BC 2010 08 16 Regular - Laserfiche WebLink

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August 16, 2010 (Regular Meeting) Page 75 Cabarrus County. He noted the emphasis placed on life and healthy living promoted by the Research Campus and CMC Northeast. He also mentioned the County's recycling efforts and asked why a life cannot be recycled. He addressed consumers' increased spending on pet supplies despite the economic downturn and the benefit to an employee that adopts an animal out instead of killing one. He stated an 80 percent kill rate is a poor testimony of the heart and soul of such a wonderful county and encouraged the Board to move to a "no kill" shelter. Regina Crowell, resident of 804 Maplewood Avenue in Kannapolis, defined "shelter ", "refuge" and "humane ", and explained the concept of "www.petfinder.com ", a web -based animal adoption site. She asked why is it so hard to adopt animals from the shelter and why do to rescue groups like the Humane Society get to decide which animals live. She said change will take time and the assistance of many volunteers. She addressed the suffering endured by animals euthanized in a gas chamber and the monetary savings associated with EBI (euthanasia by injection) versus euthanasia by gas chamber. Finally, she addressed the micro chipping. Tamara Gasper, resident of 829 Chastain Avenue in Concord, presented the following comments for the record in addition to providing a picture of "Snowflake ", her cat: I am here tonight to share my story and ask for your help in reforming Cabarrus County Animal Control. A little over three months ago, my nearly 18 -year old cat, Snowflake, got loose. She was a house cat and not allowed outside, but for some reason she decided to run out when the door was opened that day. At the time, it was starting to rain and I didn't feel I would find her while it was raining, as she would likely be hiding under a car or on a porch, so I decided to wait to look for her until the rain stopped. After it quit raining, it was late, around 10 p.m., so my stepdad offered to go look for Snowflake. He was not able to find her. Sunday morning, we got up and went to look for her; but we did not find her. It was supposed to rain again Sunday, so I didn't post flyers, but instead went online and posted a lost cat notice on our community Facebook page. The post prompted a quick reply from another homeowner that stated she saw my cat Saturday evening and that she heard another homeowner called animal control and had her picked up. At this point I was relieved that the cat was no longer lost and I could go get her when the office opened Monday morning. I called animal control Monday morning as soon as they opened to verify that she was there but was told on the phone that they did not have my cat. The lady that answered did not check the back or ask anyone else in the room if they had taken in a cat; it seems she just assumed that since she did not, no one else did. This was a disappointing set back to finding our lost pet. I now had to get to class and did not have flyers ready to be put up. I had to hope that the homeowner that found my cat still had her and that she was not out on the streets. As I arrived home from class that day, my children came running off the bus excited that they knew where Snowflake was. A boy on the bus told them that he had taken the cat to animal control on Sunday with his mom. I was confused as I had spoken with animal control that morning and was told that the cat was not there. I decided to ask their friends mom for more information. She confirmed to me that she had taken a grey and white cat to animal control on Sunday at around 4 p.m. She continued to tell me something, but I was not listening as I was more interested in getting to the shelter before they closed so I could pick up Snowflake and bring her home. I thanked her and left in a hurry, excited that we would have our cat back home. I went into the animal control office and was again told that they did not have my cat. I told them that I had spoken with the woman who dropped her off and that she must be in the back; to please look through the paperwork from the weekend. She told me there was no way she dropped off the cat to them on Sunday as the