Animal Sanctuary’s Needs Mirror Common Bradford County Themes

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Animal Care Sanctuary on Oct. 12 were (from left) board member Mary O’Malley Trumble, Bradford County commissioner Daryl Miller, board chairman Richard MacIntire, ACS director Joan Smith-Reese, and commissioner Doug McLinko. The commissioners, with chief clerk Michelle Shedden (above, left) held their public meeting at the facility to highlight its successes and needs. Commissioner Ed Bustin (not pictured) was at another meeting but participated via conference call.

Photos and Story by Rick Hiduk

A public meeting conducted by the Bradford County Commissioners at the Animal Care Sanctuary (ACS) in Smithfield Township on Thursday ironically highlighted two recurring problems that have daunted the county for years: sub-par royalty payments by major players in the Marcellus shale and abysmal cell and internet service moderately populated but mountainous areas.

The Oct. 12 meeting was indicative of those conducted quarterly by the commissioners outside the county seat to highlight projects and entities supported by taxpayers. In this case, ACS is celebrating its 50th anniversary and seeking sustainable financial support for the nearly 400 animals in transition on any given day at its headquarters. ACS officials, including ACS board chairman Richard MacIntire, also noted pending improvements that will help ACS better serve the area and even become a destination that supports the economy.

In addition to explaining current plans for expansion of the facilities, MacIntire brought two subjects to light during the meeting that have challenged the commissioners for years. MacIntire noted that there is a lucrative gas pad on the site’s 132 acres that one would imagine should be a Godsend to the organization. Unfortunately, it is leased by Chesapeake Energy, notoriously labeled as a drain on leaseholders due to its exorbitant post-production costs.

Like many landowners, ACS received a bill (rather than a royalty check) from Chesapeake to the tune of $40,000, a story that the commissioners have repeatedly shared with the media and lawmakers in Harrisburg. “It’s unconscionable that a gas company could send a ‘you owe us’ bill to an entity that provides such an important service,” said Commissioner Daryl Miller. “People in more urban areas of the state should be alarmed to hear that.”

Harrisburg doesn’t put a face on this. They don’t care who the gas companies steal from,” said Commissioner Doug McLinko in reference to ACS’ negative royalty checks. “We’ve adjusted everything we do to maximize the potential (of the gas industry) only to have them pull the rug out from under us.”

Secondly, MacIntire (below, right) told the commissioners, the ACS property could serve the county as a key piece in its radio, cell phone, and internet transmission plans as per its elevation and location in one of the county’s notorious “blind spots.” MacIntire reported that ACS members have formed a steering committee to investigate the possibility of having Verizon or another cell phone company erect a tower on their property. Not only could it serve as an additional source of income, it would help expand service to others in that part of the county.

The commissioners took heed to and expounded upon both of MacIntire’s assessment, asking that he keep them apprised of ACS’s progress. Emergency radio transmission as well, Miller noted, is weak in Smithfield Township. He cited former county EMA director Bob Barnes, who was in attendance as an ACS board member, for helping to map out and develop a strategy for improved coverage that the county is pursuing.

Each gas pad is a pocket of industry,” McLinko added. Poor cell service and radio transmission in and out makes each site a public safety risk.

McLinko fielded questions by ACS board member Mary O’Malley Trumble (above, left) as to how to pressure Harrisburg to fix the problems being discussed. McLinko suggested that someone has to be challenged and removed from office if anything is going to change. He lamented that, in his countless trips to the state capital, he has spent more energy battling fellow Republicans than members of the opposing party.

Miller also recommended forming coalitions of like minded groups, noting that the commissioners regularly work with the Farm Bureau, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, and the Township Supervisors Association of Pennsylvania to lobby for rural interests. “It’s not just us down there sounding the bell.”

McLinko asked ACS director Joan Smith Reese to remind those in attendance what there was to celebrate at ACS. She provided a bit of history that dates the organization back to 1967 when Leslie Sinclair started taking in animals that were abandoned by vacationers to Toms River, NJ, when they returned home at summer’s end.

In 1982, Sinclair acquired the land on which the current facility was built in 1984. When she passed away in 1998, ACS slipped into limbo until a national movement to spay and neuter animals and reduce the number of euthanizations brought the public around to Sinclair’s way of thinking and those who had kept the shelter running in her absence.

ACS pulled out of the fog with new programs and partnerships and, according to Reese, was able to start securing grants for spay/neuter programs to address an ever-challenging feral cat problem. In addition to an onsite clinic and one in Wellsboro. Students of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine serve internships at the facility, and writing students from New York take advantage of the quiet the property has to offer in return for performing a service project for ACS.

Senior citizens and school children routinely visit the shelter for education and to provide socialization for the animals, and pets with the greatest potential for adoption are taken to senior centers and schools, as well as to PetSmart stores in Williamsport, Ithaca and Horseheads.

ACS also rescues animals from disaster zones, such as those devastated by hurricanes this past year. They have brought in dogs from Korea that were raised for consumption in Korean restaurants. Thankfully, the practice has fallen out of favor with younger Koreans and outlawed in advance of the country’s hosting of the Winter Olympics.

Animal care workshops, dog training, a canine behavior helpline, and emergency care for senior and special needs dogs are also available. While as many as 250 cats have an adequate, clean space at the Sanctuary, the dogs will soon have to be moved out to make room for the demolition of their existing kennel and construction of a new one upon which will be built a new clinic.

To learn more about adoption and volunteer opportunities with ACS, interested readers may log on to www.animalcaresantuary.org.

ACS assistant director Rachel Rossiter introduces (above, left) a friendly pitbull named Gabby to the county commissioners and other guests during a tour that followed the Oct. 12 public meeting at the facility.

Bradford County maintenance employee Bob Voda (above) says “hello” to a sociable feline in the ACS cattery.

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