According to Dr. Roy Lenzo, the Board of Health’s veterinarian, Animal Services failed to collect a feral cat after it bit a person.
The cat was eventually captured by the resident and placed under quarantine for two weeks while the resident began a preventative post-exposure rabies treatment. The incident prompted a brief discussion from the health board at its Nov. 18 meeting, where Lenzo said Animal Services “dropped the ball” on its response.
“There was a civilian bitten by a stray cat, this person contacted the shelter to have that cat trapped,” Lenzo said. “I personally, after three or four days without any action, contacted the shelter and asked somebody to trap it. Ultimately, the person trapped the cat herself today. The cat is in quarantine, but that cat should have been quarantined right away and there’s just no good excuse for it.”
Board Member Dr. Courtney Patrick suggested running a root cause analysis to identify where the process broke down, mentioning Lenzo previously suggested having a dedicated manager to handle decisions at the shelter rather than relying solely on Dr. Jim Villiard, whose attention is divided with other duties at the health department.
“At this very second, there’s nobody there that could say ‘make this happen’ and you need that,” Lenzo said.
“I think, all in all, we’re well on the right path to make things a lot better for everyone, but it’s going to take some time,” County Commissioner Liaison John Shearl said.
Interim Health Director Tammy Keezer said the incident was an open investigation and more information could not be shared at this time.
Keezer said some of the washers and dryers at the animal shelter have stopped working, leading Animal Services to rely on the assistance of Appalachian Animal Rescue Center to do its laundry. One commercial washer and a backup washer became inoperable earlier in the month. Additionally, one commercial dryer has been having issues while a backup broke down. Keezer said a new washer was purchased and installed on Nov. 15 and a new dryer was ordered but is on back order. She said two new washing machines and dryers are scheduled to arrive at the shelter on Nov. 25.
The board acknowledged the Board of County Commissioners’ decision to build a consolidated health and human services agency with Public Health and Animal Services and agreed to table its annual policy review until consolidation in January.
The next Board of Health meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. at the Human Services building on Lakeside Dr.