Roanoke County Has Not Discussed Concerns Over Regional Pound

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The Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection has seen some negative attention lately, including an investigation into potential animal cruelty. Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom says the county took all the cats from the center for fear they might be euthanized, even though Branscom says there was room to house them.

But will others follow suit? Chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors Richard Flora says that, as of now, the board has not talked about any concerns with the center.

"I suspect if it continues the way it's going, then eventually, we will be talking about it," Flora says.

Roanoke County is one of four localities that give money to the center every year. We checked to see how much of your tax payer dollars goes to the center.

- Roanoke City: $565,980

- Roanoke County: $214,682

- Botetourt County: $156,132

- Town of Vinton: $39,033

- Total: $975,827

Flora says because of the contract between the localities and the pound, they cannot simply stop writing checks.

"The funding is not voluntary. We have a contract, so it's not like we are making a contribution," Flora says.

Because of all the negative attention, we called every single person on the board of directors for the Roanoke Valley SPCA listed on the web site. Only Paula Wyche answered, and she said, "No comment."

We also called town, county, and city officials. Many said they could not comment or were not available to talk about the recent complaints.

However, Vinton Town Manager Chris Lawrence did tell us, "We have concerns about some complaints registered regarding the pound side. We, the town, have been working with the three jurisdictions that work with them, and have been working together with the board to address those issues."

But how to address any possible concerns is still the question.