ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County commissioners met in a packed room Wednesday morning with a sizable crowd voicing concern for the animals at the Belmont County Animal Shelter and criticism of the dog warden and staff.

This after word circulated on social media that some animals at the shelter had been euthanized.

Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton confirmed during a recess that four dogs were euthanized in the past two weeks. He added, though, that the animal shelter is still considered a “no kill” shelter despite the fact that euthanizations occur. He said a shelter is considered “no kill” if 10 percent or fewer of the animals there are euthanized.

According to the animal welfare group the Animal Humane Society, no organization or governing body determines what “no-kill” means. The 90 percent placement standard is simply a generally agreed-upon rate.

Ashley Barto of Flushing asked why volunteers are being turned away and how many volunteers are in place. She also asked if the dogs were euthanized due to lack of space.

The issue of volunteers came before the commissioners in April and May, with volunteers suspended for a time after clashes between volunteers and the dog warden and staff. The program was reinstated after a new policy was ironed out. Two longtime volunteers — Aaron and Jodi Apitzsch — were banned. They had been active in promoting the animals for adoption on social media, but it was alleged they posted untrue information about the dogs.

Dutton said there are volunteers at the shelter but did not have the number of current volunteers on hand. He said space is a pressing problem in animal shelters across the country, with some other county animal shelters shutting their doors to new animals.

“We’re doing the best we can in Belmont County to continue to keep our doors open,” he said. “We are overcrowded at Belmont County. We have used every single bit of space we can at our facility and will continue to do so.

“We do need animals to be adopted,” he said. “We have breeds that are more difficult to adopt out even though we try our best to. The majority of our population at any given time, I’m assuming, … are pit bulls and pit bull mixes, which tend to be a little more difficult to adopt out,” Dutton said.

Candace Fleagane, who runs the Belmont County Cat Stray Shun program to spay and neuter cats, asked for a show of hands on how many people present had attempted to volunteer or had been to the shelter. Several raised their hands.

“These people who work at the shelter are caring, compassionate people and they spend many hours after work trying to find other rescues and other shelters that can take our dogs. We have called and contacted hundreds of them, and no one wants these animals,” she said.

She added that many rescue organizations take animals into the members’ homes and cannot take aggressive animals.

Kassidy Traczyk of St. Clairsville suggested starting a dog foster program, adding there are willing people with facilities in their homes. Fleagane said no one has come to the shelter seeking to foster a dog.

Melissa Karkowsai of St. Clairsville, a longtime supporter of and donor to the shelter, accused the shelter of corruption and insufficient efforts to foster dogs. She asked who determines if a dog is aggressive and not adoptable and was told the staff was responsible. She also said the requirements for housing a foster dog are too strict.

“You have such criteria for these people that nobody can meet that,” she said. “This pet has to be the only pet in the house. You can’t have small children.”

Dutton said the county must place restrictions in the interest of safety.

Karkowsai suggested a greater effort to monitor the shelter and train the animals, or to establish a committee to monitor the shelter. Karkowsai said she is in the process of seeking veterinary records of all animals that were put down.

One guest said she believed more than 20 cats had been euthanized recently. Fleagane said this was not true and that only cats that have been badly mauled on the roads have been euthanized.

Another guest said he had deduced cats were being put down after more than 20 cats had “disappeared” from Petfinder.com.

Fleagane said this was not the case.

Afterward, Dutton said there are close to 70 animals in the shelter currently, and the commissioners have confidence in the warden and staff. The county is looking into expanding the animal shelter facility, and the commissioners are awaiting the consultant’s proposal.

Dog Warden Lisa Duvall was present but did not speak. After the meeting, she said she did not have the number of volunteers or dogs that have been euthanized so far this year readily available, but she said the shelter has been making efforts to get the word out about its animals, using methods such as social media and a Facebook Live event with a nationwide animal adoption organization, A Promise to Jordan. A staff member with a dog to adopt and information is also regularly present in front of the courthouse.

She said last week five starving dogs were found between Barnesville and Somerton, and the staff is working to rehabilitate them. She said the dogs likely were kept in cages and badly neglected before being abandoned, judging from the urine stains on their claws and fur.

“They’re doing better,” Duvall said, adding that one that could barely move is able to stand now. “They’re so anemic from the fleas and the worms and not being fed. They’re actually defecating mud and rocks for the past four days. That’s what they ate to stay alive. If there was a morsel of food, they ate everything around it.”

Duvall said more information about the dogs can be found on the shelter’s Facebook page.

The shelter is located at 45244 National Road West, St. Clairsville. To volunteer or donate to the shelter, call 740-695-4708.