The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Fur flies as Allegany County Animal Shelter issue remains front and center
* Cumberland man continues to criticize volunteer efforts, opposes adoption fee waiver for cats
* Wilmont: 'I don't think taxpayers should have to pay for somebody to have a free pet.'

CUMBERLAND, Feb. 3 -- Cumberland resident Kenneth Wilmont said he opposes a taxpayer-supported "free pet shop" and says that with the recent waiving of cat adoption fees, that's exactly what the Allegany County Animal Shelter has become.

Wilmont and Queen City Animal Rescue volunteer Peter Masloch were at odds over how much, if any, taxpayer dollars have been used in recent efforts to keep more animals alive.

"As a taxpayer, I do not pay taxes to run a free, give-away pet shop," Wilmont told the Allegany County Board of Commissioners during a public meeting Thursday. "That is exactly what the shelter has turned into."

Wilmont said at current rates, more than 6,000 cats and dogs will be "running loose in Allegany County" over the next four years if the shelter continues to practice a no-kill philosophy of euthanizing only the animals that are medically unsalvageable or those that prove to be deemed unsafe for adoption.

"There isn't enough people in Allegany county to adopt all the dogs andn cats that's being thrown out on the road by irresponsible people," he said. "I do not want a penny of my money going into free pet program and I ask that right now it be stopped."

Wilmont suggested that current law might not permit volunteers with the Queen City Animal Rescue, a start-up all-volunteer group, to influence policies and procedure at the shelter. That's what the Allegany County Animal Control Board - which, he noted, voted to recommend against adopting a no-kill philosophy - is for.

But QCAR volunteer Peter Masloch said the group is not causing the county's tab to increase. Instead, volunteers are relying on donations of food and supplies from individuals and businesses, such as Tractor Supply in LaVale, as well as professional services, such as free rabies shots recently provided to all cats housed at the shelter. Those vaccines were supplied free of charge by Dr. James Cosgrove of LaVale Veterinary Hospital.

In addition, cash donations have totaled some $16,000, Masloch said. Those funds are helping to spay, neuter and vaccinate new cats brought to the shelter and to provide medical check-ups.

"That makes the cats much more adoptable," Masloch said, and the no-kill philophy more feasible.