Commissioners have not confirmed a long-term replacement
Marble – Saturday’s deadline for Graham County and the Valley River Humane Society to reach a new agreement passed with no action taken, leaving anyone from the county wishing to surrender an animal with even fewer area options.
For its part, the Marble-based shelter issued a press release Friday about the suspension of animal intake from Graham County, stating that its board made a decision at its “most recent monthly meeting” in response to what was called “Graham County’s decision to cut its monthly contribution by 40% for this past fiscal year, putting VRHS at a significant operating cost for their animals.”
“This – despite being responsible for a significant percentage of the animals brought into the shelter,” the release continued.
Long-term extension
The problem first bubbled to the surface in August, when newly-installed Valley River Humane Society President Don Reynolds attended a board of commissioners meeting and questioned a sudden 61% cut in funding in the 2024-25 fiscal budget. Reynolds was operating based off the 2023-24 budget, in which Graham County had given the shelter $51,365 – a bump that to this day, officials at the county level have not explained.
The Graham Star obtained a copy of the last physical contract signed between the two entities, which was enforced from July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019. Terms of the deal stated that Graham County would give Valley River a $20,000 appropriation yearly.
A renewal was never signed; instead, both sides continued to operate under the terms of the written agreement on more of a handshake deal and the county annually produced $20,000 for Valley River.
That is, until the unexplained $30,000 increase.
Valley visits
Reynolds’ initial visit Aug. 20 was to request assistance for a state-mandated fence project at the shelter, which is located at 7450 U.S. 19. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services visited the location last summer and mandated a $52,850 outdoor fence to be constructed, with Reynolds asking for Graham County to contribute $9,000 toward the cause.
Valley River Humane Society services Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties. Its home base accounts for its largest intake of animals (70%, or 998 in 2024, according to a Jan. 20 email to The Star from Reynolds). Clay was responsible for 181 (13%) of the shelter’s intakes last year; Graham’s was 254 (18%). Reynolds told The Star in the Jan. 20 email that only Clay County had contributed to the project – allocating $6,200.
His follow-up visit to Sept. 17’s commissioner meeting was another plea for assistance with the project, which led to board members asking financial questions about the shelter’s operations. At the time, Reynolds projected a cost of $153,000 just to handle Graham County’s annual intake alone. Commissioner Jacob Nelms specifically questioned Reynolds about overall funding for the facility; he projected an annual operating budget of $1.2 million, with income generated from fundraising. A large portion can be attributed to the humane society’s thrift store, located in Murphy (1611 U.S. 64); the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce website states that over 40% of the shelter is funded by the thrift store’s income.
In his Jan. 20 correspondence with The Star, Reynolds pinned the figure closer to the ballpark of $1.381 million: split between salaries (52%) and operating expenses (48%).
Reynolds added that income sources were Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties, as well as the humane society’s thrift store in Cherokee County; adoption fees; and donations.
“We do apply for various grants, but as with donations, these can be difficult to receive as most animal shelters in this country are in the same condition as we are – overcrowded and underfunded,” Reynolds explained. “So, we are applying for very limited grants along with all other shelters.”
Advocate emerges
Reynolds did not attend another commissioner meeting until Jan. 21; in his place, local animal advocate Brittney Holder became the default face of salvaging the relationship between the two parties.
The owner/operator of B’s Pet Grooming, Holder first addressed commissioners during the public-comment portion of Oct. 17’s commissioner meeting. At the time, her biggest fight was to improve animal control across Graham County. The position does exist, but is under the Graham County Department of Public Health and is restricted on enforcement.
Holder set up an online petition that she planned to present to commissioners for consideration at the Dec. 17 commissioners meeting, which collected 239 signatures prior to The Star’s initial report on her efforts Nov. 21.
“I witness the lack of suitable regulations for managing stray or neglected animals daily,” read a portion of the petition page. “In our county, the living conditions for animals, domestic and stray alike, are deplorable. This cannot continue. There is no immediate response system for reporting animal neglect or abuse, neither is there anyone to call regarding aggressive animals roaming loose, or establishing leash and breeding laws.
“We deserve more than this in Graham County and so does our animals.”
At the time, Holder also spoke to The Star about her passion for not only improving animal control locally, but helping improve the lives of animals as a whole.
“More than 100 signatures just shows this is an issue,” Holder said. “A lot of people here have been affected by the stray animals and they want to start seeing some change. The animal issues here have been ignored for far too long. Spay and neuter, and a full-time animal control (officer) are the first two steps to making some sort of progress here.”
The year-end commissioner meeting promised to be a big one for animal advocates and county officials alike, as a line had been drawn in the sand.
Until the proceedings took a hard left turn.
New asking price
Just 73 minutes before newly-appointed commission chairperson Meggan Smith was due to call her first county meeting to order Dec. 17, interim county manager Kim Crisp received an email from Reynolds.
Obtained through a public records request, Reynolds asked Crisp to pass along Valley River Humane Society’s latest proposal: the estimated cost to handle annual intakes had jumped to $220,000 a year – a 70% increase from just three months prior – as well as a new contract for $7,000 a month ($84,000 a year) and a deadline: Jan. 1. Otherwise, Valley River would no longer accept animals from Graham County.
Though absent from the meeting, present in the room were various animal advocates and volunteers from the shelter. Holder’s pitch had also grown to include keeping a relationship with Valley River alive.
“I already get so many animals dropped off at my house, because if Valley River can’t take the animal, they don’t have anywhere to take it, they drop it in my yard,” Holder said Dec. 17, alluding to her recently-launched, non-profit rescue facility Graham County Animal Refuge.
County responds
There have been whispers that the county simply folded its hands and allowed Saturday’s deadline to pass without much of an effort.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Smith first hinted at the county’s stance on the matter Dec. 17, after months of commissioners listening to Reynolds and Holder’s public pleas. The board even went through a personnel change amidst the turmoil: Smith was voted into office during November’s general election, filling the seat left vacant by the departing Keith Eller, who did not seek re-election.
So when Smith addressed the public Dec. 17, there was a lot on the line.
“I’ve only had a couple of weeks experience here, so I’ve been trying to do as much research as possible,” Smith said. “From my point of view, everything that I have found has been confusing, I’ll be honest. It’s not been very clear and concise. But I want to be transparent with everybody, because at the end of the day, we want to come to an agreement.
“We want to help, but we do have a lot of things on our plate. We’ve got homeless people out here, too. We have to work concurrently on both of those issues.”
Smith explained that a quick overview of the budget showed that very few allocations are made in the ballpark of $51,000.
“It’s very unclear as to why (Valley River is asking for) the increase,” Smith continued. “I understand that there’s more animals and there’s more manpower needed. We need clear, concise reasoning for that increase. We need a breakdown of salaries; we want to know where this money is going. We want to make sure our taxpayers money is going toward helping the animals and not going toward paying a huge salary.”
Smith followed the explanation by presenting the idea of forming a local animal-control committee, which was later appointed at an emergency meeting Jan. 9 and consists of seven individuals. In-between, the county and Valley River agreed to a short-term extension that would allow Graham County intakes to continue through January.
The Star attempted to continue its correspondence with Reynolds from Jan. 20 by also requesting the salary structure at Valley River; by Wednesday’s press deadline, the request had not been fulfilled. A Cherokee Scout report on the society’s financial woes from April 2024 did note that the entirety of the state-mandated upgrades eclipsed $260,000, with another requirement in the payroll department: from $549,731 to $743,773, to employ 30 full- and part-time staff members, as well as three part-time employees at the thrift store.
Though the report was published 10 months ago, it further revealed that other expenses included food, litter, medicine and other supplies directly related to animal care totaled $283,406; rent was $63,733; maintenance and repairs tallied $184,018; and $34,373 was set aside for truck and other transportation costs.
Final points
As the society’s Friday release states, Graham County is now without a location to provide proper impoundment services for stray animals, which violates North Carolina General Statute 130A-192.
Under the statute, the following state requirements are on a checklist with a contracted shelter:
* Stray animals must be impounded at a designated shelter or facility;
* Public notice must be provided for a minimum of 72 hours before an animal is re-homed or euthanized;
* Unclaimed animals may be placed for adoption, transferred or euthanized humanely.
The release also cites N.C. G.S. 67-4.1 to 4.5, which regulates dangerous dogs in each county – and further cautions that the state attorney general’s office “has further emphasized that counties must maintain adequate sheltering services to meet state-mandated animal welfare standards, including provisions for humane treatment, proper sanitation, and adequate veterinary care.”
“Valley River Humane Society is saddened by the potential consequences of this decision on many animals, but must prioritize financial sustainability to continue serving the counties that meet their contractual obligations,” reads the conclusion of the release. “Graham County will now be responsible for finding an alternative means of providing legally required animal control and sheltering services in compliance with state law.
“Valley River Humane Society remains committed to the welfare of animals in the region and urges local officials, residents, and animal advocates to work together to address this urgent funding issue.”
Holder’s animal refuge is not to be confused with a state-inspected shelter; it is a temporary rescue facility.
Smith provided a response Monday to the agreement ending, saying the county worked until the deadline trying to work out the kinks.
“I do feel disheartened that Valley River now refuses any animals from Graham County, but it is not due to lack of trying,” the statement reads. “We spent a lot of time on the subject. There has been contact made with other local municipalities – all having financial troubles of their own. We tried to get Valley River to work with us on taking the current monthly rate and charging a fee per each animal they accept from Graham County. They declined.
“I asked for more time to get fundraising efforts underway, but that was also declined. We have some awesome fundraising events in the planning stages. I feel that we tried every avenue we could within the time constraints. At the end of the day, in my opinion, it would be extremely difficult to justify an increase to the significance they were asking for.”
Smith compared the asking price of $84,000 to that of Graham County’s yearly allocation to local fire departments, which is $45,000 each.
“How would it be right to take money from them – or several other crucial entities – to give Valley River the increase they were asking for?,” Smith said. “How could we justify this to all taxpayers?
“Just because we no longer have a contract with Valley River does not mean we will not continue to work on a solution elsewhere. In the meantime, I am sure the animal advocate community would appreciate any and all volunteers/donations.”