Elizabeth O’Connor with rescue Belgian Malinois puppy
Hughesville, MD – A commissioner of St. Mary’s County had harsh words this week about the Tri-County Animal Shelter and says he is going to make it one of his priorities to do something about it. At the commissioners’ Sept.1 meeting, John O’Connor [R – 3rd District] said, “The conditions are just deplorable there. I think they are putting too many animals down.”
O’Connor reached his conclusion after recently visiting the shelter and also based comments on an experience that his wife Elizabeth had with the shelter.
Elizabeth O’Connor belongs to a Belgian Malinois rescue group. The dogs are shepherds that are often used in rescue and police work. The group learned of an eight-month-old Belgian Malinois puppy that was in the shelter and getting ready to be euthanized that day because it had been deemed vicious and dangerous. A humane organization in Southern Maryland had attempted to rescue the dogs but was denied.
O’Connor said when the dog was pulled out by the breed rescue group it turned out to be very sweet and loving, as can be seen in the pictures that accompany this story. The dog was adopted by the home that originally fostered him after the rescue.
The commissioner feels the incident shows that the shelter does a bad job of temperament testing which leaves many dogs vulnerable to being put down instead of being adopted out. He told the BayNet that the shelter uses the right test, they just don’t administer it properly and also conduct it in the wrong environment.
O’Connor hopes to work with a committee that will be formed to review animal control regulations to help correct what he perceives are problems at the shelter.
The Tri-County Animal Shelter, located off Route 231 in Hughesville, is operated by Charles County with funds provided by all three Southern Maryland counties. Strays picked up in the three counties are delivered to the shelter by animal control officers in each county.
The shelter has also come under the radar of the Calvert County Commissioners. At their July 28 meeting Charles County Chief of Animal Services Ed Tucker and Shelter Supervisor Lim Stephens reported that the shelter is understaffed.
The shelter was the subject of an inspection by the Human Society of the United States. The BayNet has made a Freedom of Information request to Charles County for a copy of that investigation report but so far the request has not been honored.
The shelter recently had a successful event in which 63 animals were adopted in one day, the largest single day success in the shelter’s history. The shelter also had a follow-up National Dog Day event in which adoption fees were waived for dogs.
Charles Seifert also contributed to this story.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com