KING WILLIAM — The Regional Animal Shelter in King William County plans to cut its hours due to a shortage of workers.
The shelter is run via a partnership between King William and King and Queen counties. King William’s supervisors, however, have questioned their neighbor’s commitment to the facility and County Administrator Percy Ashcraft has spoken of revisiting the agreement.
Beginning today, the shelter cut its hours to 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Ashcraft said in a news release that the cut is a temporary measure.
“We are facing a reorganization in personnel at the shelter and hope to have all the vacant positions filled as soon as possible,” Ashcraft said. “The maximum level of service will
continue, just within shorter hours and not on Saturdays for now.”
Hanover County is going to send an employee to the shelter half a day for an indefinite period of time to help, Ashcraft said.
Before the change, the shelter opened from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on most weekdays but was open until 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Kennel visiting hours will run from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.
The Regional Animal Shelter, in line with many shelters across the country, is seeing an upsurge in the number of stray animals. About half of the positions at the shelter remain vacant.
“Our staffing level is supposed to be four full-time positions, two part-time animal care technicians (104 hours a month), and two part-time cat tech positions (72 hours a month),” said Regional Animal Shelter Director Lauri Betts in an email.
“Currently, there are two full-time positions vacant; one part-time animal care technician vacant and likely one part-time tech position.”
King William’s Board of Supervisors has questioned King and Queen County’s level of commitment to the shelter in the past. In March, Ashcraft said King and Queen County had no money in its capital program for a new sick room at the animal shelter which is required for the shelter to comply with state regulations.
In March, supervisor Travis Moskalski said King and Queen has ignored the shelter for “a long time.” He said the shelter has suffered from a lack of investment.
Last year, Betts described a shelter in “crisis mode” due to a spike in unwanted animals and an inability to recruit workers.
The Humane Society of the United States warned of an increase in stray animals across the nation in 2022. The non-profit estimates the number of strays has risen to about seven million. Shelter managers cite factors such as an increase in at-home breeding, high costs for veterinary treatment, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Macaulay, [email protected]
