Over the years, some of the people who have been in close contact with Orangeburg County Animal Control have compiled a list of complaints.

They say the agency does not adequately respond to calls and that the agency's treatment of animals can be cruel.

One woman who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "I would not take a dog there ... if you take a dog there, it is like taking the dog to the gates of hell."

"My main concern is that animals are not being treated in the 21st century-capable manner," she said.

At the same time, Orangeburg County Animal Control and the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which works with the OCAC, discount the claims of apathy to animal complaints, inquiries about missing animals or cruelty to animals. Citizens who've had positive experiences with the agency also defend it.

Beagle owner Stacey Hughes said after she lost two of her dogs, the people at animal control "were very nice. They called me and told me they had our dogs and that I could pick them up. They took me to the back and there were both my dogs."

The McNeill case

Ruthie Miller McNeill said she has come into contact with animal control on three separate occasions over the past five years. She said the agency twice did little to nothing to help her, and the third time the case ended up in court with the agency brought as a witness against her, although the county has a different version of that incident.

One case dealing with animal control occurred in June 2001 when she and her daughter were attacked by a neighbor's pit bull while on a walk. The result was a court case that ruled the dog be "put down" and $455 in medical bills be paid.

Three years later, McNeill noted another pit bull at the same location trying to break through its caged area. She struck the dog in the head with a baseball bat in fear for her children.

"We really don't have any protection," McNeill said, noting she never goes walking in her neighborhood without a baseball bat in hand. The situation has gotten so bad that McNeill said her family is in the process of relocating.

OCAC Director Eddie Haigler said in the second case related to McNeill, she made the contention that the dog owner, under judge's order, was not supposed to have a dog following the 2001 case.

However, Haigler said that after contacting the case judge, he was informed there was no such order in place and there was no such dog currently on the premise as alleged.

McNeill then said the owner kept the dog at a neighbor's residence. Haigler said he went to the residence and did not find a dog that fit the description presented by McNeill.

Haigler said he has asked McNeill to provide the said order on the neighbor.

"I have not yet seen an order," Haigler said.

General complaints

A concerned resident knowledgeable about the McNeill case said she contacted animal control immediately after discovering her two dogs were missing.

She says she was allowed to look for her dog at the pound, but when she asked what dogs may have been picked up within the past day, she was told that information could not and would not be provided.

"We were looking at a 24-hour to 48-hour period here," she said. "They are the gatekeepers and guardians for beloved animals that get separated from their families. Is that the way they treat their clients?"

Haigler said the animal control center's phone number is public and individuals can log in their complaints.

"We receive about 20 to 30 calls a day," Haigler said, explaining that staff answers complaints brought by citizens. But Haigler said in a county as large as Orangeburg and with the large number of dog complaints, it takes time before all can be addressed.

"We make sure we touch every complaint that comes in," he said.

The woman also expressed concerns the center does not adopt animals out, instead choosing to euthazine the animals.

"If they get the dog and keep the dog, it means death," she said. The woman says she was able to see first-hand how the animals are treated at the shelter. The cages, she says, are cleaned with a high-powered hose and the animals are often left shivering in the cold without covering or place mats.

She says she has personally seen the animals being dragged and yelping in pain because of the treatment.

Another Orangeburg County resident said she found a dog tied to a tree behind a house without food, water and shelter. She says shelter staff refused to address the issue.

The dog eventually found refuge and assistance when an Orangeburg County law enforcement official rescued it, she said.

This same woman says she fears apathy and cruelty at the shelter is routine, though she admitted to not having dealt with the shelter since she says she saw a rottweiler shot to death there about six years ago.

The above-mentioned Orangeburg law enforcement official, who would not speak unless granted anonymity, said complaints from citizens have come to her often.

"Anonymous citizens are complaining about animal control because they are not getting from animal control what they feel like they should be," the official said. "It is of interest to the citizens that are complaining and should be an interest to everybody that pays taxes if the shelter is not doing its job."

The county's position

Clark, along with Earl Whalen, deputy administrator for the county's Public Services Division, both said in working with animal control and the county since the existence of shelter, they have never experienced or seen such treatment of animals.

"That is nonsense," Whalen said, noting the animals are fed and receive water daily and are under covering and out of the elements. At night, the animals are brought indoors.

Linda Heffner, president of the Orangeburg SPCA, said the shelter and the SPCA have worked together since the shelter's opening about 17 years ago.

Speaking for the SPCA, Heffner said animals are held in a climate-controlled environment -- "when it is working" -- and also have access to the outdoors through a door.

She said while the building is 17 years old and in need of renovation, the animals do not suffer greatly from the conditions as many problems are cosmetic.

"I don't find them terrible," Heffner said, adding that it is no Taj Mahal. "They are not like home or a boarding kennel. But the animals get fed. You will never see a dog that does not have enough food in the dish. There is water inside and outside running, so they have water."

Heffner said bedding and covers are placed in cages after the shelter's closing, as well as for dogs that have either been spayed or neutered. Bedding and blankets are washed daily, along with dishes and bowls. Litter is also cleaned out every day.

Whalen said the agency tends to stay away from blankets in an effort to reduce disease that can become imbedded in them and for sanitary reasons.

Explaining the typical process of how animals are treated, Whalen said when animals are found, they are brought to the center. If the animals are in good condition and have a good demeanor, they will be advertised under general description in the paper for 10 days. If the animal has an identification tag, owners will be notified.

During the 10-day period, unidentified animals will be held out of the public eye in a holding area.

As the SPCA and animal control share the same building and the public often has access to the site, Clark said the unidentified animals are hidden for protection.

"We have to make sure the animals are being claimed by the owner and not by an individual with bad intent," he said.

After 10 days, the animal shelter will send to the SPCA the animals believed to be healthy, sociable and adoptable. The SPCA will then determine whether the animals are adoptable.

The organization keeps the animals until they are adopted or until they become too ill to adopt. The SPCA also needs to ensure the animals are capable of being adopted in light of liability issues, Heffner said.

In 2005, the county shelter received about 5,008 animals. Of these, 4,528 were euthanized -- using injections, not by shooting or hanging. About 91 animals were reclaimed by their owners and about 350 were adopted, Heffner said.

"We want to put out animals as healthy and sociable as we can so that people are pleased and happy and not stressed out with what they got," Heffner said.

Whalen said with the thousands of animals found annually, there would be little room to house all of them.

"We make every effort to allow as many to survive," Whalen said, noting the need to get animals spayed and neutered. "Our animal control officers should not be picking up 5,000 to 6,000 dogs a year."

Heffner says the high number of euthanizations the shelter conducts, while a thankless and difficult job, is necessary because the animals are often wild and stray and not adoptable or sociable. The dogs are often in poor health as well. In some cases, euthanization is the most compassionate thing to do.

"I would hope they would want to save as many as they can," Heffner said. "It is a lousy job. I would hope they would have compassion in dealing with this. I understand they have to do what they have to do."

Animal control praise

Not all residents are complaining about the shelter.

Orangeburg County resident Felder Evans, who lost two chocolate Labrador retrievers, said animal control "did all in their power" to recover and find his animals.

"They asked for a picture and description of the dog and my phone number and first name," he said.

Evans said his real concern is a trend of dogs disappearing. He noted the disappearance of his dogs was connected to the disappearance of other Labs about two years earlier.

"It makes you wonder," Evans said, particularly in light of the dog fighting rings found in the county in the past.

Stacey Hughes related how animal control came to her and her husband's assistance when the couple lost two beagles.

The center staff called the Hughes residence a day after the dogs went missing and returned them to her. Because of the quick turnaround from the time the dogs were reported missing to their being claimed, she said the typical holding fee was waived.

For Hughes, the experience was so memorable that she chose to write a letter to The Times and Democrat in praise of the service.

"They were friendly, courteous and totally oblivious to that smell. Not to mention the barking, yapping, whining and crying from the back," she wrote. "None of it appeared to phase the men who were calmly taking care of the animals as they tried to find out who owned them so they could be safely returned to their homes."

Hughes continued, "You may not think about the animal control officers often, but I can tell you, they are doing a great job helping keep our neighborhoods safe and returning 'man's best friend' to lots of grateful little kids."

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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