FRONT ROYAL –Though her attorney, Jay Neal, and Virginia Federation of Dog Clubs and Breeders member Alice Harrington spoke on her behalf, it was not enough to convince the Warren County Board of Supervisors that Wendy Tenney should be allowed to continue operations at her commercial breeding kennel following a fatal fire that killed 16 dogs in March 2017. On a motion by Dan Murray, seconded Archie Fox the board voted 4-1 – Linda Glavis in whose district Tenney lives dissenting.)
On Tuesday evening, April 17, the county supervisors heard Neal explain that Tenney was well-trained in animal psychology, as a vet tech, and that she was skilled at providing animal CPR and first aid.
What they didn’t hear from Neal was why Tenney chose to ignore the advice of a Warren County Animal Control Officer to not use an electric space heater to warm the kennel. That advice came on December 1, 2016, just over three months prior to the March 6 fire after Tenney pointed to a space heater’s frayed wiring believed caused by dogs gnawing on it. The County fire investigation filed by Officer Raymond Cross indicated the suspected cause of the fire to be a space heater run from an electrical box wired without a county inspection or permit.
Neal said that since the fatal fire, his client planned to erect a new $30,000 building, complete with an air filtration and air purification system; with bark suppression systems; a carbon monoxide detector; there would be two fire extinguisher and eight fire extinguisher balls, as well as four smoke alarms.
Plans for the new building indicated that there would be ceiling fans, raised dog beds with self-warming mats as well as a grooming and sitting area. Mr. Neal even explained to the board that the dogs would enjoy the use of a CD player and a “flat-screen TV that would play country music videos unless the dogs prefer otherwise.”
Local animal advocate Carol Vorous, who runs the community outreach “All Dogs Matter”, spoke against Tenney retaining a permit. She told the board the fact Tenney had sometimes refused Animal Control officers access to her property was “a red flag.” She said that granting the kennel owner a permit would allow her to benefit from the death of the dogs.
Also speaking out against Tenney being allowed to retain her Conditional Use Permit was next-door neighbor Michael Hanson. He told the board that the stench from the dog waste was “tremendous” and that he could not enjoy his property, which he chiefly used on weekends.
“I cannot have a cookout and invite friends over; it smells too bad. It hasn’t been different for five years – Tenney got her original CUP in 2012. He told the group that to allow Tenney to continue to have a permit for a kennel operation would be “throwing fire into the kettle.”
Hanson, who sold the Tenney family the property on which they live, said after the meeting he had taken
off work from his second-shift job to make his feelings known to the board. Upon learning of the revocation of Tenney’s permit, he stated, “I’m very pleased. I hope it clears up the issues … but I am mostly pleased for the welfare of the animals.”
After the public hearing closed, Supervisors Fox, Murray and Sayre had an array of questions, particularly regarding Tenney’s kennel being wired for electricity, though no county permit or inspection was on file.
Tenney’s response to the tremendous odor reported by her neighbor: “It could have been my goats. Male goats have a bad smell when they are in rut.” When asked how many goats she has on her three-acre property, she said that it can range from 12-20.
Sayre was concerned about how the dogs would be exercised, and how much exercise they would receive. Vice-chairman Murray was especially pensive about the complaints of constant barking. He asked Tenney if it was possible that she had become “tone-deaf” to the issue.
Tenney answered Murray by saying that if her dogs were barking it was because her neighbor behind her house (not the adjacent neighbor who had complained about the barking) was having loud parties which would make her dogs bark. Otherwise, she explained, they did not bark.
After that exchange, Supervisor Linda Glavis made a motion to approve modifications to the conditions of Tenney’s existing CUP forwarded by the planning commission on a 3-2 vote for permit renewal. The motion died for lack of a second, after which Vice Chairman Murray made the motion to revoke Tenney’s conditional use permit to operate a Commercial Breeding Kennel.
The post-fire county planning staff review found multiple violations of Tenney’s original conditional use permit and a history of cancelling inspections and delays or failures to reschedule. Cited in that 2017 staff report were:
- the warning from Animal Control about a space heater in the kennel with frayed wiring from believed dog chewing;
- No electrical permit for the kennel building;
- accumulated trash and feces in the kennel, the former cited in rapid spread of the March 6 fire;
- septic drainage toward neighboring properties and a consequent strong odor coming from the kennel property;
- a failure to license kennel dogs over a two-year period 2015-16;
- exceeding the maximum number of 11 permitted dogs by housing as many as “approximately 19” adult dogs;
- inoperable barking suppression collars;
- and repeated cancellations of scheduled county staff or animal warden visits without effort to reschedule.
And prior to the March 14 planning commission vote, Shenandoah District Commissioner Ralph Rinaldi noted he had been informed that Tenney was two years or more behind on some of her county tax payments. Tenney attorney Jay Neal told the planning commission on March 14 that situation would be rectified within a week.
“We went through the process and it is what it is,” Rinaldi told Royal Examiner after the March planning commission vote, adding, “But I’m worried at the signal we’re sending to the citizens of Warren County – you can not pay your taxes and not pay your business license and sales tax; and not comply with your conditional use permit and you can still run your business.”
See related story: Planning Commission majority recommends 2nd chance for kennel owner
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