Mar 12, 2015 3 min read

This is in response to the March 7 story, “Chartiers animal shelter and owner again cited by dog warden.”

Angel Ridge Animal Rescue is a nonprofit shelter and sanctuary for dogs, cats and horses. It is located on Angel Ridge Farm, which is my farm. The buildings on the farm are served by a private natural gas well and well water. The building, which houses the rescue dogs, is an insulated and heated pole building with ceilings 18-feet high.

While we have always had our share of small, wild birds living in the rafters of the kennel building, the cold temperatures of this winter brought an additional 25 or so of them. Before winter, our attempts to evict them failed miserably. With more birds comes more bird droppings, and this has become quite a problem.

We have consulted with at least a dozen wild bird experts and exterminators, including the Pennsylvania Game Commission. None of them offered a solution. Finally, an Internet-savvy volunteer uncovered a possible solution: We purchased a commercial fogging machine that emits a vegetable-based spray that birds do not like, but will not harm them. The vapor will encourage the birds to move on. Unfortunately, this is a warm-weather project, as the building must be completely opened up and the dogs removed for the day.

We were not alone in having frozen outside drains this winter. Three different plumbing companies have been called out to snake the drains, but all of them told us the ground is frozen too deeply. Our remedy was to have a septic system company remove the backed-up water from inside the building. We will do this again, if needed, until the ground outside thaws.

In recent weeks, we have been cited on two occasions by the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement for violations pertaining to the bird excrement and the drains. State dog wardens were on site when the septic system company was doing its work clearing the drains, yet the second set of citations was filed against us. We have shown the dog wardens the box of the fogging equipment and discussed our plan that must wait for warmer weather. Our staff performs extra cleaning daily of the bird droppings. However, the dog wardens arrived early in the morning, before cleaning had started and cited us for this problem for a second time.

Last year, we found homes for 220 dogs and 120 cats. We have kept 12 dog kennels empty all winter, denying many dozens of dogs admission to our facility. Most of these are dogs living outside in the cold in our county. We do not want to be deemed irresponsible for taking in dogs given our winter problems.

Our inspections by the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement have been satisfactory for years.

We have done the best with what we have and with what is possible in this terrible weather.

We take pride and joy in our rescue work. Angel Ridge Animal Rescue is not a bad or dirty place, and we welcome you to visit and see for yourself.

Nancy C. Shannon

Washington

Shannon is the director of the Angel Ridge Animal Rescue in Chartiers Township.