ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220027
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DRAPER
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
A kennel that prompted Pulaski County to plan new animal control regulations is now closed, operator Terry Weaver said Tuesday.
Weaver had called the Solid Rock Kennels in Draper a ministry of Emmanuel Independent Non-Denominational Christian Church, where he was pastor. He said the church is closed, too.
"You can just tell the people that a decision was made based on the harassment," he said, such as animal control officers driving by and taking pictures of the kennel and county warnings of zoning violations.
County Administrator Joe Morgan had written Annette Jenkins, Weaver's fiancee and owner of the property where the kennel and church were located, that the kennel would require a site plan and other zoning conditions.
Weaver argued that the kennel was part of the church and should not be considered a business subject to zoning requirements.
"We shut everything down," Weaver said. He said the kennel had given away about 100 dogs in the past two weeks, and had about 22 left. "As soon as they're gone, that's it," he said.
"None of the dogs have ever been put to sleep, none of the puppies have ever been put to sleep, while we had the kennel," he said.
Weaver established the church last July and the kennel last November. The kennel came under fire when some visitors complained about conditions and after 27 animals died from an outbreak of the parvo virus, which closed the kennel for about a month.
Veterinarians who treat animals in Pulaski County came to the Board of Supervisors, asking for the formation of an Animal Welfare Committee to redraw county regulations to handle such situations.
They expressed concern over an apparent lack of authority to investigate or act on complaints about inhumane treatment of animals. "We had a problem with who was in charge, who can enforce the state code," said Dr. Debra Call, a Radford veterinarian. Dr. R.D. Whiting, program coordinator with the state Agriculture Department's Office of Veterinary Services in Richmond, said he was "taken aback by the lack of involvement by the county."
The committee submitted new proposed kennel regulations to the board Monday night and will fine-tune them for a public hearing, probably in July.
As a result of the controversy, county animal control officers who worked under the county's director of fleet maintenance and operations now work under the Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office inspected Weaver's kennel before it reopened and found that it met current county kennel requirements.
Weaver, who had talked about expanding the kennel for up to 1,000 dogs and 700 cats, said that might still be done at some other location.
He said he hoped to be out of Pulaski County by the end of June and, meanwhile, would do his grocery shopping in Christiansburg. "We will not put any more money in this county. None whatsoever," he said.
"I don't feel like we ever got a fair shake from any of the newspapers," Weaver said. "There were no volunteers because of the publicity. There were no donations coming in. We paid for everything ourselves."
He said the church and kennel signs would be covered with bags Tuesday until they could be dismantled. The dog cages were being cleaned for possible use at some other location, he said.
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