23 dogs removed from the home
Mount Airy, NC (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Jul 27, 2011
County: Surry

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Melanie Morrison

Animal control officers took 23 dogs from the home of a local animal rescuer after visiting the home to investigate a complaint.

Few details have been released about the incident which occurred Wednesday morning at the home of Melanie Morrison, located on Noonkester Drive in Mount Airy. The Surry County Health and Nutrition Center oversees Surry County Animal Control, and a spokesperson for the department, Thomas Williams, said a full report had not yet been completed as of early Wednesday evening.

He did confirm that an animal control officer visited Morrison's home Wednesday morning around 11:20 a.m. to follow-up on a complaint the department had received. After making observations at the house, the officer or officers "felt it necessary to call in some other units to take some of the dogs." Williams could not elaborate at that time on the reason for taking the dogs. He said officers left the home by around 12:45 p.m.

Neighbors noted seeing four or five animal control vehicles at the home, including a state vehicle. The N.C. Department of Agriculture is involved with the ongoing investigation, Williams said, though he could not speak to the reason for the department's involvement Wednesday night. Morrison does claim to have a kennel license, and those licenses are overseen by the Department of Agriculture.

A neighbor who would not go on record with his name claimed Wednesday that people in the neighborhood have made complaints to animal control over the dog situation over the past couple of years. Williams said late in the afternoon he was not sure if any complaints had been reported about Morrison prior to Wednesday.

The neighbor reported seeing dogs taken out of the basement in cages by animal control officials. In one of the front rooms of the house several dogs were kept in individual cages, with a few dogs running around. The room appeared to be clean but smelled of dog feces.

Morrison said she had gone to see about an animal's eye injury, and when she returned home, animal control was there. She was still unsure as of Wednesday afternoon why exactly the animals had been taken.

"The people that need to be prosecuted are not the people trying to help these animals, but the ones who let them get like this to start with," Morrison remarked. "It makes me angry, because I'm trying to help these animals."

Morrison runs a non-profit organization called Animal Welfare of Surry. The purpose of the organization is to reduce pet over-population by encouraging spay and neuter programs and to take in abandoned pets and find good homes for them. Morrison said she works with several other people.

She said nearly all of her dogs have come from area shelters, and many of them have health issues. All of the pets are cared for by a local veterinarian, Morrison said, though she declined to give the veterinarian's name. She said the animals are spayed or neutered and are treated by a veterinarian before being adopted. She said she has records of all that. She said she spends $500 to $600 a month in gas, plus vet bills, when picking up these abandoned animals and taking them in.

Morrison also runs a spay and neuter transport service to Forsyth County. She takes people's pets to a clinic there for reduced-price spaying and neutering. She said, "I believe that strongly, that the pet population problem is solved by spaying and neutering."

Morrison did say she is in a wheelchair, but she said she is able to care for the dogs and is also assisted by volunteers and paid help.

"I drive," she said. "I'm capable to do most of it."

She also said, "This is what I do. It gives me a purpose. I love animals … They are well cared for."

Morrison said she would have to go through paperwork and count the dogs before being able to give an exact number of the animals at her home. She noted that animal control did not take them all.

Morrison said, "It really makes me angry that we do this and that one person can be begrudged or angry about something and cause all this chaos."

But the pet owner said she does not want to come off sounding bitter. She said, "I appreciate that animal control, they do have a job to do. They were courteous and nice. I know they have their job to do, and they're overworked and understaffed."

Morrison just hopes the issue is resolved soon so she can find out what will happen to the dogs.

Williams said the investigation is ongoing. Animal control officers spent the afternoon and early evening Wednesday evaluating the condition of the dogs. A report is expected from the health department or the department of agriculture in the next day or so. Williams said officials will determine later what the future of the dogs will be.

References

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