Murphy –With funding set to expire at the end of December, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners approved a contract with Valley River Humane Society on Monday night for continued animal control housing through the first half of 2026.
The contract is worth $125,000 the last six months of the fiscal year for the humane society, which serves Cherokee and Clay counties, although Cherokee County accounts for the lion’s share of animals and costs at the animal shelter in Marble. The board voted 4-1 to approve the contract, with Commissioner Ben Adams casting the lone vote against it.
Adams had submitted his own version of a contract that included, among other things, a clause permitting “immediate termination” of the agreement and further payments if the shelter refuses to accept all animals brought to it by law enforcement and county offices. It also required the shelter to attempt to locate and return shelter animals to their owners and document the source of all animals turned in to the shelter.
Required documentation under Adams’ plan included a description of the animal, intake date, name of the person surrendering the animal, proof that they are county citizens, their physical and mailing addresses, and a photo of the animal. He set a price of $50 per day for animal housing and limited the time the county would pay for an animal surrendered by a citizen to three days. His plan even spelled out that each animal would be given a serial number and the format – intake year, followed by numerical order as received.
Adams called the approved agreement a “piece of paper” with no teeth.
The problems
The county has paid the shelter $250,000 per year. However, with increasing complaints about waiting lists to drop off animals and requiring appointments to adopt animals, the board has been less apt to continue expenditures without more oversight.
In June, when the board was preparing the 2025-26 fiscal year’s budget, commissioners limited humane society funds to just six months and required humane society officials to help develop an agreement to keep funds flowing in.
Over the next five months, there were a dozen drafts including the one proposed by Adams.
The facility is a limited-kill shelter, euthanizing animals only when medically necessary. That sometimes results in it reaching capacity and restricting new dropoffs, since the facility is subject to strict oversight from state regulators.
The humane society culls its cats and dogs through a combination of local adoptions and, for dogs, shipping more desirable animals to northern states and Canada. From January through the end of November, the shelter adopted out 580 cats and dogs and transported another 858 dogs out of state, said Don Reynolds, president of the Valley River Humane Society Board of Directors.
The shelter took in 1,596 cats and dogs during that same period, he said, with 1,164 coming from Cherokee County.
What say the board
The entire discussion from the board occurred after Commissioner Cal Stiles made a motion to approve the agreement with Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum seconding it, ignoring Adams’ version.
Although services the shelter provides to Cherokee County may not be ideal, there is no way the county could duplicate those services on its own for even twice the cost. The shelter operates on a $1.2 million annual budget, with 80% of its revenue – about $960,000 – coming from donations.
Reynolds said Cherokee County’s $250,000 annual payment accounts for just one-third of the facility’s employee costs alone.
A county-run shelter would cost at least that much to run – the county would be subject to the same regulations that drive up costs at the humane society facility – and it is unknown whether the county would benefit from donations at the same level as the humane society.
“Neither one of us has a Plan B,” Stiles said. The humane society needs funding and the county has no plans for a shelter of its own, he said. “Where are those 1,500 animals going to go? We have to work this out together.”
Adams claimed two humane society board members told him they don’t need the county’s money and could operate just as well without county funds – although that would also mean less volume because county government requirements would fall away.
He said the money should go to benefit children and public parks.
“Why are we giving them our money?” Adams said. “There is absolutely nothing to hold their feet to the fire. Your mission is not our mission.”
‘Do better’
One new provision included in the new contract is that the humane society will provide resources, such as pet food and veterinary care, until space becomes available.
Adams asked what would happen when people refuse to keep the animals anyway.
“Eventually, we’ll take in every animal,” Reynolds said.
“Eventually,” Adams replied.
The shelter has also recently revised its adoption policy. Board Chair Alan Bryant said the shelter now allows people to visit the shelter between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to see all available animals, although an appointment is requested, Reynolds said.
Bryant said he places blame for the county’s animal control problem where it belongs – with its citizens.
“Do better,” he said. “Take care of your animals.”