The Graham County Board of Commissioners chose to stop paying the Valley River Humane Society $19,000 annually to pick up stray animals. Valley River continued to make its rounds in the county weekly without pay, hoping the county would change its mind. It didn’t.
The severance of the agreement supposedly had something to do with the mauling of a child near an elementary school by a pack of stray pit bulls. The buck was passed for this reason and that. By terminating the agreement, Graham County assumed full responsibility for stray and vicious animals. So far, so good.
But the number of strays increased after the nonprofit Friends of Animals went under after allegations of giving charity spay and neuter discounts to expensive dogs. And now it’s time for the county’s caseload to increase dramatically. The annual spike is attributed to “dogs that can’t hunt.” Owners reportedly leave their dogs in the woods when they prove themselves incompetent, or they bash their heads in. Some starve their animals to try to make them better hunters.
The county is hesitant to build its own animal shelter, as the capital investment alone would be about $200,000.
