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Senior ACO Derek Woodlief says outreach and a Paws4ever partnership aim to curb tethering
Summary
At the March 18 Orange County Animal Services Advisory Board meeting, Senior ACO Derek Woodlief described a shift from citation to outreach, including a partnership with Paws4ever to provide fencing alternatives to tethering, a Chewy.com food-donation relationship, vaccination services, and volunteer needs.
Senior Animal Control Officer Derek Woodlief told the Orange County Animal Services Advisory Board on March 18 that the shelter has shifted its approach from citation and enforcement toward community outreach to help pet owners provide safer conditions for animals.
Woodlief said the department is partnering with Paws4ever, a not-for-profit in Mebane, to provide fencing alternatives to tethering, which the board identified as prohibited under county ordinance. He said the nonprofit funds and routes fencing work; currently the program is building roughly one new fence and repairing about three fences per month, and county funds are not being used for that work. Woodlief described the partnership as an attempt to reduce criminalizing owners who tether pets by offering repair or replacement of fencing instead.
He also said the shelter is now accepting partial bags of pet food and is developing a relationship with Chewy.com to obtain donations to stock a public pet food bank. The board heard that certified rabies vaccinators (CRV) among ACOs can administer rabies vaccines for a $10 fee or at no cost depending on a household’s finances, and that veterinarians and other volunteers are needed to support clinic work and paperwork at rabies clinics.
Woodlief described ongoing outreach to local schools and the University of North Carolina to bring adoptable dogs to educational events and other community settings as a way to increase adoptions and public familiarity with shelter operations. He also recounted an unusual call involving a loose emu to illustrate the range of field work ACOs sometimes handle.
When asked by Annie Goldberg about deer concerns, Woodlief said the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission handles most deer issues and noted narrow circumstances in which property owners may take deer for crop or property damage. The board did not adopt new enforcement policies during the discussion; members instead discussed outreach, partnerships and volunteer recruitment as operational priorities.
The board scheduled continued discussion of outreach outcomes and volunteer recruitment at future meetings. The next Animal Services Advisory Board meeting is set for April 15, 2026.
