The McKean County SPCA recently failed two state inspections, with issues ranging from insufficient living space for the animals, feces on dog beds and blankets and limited ventilation in the main kennel run.

The facility inspections held on March 12 and April 17, and brought to The Era’s attention this week, took place days before Nicole Proctor was ousted as the SPCA shelter manager. The non-profit agency fired Proctor on April 25 after less than two years in the leadership role and did not cite a reason why.

“We’re continuing to monitor the McKean County SPCA and will follow up with recheck inspections,” Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture spokesman William R. Nichols told The Era on Wednesday. “We conduct kennel inspections unannounced, at least twice per year. Action following kennel inspections is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.”

SPCA president Amy Stevens did not return a call or email seeking comments for this story, and The Era left a message with a board member, which was also not immediately returned.

But since the SPCA shelter inspections, organization officials have started work on a expansion to the Glenwood Avenue shelter. Whether that is to correct glaring issues or just to begin the planned project could not be determined as of Wednesday night.

The recent state reviews are a major contrast to ones conducted on Feb. 3, 2015, and last year, where the SPCA was found to be in state compliance.

During the April 17 inspection, Pennsylvania state dog warden Amy Tyger discovered feces in water and food bowls kept inside cages with the dogs. She pointed out “the cage is the primary enclosure for 10 dogs.”

The SPCA should have food and water receptacles available to dogs in the kennel, and they should be durable and kept clean, the state report indicates.

In that inspection report, the warden said she found that several blankets inside the primary enclosures were caked in feces. 

“Dogs were sitting/lying on the feces-covered blankets,” the inspection report states. 

The bedding should be kept clean if used in the primary enclosures, Tyger states in her report. 

In the main run area, Tyger also observed a dog inside the primary enclosure with a chewed bed.

The inspection report also indicates that Tyger observed in the main kennel run area and isolation (ISO) 2 area, weather stripping being broken/bent on the bottom of two of the doors, and there were gaps revealing daylight when the doors were shut.

“In the ISO1 area there were loose mortar joints in the tiled walls; mortar was falling inside the primary enclosures where dogs were housed therein,” the inspection states. “In the main run area, there were sharp frayed guillotine wires inside kennel areas, where dogs are being kept.”

Officials should act to ensure that indoor and outdoor dog housing facilities be “maintained in a manner to protect the dogs from injury and to contain the dogs.”

The inspection report also includes Tyger seeing flaking paint, particles chipped off and parts of the floor missing inside several primary housing enclosures for dogs.

For this non-compliance item, the warden directs that housing surfaces inside of the SPCA should be built and maintained — that way they are resistant and can be readily sanitized, the inspection report reads.

The inspection report also includes Tyger noting that, of 10 dogs living in enclosures, five did not have sufficient living space. 

The SPCA should have a primary enclosure constructed and maintained “to provide sufficient space to allow each dog to turn about freely and to stand erect, sit and lie down in a comfortable, normal position. Each dog housed in a primary enclosure shall be provided with a minimum amount of floor space, which shall be calculated according to the kennel regulation formula,” the warden pointed out in the inspection report.

In her April visit, Tyger also found ceiling holes where duct vents had once been.

“There was limited ventilation inside the main kennel run area,” she reported. “There was a feces odor inside the main kennel run. One dog was being housed inside a cage, inside the boiler room. There is no ventilation inside the boiler room.”

She directed the SPCA to take action, which includes that indoor housing facilities for dogs should be sufficiently ventilated to cut down on drafts, odors, ammonia levels and moisture condensation.

“Ventilation shall be provided by means of windows, doors, vents or air conditioners. Auxiliary ventilation from fans, blowers or air conditioners shall be provided when the ambient temperature is 85 degrees F or higher,” the inspection report reads. “The relative humidity shall be maintained at a level that ensures the health and well-being of the dog housed therein in accordance with generally accepted husbandry practices.”

The inspection report also mentions bottles of cleaning solutions on a table that hangs over the edge of the dog housing. Also the warden saw clutter, dirty laundry and debris in the middle of the entranceway to the main run and ISO areas.

This “was pointed out to employees upon arrival, but no one removed the items to create a safe passage before the inspection was completed,” the report states.

What’s more, Tyger noticed stacked bowls and buckets on top of a cage, causing the primary enclosure to bow. A dog was in the cage at the time, she reported. 

Tyger directed the SPCA to make sure the “buildings and grounds of kennels shall be maintained, kept clean and in good repair to protect the animal from injury and to facilitate practices required by this chapter. Kennels shall have an effective program that controls ingress by insects, ectoparasites and avian and mammalian pests. Evidence of insects, ectoparasites and avian and mammalian pests or conditions that would allow or encourage infestation in a kennel are indicative of an ineffective program and unsanitary environmental sanitation in the kennel.”

The March 12 report is similar to the April 17 inspection document, though some infractions seem to have been corrected and new problems emerged.

Other issues brought to light were an uncovered light switch in the puppy room, as well as a hole in the wall that revealed a bare electrical wire. 

“In the medicine room there were doors, one without a knob and one with a broken knob, which allows dogs housed therein to easily open the door,” the inspection report states. 

She also found bottles of bleach and other cleaning solutions on the floor in the office and the office bathroom. 

“Two dogs were housed in this area upon wardens arrival to the shelter,” according to the inspection report, something that Tyger pointed “out to kennel employees prior to starting the inspection, and at no point did anyone one pick the cleaners up and put them out of the reach of the dogs housed therein while wardens were at this kennel.”

The inspection reports can be viewed at https://www.padogs.state.pa.us/PublicKennels/SearchKennelInspections.aspx.