Due to overwhelming recent media attention to the plight of the Robeson County Animal Shelter, and the pending lawsuit against the county over animal cruelty charges, shelter manager Jeff Bass, who is named in the charges, has resigned his position.
Confirmed today by the Robesonian.com after I received an anonymous tip from an insider, this story will no doubt help bring animal advocates one step closer to helping bring the RCAS in line with humane shelter practices.
William Smith, Director of the RC Board of Health commented to the Robesonian via voicemail that "that Bass asked for a transfer in April, saying that he worried about his and his family’s safety because of frequent death threats. Bass will transfer to a clinic to work with the Health Department’s tuberculosis control program."
While it's still shocking that Mr. Bass will be permitted to work in any health related job, it still removes him from managing the welfare of helpless animals.
The interim shelter manager will be Albert Locklear, the Director of Environmental Services for the RC Health Department. This is a temporary position until a permanant replacement can be found. Smith stated that if death threats continue with the interim manager, they will shut down the shelter and do only what is required by law in each county, rabies control and animal bites.
I am sure that closing the shelter is not the goal of the animal rights advocates who have fought hard to bring this situation to the public eye. There are many ready to offer a plan to not only reform the shelter to humane standards, but to exceed that and make Robeson County Animal Shelter a shining model of humane shelter care.
However, none of this will come to pass without cooperation between county officials, and the animal advocates. There needs to be a change of attitude by county officials, beginning with Hal Kinlaw, the County Attorney, who must respond to the charges of animal cruelty in the shelter in court by mid-June. He clearly does not wish to go to trial, citing that the trial will "tie up resources" and take people away from doing the duties of their job. See full story here.
Kinlaw needs to set the example of a competant, and professional attorney, or step aside. If responding to charges against the county he works for is too much for him, then perhaps County Attorney is not the job for him. Maybe he could sleep on it. He seems to be good at that!
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Comments
even though locklear may be temporary, i hope he realizes that he has the power to set the tone for the future. he can capitalize on this celebratory atmosphere or continue the downward spiral of business as usual.
While this is s step in the right direction, a person has to wonder how a man who has been caught on tape brutally killing animals and been rightfully followed by caring animal lover individuals for over 9 years can be given another job working for the same county or anywhere for that matter. It wreaks of injustice and an old fashion "Good Ole Boy" attitude that frankly needs a major adjustment. Maybe the federal government needs to be called in. How can we rely on a group of board members that protect a known animal abuser? How can we trust anyone that gets Bass's job will be any better? What of the "crew" working under Bass? They are not fit to work there either. All I can say is it's not over till the trash is out of Robeson County.
While my dealings with Mr. Bass were good (I pulled from RCAS at least a half-dozen times), the overall attitude at the facility was horrendous. He even went to the lengths to hold off on animals scheduled for PTS a day or two for me so I could rearrange my travel itinerary (I live 2 1/2 hours from RCAS). While I'm sure my situation was the exception rather than the norm, my biggest issue was the other employees.
Through my networking on Facebook and Twitter, it was evident that RCAS had become one of the most notorious facilities in the country.
I pray that positive changes come soon and would even "toss my hat into the ring" to run the facility. However, I wouldn't work well with the narrow-minded "good-old-boys" that seem to permeate the area. I, with many others, will be monitoring the changes in the hope that it's positive change, not political lip-service.
Bass was one part of a very big problem at that shelter. The facilities are good, the staff needs to change , or their attitudes need to change, now. Animal Control does not mean population control , therefore "kill as many as possible" . Mr.Bass believes that was his job. They do have a big problem in Robeson county with animals running loose. It is a poor county and a majority of the animals are not neutered. I believe this current situation will not be solved properly until the community in and around the Robeson shelter takes an active role in the shelter animals welfare. There is so much they can do together, spay and neuter programs,low income pet assistance.
Too many people are ignoring the other county shelters in this state that have worse facilities and higher kill rates. I believe the animals are better off without Mr.Bass. This is a start, but only a beginning. Education takes time. So does change.
To Randy, While your experience with Jeff Bass may have been good, the videos showing him inhumanely killing dogs and cats shows it was not so good with the animals. To let him slide in anyway is irresponsible. He was the man in charge and if he was so different from his employees why didn't get new ones? Why would he allow them to kill animals so inhumanely if he felt different? NO ANIMAL LOVER or decent person would ever be able to watch or take part in that kind of animal cruelty. Nope, I think he set the example and they lived it. He was just better at putting on a poker face when dealing with the public. And besides that, you are the only one I have heard speak of their dealings with him that said it was good. And I would have a hard time believing it now after all that has been seen and reported.
Cynthia: I'm not saying that Jeff should have remained at RCAS. I was just pointing out my personal dealings with him. It was odd, because I was aware of many horror stories involving him at the facility. I didn't post to support him - just that my experiences were obviously the exception rather than the norm.
This is truly welcome news. To all the Facebook people involved in this issue and to Calley Gerber, this is not the time to let up and relax.
If I might be so bold as to ask what may appear to be a dumb question...
Why does the county have to run the shelter?
All politicians care about is public safety - so let them have "animal control" and the good citizens stand up and take away sheltering and adoptions from them.
It is obvious that this lack of concern for animal welfare goes all the way up to Gov. Perdue. Why not ease their terrible burden - which they don't want anyway! - and move this entire effort to the civilian side?
Look at all the politicians' websites and press releases. Not one ranks animal welfare high enough to ever speak of it - unless NC residents start screaming. Then they can't take action quick enough! But that's not to fix anything, just to get the pain-in-the-ass issue off their shoulders. Get the government out of this.
Anyone remember Rache
continued...
It cut off my last sentence. I closed with this:
Anyone remember the name Rachel Dudgeon? :-)
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He needs to be fired period not moved to another dept. Also he says he is getting death treats! Good now he knows how the animals feel! Shame on NC for ever hiring such a monster! Just rememember Mr. Bass karma is a b****!
Threats can't spell! For shame Mr. Bass hope you are scared like those poor animals of you!
Removing Bass is a wonderful start, but the corruption goes higher than Bass. The whole chain of command, starting with Mr.Horton and Mr. Smith, need to be investigated also as they play a major part in the devious activities in Robeson and other shelters. These men, as well as the commissioners, HAVE NO PUBLIC TRUST!
The County Attorney says that "the trial will 'tie up resources' and take people away from doing the duties of their job."? Isn't investigation and prosecuting crimes, including crimes against animals, part of his job?? It seems like Robeson needs a county attorney who is willing to perform ALL parts of his job, not just those he thinks are worth his precious resources.
Bye Bye Jeff. Thank goodness you left. You abused the animals terribly. There is nothing more to say about Jeff Bass.
It's about time to get that monster out of there and anyone else who obviously had no emotional feelings about these animals. As for Lockyear and his comment that it would take an additional 10 minutes to wash the floors down after treating with bleach - do you have a meeting with the Pope you're going to be late for??? Get off your lazy ass and clean the way it's supposed to be done. They need to purge the whole place of the crew that was there and get caring people to take care of the animals the way they are supposed to be. Also, get the animals spayed and neutered. I have never heard of a shelter that doesn't do that as soon as the animals are checked over by a vet and declared healthy. That's a big reason so many animals are there to begin with. I hope this will be a fresh start for the shelter animlas.
My most sincere hope is that Bass and everyone like him gets to experience every drop of the pain and suffering that he inflicted on helpless innocents in his own life at some point.You get what you give and he is nothing but worthless trash that should be treated as such.
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