The County Commission’s February 16 agenda brought over 50 members of the public–enough that the meeting had to be moved from its usual spot in Patsy H. Sadler Room to the larger courtroom down the hall. Nearly everyone in attendance was there to confront the same issue: what will the county do about animal control?

The meeting’s agenda included a formal ordinance that would enshrine the animal services practices that the county had informally adopted around September of last year. These include moving from an Animal Control office to an Animal Services Officer supervised by the Health Director.

The ordinance lays out functions that include procedures for identifying and dealing with dangerous dogs, handling potential rabies outbreaks, and creating a job description for the Animal Services Officer. The updated role limits animal services to those required by law: response for calls regarding rabies, dog bites, and dangerous animals.

The more limited role comes in the wake of a decision-making process that included all municipalities in the county. County Commissioners reached out to towns to see if they were willing to shoulder expenses related to expanding animal control services in Pamlico County. Proposals included expanding to a staff of three and having a dedicated animal control office and shelter in the county. The town governments replied that they did not see a need for expanded services and the associated cost.

In response to this feedback, the commissioners opted in September to limit the role.

“I think there was a breakdown in communication,” Commissioner Candy Bohmert said. “I think that the towns, as usually happens, were not communicating.”

A number of members of the public attended the meeting and spoke during the public comment period to tell the commissioners their animal welfare concerns.

Mary Hiatt, who is a volunteer with Pamlico Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), spoke about managing cat colonies. “We are aware of a proposed recommendation to designate certain feral cat colonies as a public health nuisance,” she said. “We recognize that Pamlico County has a problem with the number of feral and stray cats. PAWS advocates for trap/neuter/release (TNR) when a committed colony caregiver has been identified.

“That said, we understand not everyone is willing or able to be a colony caregiver. While we prefer to work with residents to do TNR, we also know that groups of cats that are not cared for will suffer and increase the population. Our hope is that this recommendation, if passed, will be implemented in a fair, reasonable, and humane manner.”

PAWS president Jackie Schmidt expressed concern about the scope of the Animal Services position. “In the description of the work, why is picking up stray, nuisance and injured animals not included? If this is not included, who is supposed to do this?” she said.

Benjamin Rauch, who has been working at Oriental Village Veterinary Hospital for 17 years, described dilemmas faced by him and other veterinary professionals. “The main concern we have is rabies,” he said. “There was a rabies outbreak in Oriental. Ninety-two cats were trapped. Only 12 had clipped ears indicating that they had the rabies vaccine and were spayed or neutered. That’s only 15%.”

He described the scene that confronted him when he visited a private property to help manage a cat colony. “I had permission to do trapping by the owner on her property. She had a cat that was on her property. She wanted to have it spayed, neutered, vaccinated, do the right thing,” he said.

But, what he found was far more than a single cat. “After work, it was dark. I went to the property with a couple cats. And as my headlights went around, I saw nothing but eyeballs,” he said. “The problem is far more prevalent than you realize. There's a lot of unseen animals out there that need our help.”

He emphasized that the problem is beyond what can be accomplished by private citizens. “We need animal control and we need the shelter,” he said. “We’ve had people come up to our business saying ‘I found this poor dog, I found this poor cat. Can you help it?’

“Of course we’re going to help it,” he said. “But we cannot take on the role of animal control.”

The commission briefly discussed tabling the new ordinance, but Commissioner Ed Riggs pointed out that the ordinance formalizes what has been practiced since September of last year. “Remember, we went through this entire exercise, and we looked at what the actual cost would be,” he said. “We went to each town and inquired, and we were looking at, what was it, $30 a resident? It costs about $30 a resident to do what they wanted to do.”

When the commission addressed towns in Pamlico, they were told the towns did not see a need for expanded animal control. “They told us, if I remember wrong, let somebody correct me, they outright told us that they didn't have a problem, that there was no issues in the town,” Riggs said. He pointed out that the county is experiencing a budgetary shortfall that makes it unaffordable for them to shoulder animal control alone. “You heard it from our auditor, we were down a half million this year,” he said.

He said that plans for expanded animal control services would cost at least half a million on their own. “It’s not that we’re celebrating,” he said. “I’m very sympathetic. And I would like to do more. It’s a matter of dollars and cents, when you come down to it. But we do need to pay for it.”

“For years, we’ve had smooth-running elections, in no small part this was done my Ms. Lisa Bennett, who is here tonight,” County Commissioner Kenny Heath said. He continued to congratulate Bennett on 19 years of service with Pamlico County, most recently serving as the Director of Elections. Reading from a proclamation, Heath continued, “Throughout her tenure, Director Bennett has been a steadfast guardian of the democratic process, ensuring that every election was conducted with the highest level of integrity, transparency, and accuracy.”

Bennett retired January 2, 2026.

Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Johnson updated the commissioners on a number of ongoing programs. The school district has formulated a five pillar plan to improve the schools in the district over five years. These pillars are improved instruction; better support and resources for teachers; parent and community involvement; safer schools; and, improved facilities.

He told commissioners that they were making progress on pillar five. Construction on the consolidated middle and high school is on schedule.

They have also seen concrete results on improved instruction. Pamlico County High School has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students taking advance placements, from 46 in 2021 to 70 last school year. Eight students scored high enough to earn college credit in 2021. That number rose to 55 in the 2024-2025 school year.

Health Department Director Melanie Dixon shared a presentation on Healthy NC 2030, a statewide project designed to track and improve public health.

Experts identified three pressing health concerns in Pamlico County:

These will be community health priorities.

Dixon also highlighted some of the county’s health accomplishments, including:

The commissioners heard the results of the annual audit. A few highlights of the report:

The following consent agenda items were passed unanimously:

The board went into closed session to discuss a personnel issue.

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