Part-time animal control officer doing a lot with a little

SNOW HILL - Kathy Pazzaglia lifted two cat carriers out of the back of her truck and brought them inside a small building.

She set them down facing each other, so the mother cat in one carrier could see her two kittens in the other.

Pazzaglia, Snow Hill's lone animal control officer, said the cats' owner surrendered the pets because they became too much of a burden.

"The economy's really playing havoc on owners and pets," she said. "It's heartbreaking."

Still, because the shelter in Snow Hill is more of a temporary holding facility than a long-term animal shelter - and because there are no room for cats - the felines were then transported to the Greene County Animal Shelter, also in Snow Hill.

The shelter did have one resident, however: a purebred, 4-month-old male beagle.

Pazzaglia said that only having one dog is a rarity at the small shelter, which is still being used for storage for some of the town's other departments.

"I've been pretty full," she said.

Snow Hill isn't the only one operating with more animals needing help than they have space; many area shelters - including the Greene County Animal Shelter and the Lenoir County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - are always at or near capacity.

Snow Hill Public Works and Utilities Director Dana Hill said the Snow Hill shelter was re-opened to help Greene County.

"(It's) just to kind of supplement the Greene County program," he said. "It's just a little added benefit for the town's citizens."

Pazzaglia is already trying to ease that burden, even as a part-time employee at the Snow Hill Animal Shelter, which is a separate entity than the Greene County Animal Shelter.

"It's been a big increase, but we're trying to get this completely fixed up," she said of the shelter.

The program re-started in January after nearly a decade. When Hurricane Floyd came through in 1999, Pazzaglia said only the very top of the shelter was visible.

"All this was under water," she said, gesturing to the inside of the building.

Because of that and because the town still uses parts of the already-small building for storage, the Upstate New York native - who has lived in Greene County for about 5 years - doesn't have an office and lugs her papers around with her in her pickup truck.

Still, she said she doesn't mind.

"As long as these guys (the animals) are happy and healthy, I can deal with the rest," she said.

Sometimes, though, Pazzaglia has to see animals in shocking states of abuse or neglect. She said there was a pit bull that was so covered in ticks, "you couldn't even see his ear cavity." There was a Chihuahua with a tumor on her leg, tied up in the backyard with another dog. There was one dog so thin Pazzaglia wasn't surprised when the owner admitted he hadn't fed the dog in awhile.  It's hard to stomach, she said.

"If people would just pay attention to their animals, we wouldn't have half these problems," she said.

Pazzaglia, though, rarely focuses on the bad. Instead, she expressed joy at how someone adopted the little Chihuahua, even know the medical problems she had. She talked about the dogs she's rescued and the dogs she's seen adopted.

"It just does your heart good, knowing that these animals are getting a good home," she said.

For Hill, the Public Works director, Pazzaglia's hard work is paying off.

"She's doing great," he said. "She's very enthusiastic and passionate about her job. ... We get a lot of positive feedback."

Town Administrator Bob Clark agreed.

"Mayor (Don) Davis and the Board of Commissioners were very pleased with the report," Clark wrote in an e-mail. "It reflects Kathy's efforts and justifies the extra resources included in this year's budget to expand the program."

Pazzaglia, however, doesn't do what she does for the praise of others.

"Working with Snow Hill has been a really great experience," she said. "I don't know if I'd trade it for the world, to be honest."

Vanessa C. Shortley can be reached at (252) 559-1076 or vshortley@freedomenc.com. Check out Vanessa's blog at http://vclarke.encblogs.com.

The following are some highlights from the past few months of Snow Hill Animal Control (SHAC) Officer Kathy Pazzaglia's job:

April:

•  Wood Ducks were captured and turned over to Wild Life Rescue for release.
•  Fifteen puppies were picked up by animal control. Most were adopted, but three had to be put down due to canine parvovirus disease, or Parvo, a highly contagious and often-fatal illness.
•  One pit bull had ticks covering 70 percent of his body. He was surrendered to SHAC, treated with Frontline (a flea and tick medication) and adopted out a couple days later.

May:

• Four neglect cases.
• Warning notices and citations given out to some non-compliant owners.

June:

• Three animal cruelty cases.
• Trial begins June 27 for a case of abuse/neglect of a four-month-old pit bull, who had multiple collars imbedded in his neck.
• Rabies education continues.
• Another case of a puppy with severe ticks. The owner was educated on preventative care and complied.
• A 13-year-old spaniel was rescued from an abandoned trailer with no air conditioning. All windows were closed in 100-degree temperatures. She was taken to the Greene County Animal Shelter, where she was later adopted.

July:

• Several dogs were surrendered due to neglect and owners who couldn't care for them any longer.
• Four stray dogs were picked up; one was adopted and three had to put down from worms and Parvo.
• A 1-month-old kitten was rescued from a vehicle fan and adopted.
• A court case update: The defendant was found guilty of one count of animal cruelty. The court gave him the following punishment: $150 fine, 12 months supervised probation, $74 to the Town of Snow Hill for the veterinary bill and he is forbidden to own another animal or live in a home with an animal in the state.

The Snow Hill Animal Shelter needs donations of any kind. To help, contact the Town of Snow Hill at (252) 747-3414.