McDuffie County names new Animal Service Director
THOMSON, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - After the McDuffie County Animal Shelter faced serious allegations of abuse and neglect, the county has announced a new Animal Services Director.
According to officials, on Monday, the county announces Wendy Ivey to the community as the new director.
Ivey spent the last 17 years including the last four and a half as the community’s director in Bulloch County.
“She brings a wealth of much-needed knowledge and experience, and we certainly feel she is the right person to lead our animal services efforts into the future,” said McDuffie County Manager David Crawley. “She will be an asset to our community and an advocate for our animals.”
Ivey takes the reigns of an animal services department during a grassroots rebuild. McDuffie County’s animal shelter has been closed since the summer of 2022 after various allegations of improprieties were brought before the county commission.
“I am excited about what the future holds for animal services for McDuffie County. This community will be my home, and I want to make sure the entire community is involved in helping our animals,” Ivey says.
MORE COVERAGE:
- What’s the status of the McDuffie County Animal Shelter?
- McDuffie County animal shelter to reopen despite investigation
- McDuffie County pet shelter remains closed; investigation continues
- Investigation set out against McDuffie County animal shelter
During her time in Bulloch County, Ivey helped guide the growth of the county’s Animal Services Department from one employee to more than 10, including humane enforcement personnel. In addition, she developed an extensive list of business, volunteer, and rescue partners while building a robust social media and community presence.
“There is a lot of work to be done, but I am eager to be a part of providing these animals with the best services and opportunities in finding their forever homes, all while building positive community relationships with the citizens of McDuffie County in hopes for a broader community involvement,” Ivey says.
Shortly after the shelter faced allegations, the county ed the Department of Agriculture and the GBI to open an investigation.
Those allegations were claims of neglect, abuse, and mistreatment of animals in the shelter. The investigations found no evidence of that.
Dogs were not improperly euthanized, but it was due to a disease outbreak. The state did find discrepancies in the electronic recordkeeping of animals coming in and out of the shelter.
The county was fined $13,000, which will be suspended for two years if the county has no major violations in that time.
The county has agreed to pay $13,000 for repairs too.
“One thing about this process moving forward is we are truly starting with a clean slate,” he said.
The initial plans are to redo floors, and ceiling tiles and paint the shelter, now that they’ve found a new director.
The county has 60 days once this consent order is signed by the state to make all new policies and procedures for how the shelter will run. They expect these gates to be open in four to six weeks now that Ivey has ed the department.
Their goal is to have the community more involved and bring in more rescues to help them out.
Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
