Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Animal Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge Haywood County to overhaul animal services after neglect cases, call for independent audit
Summary
At a March 16 Haywood County Board of Commissioners meeting, more than a dozen residents and rescue volunteers described repeated animal neglect and deaths, alleged record-keeping failures at Haywood County Animal Services, and asked the board to commission an independent audit and strengthen the county animal ordinance.
At the Haywood County Board of Commissioners meeting on March 16, residents presented repeated, detailed accounts of animal neglect and urged the board to order an independent review of county animal-services practices.
Holly Greenwell recounted the case of a small dog named Zoe, saying animal-control calls were made repeatedly between 2019 and 2025 about conditions at a Canton address and that Zoe “had been abused badly” before a neighbor purchased the dog for $500 in November 2025; the dog was euthanized in December 2025. “This is not protection. That is failure in the system,” Greenwell said while asking commissioners to adopt clearer, enforceable standards so animal control can act earlier.
Multiple volunteers and rescue workers told commissioners they had repeatedly alerted Haywood County Animal Services (HCAS) to starving and severely neglected horses in the Beaver Dam area; Dream Haven volunteers said they rescued one emaciated horse (Sam) and later found his pasture mate (Buster) dead. Jennifer Jones and Karen Owens described a sequence of calls and delayed responses and asked why no charges were brought after several animals died.
Michelle Oltman told the board an HCAS officer resigned rather than follow orders from Director Howard Martin to stop assigning intake numbers to feral cats, and she said transfers to rescues were sometimes recorded as adoptions, inflating reported outcomes. “I am asking you to please commission an independent audit of HCAS intake, euthanasia, transfer, and adoption records from 2020 to present,” Oltman said.
The meeting included vocal disagreement over local practices: several residents who raise working or hunting dogs defended tethering and insulated barrels for working animals, urging the board not to enact rules that would criminalize traditional care methods.
Commissioners and county officials responded that the public had raised serious concerns worth reviewing. The chair asked for clarity about what “pulls the trigger” for a seizure and said staff should look into the intake-number practice and the county’s enforcement priorities. Several commissioners said they would ask county staff to follow up with HCAS leadership and review whether enforcement procedures or ordinance language need revision.
No formal investigation or audit was approved at the meeting; commissioners described the concerns as substantial and asked county staff and the county manager to report back with findings. The board did not adopt any changes to the animal ordinance during the session.
What happens next: Commissioners said staff will research HCAS procedures and legal thresholds for seizure and enforcement; any formal audit or ordinance changes would be set up as separate action items in future meetings.
