The Horry County Humane Society’s Board of Directors met with the Horry County animal shelter’s interim director Monday inside a restaurant in downtown Conway.
The meeting included the HCHS President Kate Philips, Vice President Suzer Sachs, Treasurer Daren Watson, board member Margaret Evans, and interim shelter director Andree Frohmann.
The HCHS board has eight members.
Notice of the meeting was not posted at the shelter.
News13 contacted Frohmann by phone Monday to find out when the shelter would reopen, but Frohmann said she was waiting on the board to make the decision on the reopening.
News13 sat in on the meeting Monday after at first being denied access.
Philips said the board was meeting to put together a “plan of action” on reopening the shelter, some 10 days after hiring former HCHS board member Andree Frohmann as interim director to devise a plan to reopen the shelter.
The plan is needed to address the issue at the shelter that the board said was the main cause of the distemper outbreak that closed the facility on Dec. 8; there is no building on the grounds to quarantine incoming animals.
The board plans to reopen the spay-neuter clinic Jan. 2, which is located in the administration building, but will keep the remaining kennels closed without a date to reopen.
Philips directed Frohmann to meet with Horry County Public Safety director to work out plans to renovate the facility and for the county to re-appropriate $175,000 the county initially set aside for an adoption facility in Surfside Beach.
Frohmann told the board she has discussed the issues at the shelter with Whitten, but planned to meet with him in person.
Philips said the board cannot set a date to reopen without meeting with the county about constructing the buildings the shelter needs to ensure viruses and diseases are not transferred within the shelter.
Part of the reopening plan includes new intake procedures, a new intake facility, a separate facility for animal control to drop animals off at the shelter, and new cleaning and handling procedures for shelter staff.
The board plans to renovate an existing maintenance shed to house cats.
Frohmann said she plans to move the euthanasia area out of existing kennel “A” and use that for animals that have proof of current vaccinations with a mandatory hold of five days on each animal in kennel “A” before the animal is moved into the shelter’s general population.
“We want to restore confidence in the public that it’s safe to adopt an animal again,” Philips said.
The renovation plans depend on county approval, according to the board.
The HCHS board has set a special meeting for Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Chapin Memorial Library.
You can count on News13 to keep you updated on the shelter’s progress.
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