DANVILLE, Va. – Euthanasia records for around 1,800 animals at the Danville Area Humane Society may have been filled out incorrectly, according to a five-page hearing notice from the Virginia Board of Pharmacy outlining several allegations against the shelter. Shelter director Paulette Dean says the mistake was minor, has since been corrected, and had no effect on the animals’ well-being.
“The fault was mine,” Dean said. “There was one little box that wasn’t checked that said this person is certified.”
The problem stems from euthanizations performed in 2023 and 2024. Dean says the issue came down to a single unchecked box — one that was supposed to confirm a certified person was present during the procedure.
Dean says everyone at the shelter held proper certifications and that the error was resolved quickly after the state shelter inspector flagged it.
“When the state vet pointed that out to me, my heart did stop,” Dean said. “And I thought, oh no, I’ve made that mistake. Within a couple of days the mistake was taken care of.”
David Wesolowski, grassroots advocacy manager for the nonprofit group Better Friends, says the recordkeeping lapse points to deeper problems at the shelter.
“The shelter needs to embrace modern shelter practices, digital record keeping, better inspections, better standard operating procedures — things that they have been fighting against,” Wesolowski said. “But [they] will ultimately make the shelter run better and increase live outcomes for the animals.”
Beyond the records controversy, questions remain about whether the shelter has enough funding to meet its needs. A comparison of approximate government funding given to official shelters in Danville, Lynchburg, and the Roanoke Valley shows Danville receives roughly $100 less per animal than shelters in the Roanoke Valley and Lynchburg.
However, Danville and Lynchburg can receive more grants and privately sourced funding because they operate as nonprofits that contract with their cities, while the RCACP in the Roanoke Valley is entirely government-run.
Despite receiving less government money than comparable shelters, Dean says she has no complaints about her shelter’s budget. The shelter received an increase of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city a few years ago.
“We believe our funding for shelter operations is good now,” Dean said.
Dean says the funding boost allowed the shelter to hire a social media staffer and expand hours for a staff member who coordinates outreach to rescue groups and animal transfers.
“That has been a very positive thing,” she said.