but two. And both were dead.
It appears that one dog had fallen into the pit earlier than Sept. 9 and was starting to decompose.
The incident was reported on the Facebook group, Lost & Found Pets of Robbinsville. One was a black, medium-size dog. The other was smaller, but other details were unrecognizable due to decomposition.
Burchfield called the N.C. Environmental Quality’s Asheville office, which looked into the case.
The department investigated and sent the property owner a notice of violation over environmental and safety concerns, said Joshua Kastrinsky, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. More details will be available later.
Graham County property records list Oak Valley Hardwoods as the owner of the 37-acre property. The plant is surrounded by a chainlink fence and its gates are locked, but the fence has gaps and has been known to attract teenagers.
Law enforcement patrols the area looking for trespassers.
Attempts to contact Oak Valley Hardwoods’ Western North Carolina operations based in Marion have been unsuccessful and various phone numbers there are either disconnected or are not accepting voicemail. Its listing with the N.C. Secretary of State is suspended.