MOULTRIE — A report on why the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society had been closed the past month turned into a discussion about the building’s underlying issues.
Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society director, Courtney Azar, spoke to the Colquitt County Commission at last Tuesday’s meeting.
Azar said that they initially had shut down because of parvo and, on getting the State Department of Agriculture’s opinion on it, he found out that the concrete in the building had not been sealed, which led to the reoccurrence of the disease.
“We found out it was supposed to be sealed in 2022 and it was never sealed with some funding that came from the City and County,” he said.
Photos and videos of the condition of the building were shown to the commissioners and Azar said that he did have a cement block company coming, during the upcoming weekend, to fix the blocks that were broken in the building.
“The State recommended that we have to go in there with a two-part epoxy and reseal all the floors throughout the building,” he said. “We also have to paint every bit of it. Because of that concrete being porous, it was holding parvo in there.”
He said that they would get a load of animals in and they would get sick so they had to clear the shelter and send animals to rescue. He said they also had to put some down because many did have parvo.
Azar also told the commissioners that the building had to be tested for black mold. Later on, during the meeting, he said the test results had just come back negative.
“It’s going to take some time for us,” he said, adding that his eight employees were working on scraping off the old paint but had to stop for about a week because of the possibility of black mold.
Commissioner Barbara Jelks asked, “How much is this gonna cost?”
Azar told her that he was in the process of getting the cost of the paint and the two-part epoxy for the floor and he could bring the information to the commission’s next meeting.
He said that he and the staff were trying to get it all done in the next month but for right now, the Humane Society was closed.
“We’re not able to take any bite cases or anything like that until we get this done,” he said.
Commissioner Mike Boyd wanted to know when they exactly shut down because he had someone tell him that they called and couldn’t get anyone.
After some confusion on his part, Azar said that it was the first of March that they had the parvo case, so, it was the first of March that they had to shut-down. In explanation, he said that he himself had been recently sick with bronchitis, then COVID and then pneumonia.
“So, you’ve been shut-down for a month,” Boyd said.
Boyd also wanted to know how many employees that the Humane Society had and Azar responded that there were six full-time and two part-time. Two of the full-time employees are the animal control officers.
Both the City and the County contract the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society for Animal Control.
“Have they been furloughed for the past month, then?” asked Boyd.
Azar said that they’ve been paying them because they’ve had to, which didn’t seem to sit well with the commissioners, based on their reactions. He quickly followed they’ve been coming in off and on because they’ve had things to do.
Jelks asked again approximately how much would the renovation cost and he replied again that he was in the process of getting prices.
“Let me offer this to you. I mean, if we can help them put the scope together and getting bids for them, we got folks who do that all day long,” said County Administrator Chas Cannon and added that the County could help him with that process.
Azar said that he had been getting with Mac Lawson, the head of the County’s Facilities and Maintenance Department to get help with the drainage issue in the building.
He said that because he had been out sick the entire month of March, he was behind the eight ball on things and apologized for it.
“I will get on this and get it going, To get it back open,” he said.
Commission Chair Denver Braswell asked didn’t they just reseal the floors and Azar responded that it was supposed to have been done in 2022, from what he understood. Azar took over in December of 2022 after Drew Durham left the executive director position.
He also said that with the money that the County and the City had given the Humane Society, at the time, he believed was used for the roof, the awning, new office furniture and curtains for the bathroom.
“As far at the floor being sealed, to my knowledge, I don’t think it ever got done,” he said.
Lawson said that UGA had given them a proposal in the past, and it was estimated that it would cost about $400,000 to fix all of the problems in the building. He said that the cost to renovate, now, would be more than a new construction.
“The whole building is riddled with issues,” Lawson said.
Cannon said that he thought that the Humane Society board and leadership needed to make a decision on the building and really take a hard look at where they’d be ten years from now. He said there needed to be more forward thinking instead of just reacting.
Azar said that when he got the job, he was handed a three-ring binder that gave contact lists and that was the only thing that he was given.
“That’s where I’m coming from on this. I knew nothing about dog kennels or nothing else when I started,” he said and added that he took the job to help the community out.
Commissioner Paul Nagy said that they wanted to help but they needed a plan of where they were going to take the Humane Society. He said that he agreed with Lawson that the building was a mess.
Cannon said that they have to have the animal control services because people were paying money to the County for those services.
Braswell asked if they couldn’t get the building clean and sanitized so that it could open back up and buy some time to make a plan.
Azar reiterated that the floors had to be sealed with the two-part epoxy first.
“We owe you some board members that will show-up and participate. So, we owe you that on our side,” said Cannon.
The City and County each appoint members of the Humane Society’s board.
Commissioner Johnny Hardin said that he didn’t understand why, when the Humane Society wasn’t handling any more dogs than in the past, when the County’s contribution was significantly lower, that they were having to throw more and more money at them to get through each month.
He said, even though the commission was putting money into the Humane Society, they were still receiving calls about the dogs running loose and not being picked-up.
“That’s what we hear,” he said, adding that the people didn’t know about the issues going on with the building that the commissioners have seen over the past five or six years.
Boyd said that a man called him and said that he couldn’t get anyone on the phone and Azar responded that they hadn’t been at the building.
“But we’ve been paying them,” he said.
Hardin said, “It’s a tough situation.”
“It’s a thankless job,” said Cannon.
“Mr. Cannon, I feel, before we give them anymore money, I want to see a long-term plan of what we’re going to do. Because, even after they fix this thing, it’s still going to be a bad building,” said Nagy.
Azar said, “I can tell you this. I can let it be a long-term and turn it over and let the County handle it.”
“That is an option,” said Cannon.
“Because believe me, I’m not doing it for the money,” Azar said. “So, that’s my option right there.”