As an avid animal lover, I am disturbed by what is happening at APS of Orange. When the Orange County Board took over control of the Animal Shelter, there was a hint of a problem at APS. Now, the Chapel Hill News comes out with a report that it has lost its right to raise money due to lack of filing a 990.
It also appears that there may be budget and other issues. All politics aside, the lives of animals are at stake in this. The victims of this mismanagement cannot speak for themselves. As someone with 2 shelter cats: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2104/2173059530_6d80a3bf64_b.jpg
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I know the value these places provide to our community. The black one - Sabrina - was 6 years old when we adopted her from APS of Durham - most places would have euthanized her, because of her age and her slightly disagreeable disposition. However, because there was room, she was kept around and as it turns out, someone who likes old black cats with slightly disagreeable dispositions was able to adopt her.
Our other cat, Buttercup, was kept around by the Alamance Humane Society. When I say kept around - this cat was in foster care for 6 months!!! We agreed to keep the cat over Christmas and then just kept her. She spent the first week living under a couch in a spare room. 4 years later, she is a wonderful cat who is still a little scared of me and Sabrina.
Without people helping these animals and places for these hard to place animals, it is probable that both of these cats would be dead.
If published reports are true, it is doubtful that the APS of Orange will continue to operate into the next year. If it does fail, we will need to find some place for these animals. We may have a pending disaster on our hands if it closes without a place for these animals to go...
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