The Virginia Board of Pharmacy is accusing the Danville Area Humane Society of violating state code in some of its recordkeeping related to the use of sedative and euthanasia drugs. A committee of the board’s members will hear evidence during a June 24 hearing in Richmond.
Danville’s municipal animal shelter has long been under fire for its high euthanasia rates, which are historically far above state averages. In 2025, the shelter euthanized 59% of the animals in its care, about 6.5 times higher than the state average. Still, the 2025 figure is lower than the shelter’s 2024 rate of 65% and its 2023 rate of 78%.
Now, its euthanasia records are coming into question.
According to a notice from the board of pharmacy, the Danville shelter failed to maintain euthanasia records as required by the state for more than 1,800 animals in 2023.
The Virginia Board of Pharmacy is the state regulatory agency for licensing pharmacies and pharmacists. It issues registrations for controlled substances to animal shelters, so that shelters can purchase and administer drugs to sedate and euthanize animals under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
Paulette Dean, the longtime director of the Danville shelter, said that the shelter’s euthanasia practices “are humane, painless and kind.”
“This is about records, not the treatment of animals,” she said in a text message on Wednesday.
This development comes several weeks after the shelter’s most recent controversy — euthanizing a beloved dog named Eve. The 12-year-old American Staffordshire terrier had been a favorite at the Lynchburg Humane Society since 2021.
She was adopted in November, and her owner surrendered her to the Danville shelter in April. Eve was euthanized about two weeks later due to space constraints at the Danville shelter and what Dean said was little interest from adopters.
Eve’s microchip should have directed the Danville shelter back to Lynchburg, but Danville shelter staff checked with only one microchip company, rather than a nationwide database, and concluded that her chip wasn’t registered.
This sparked public backlash, including a warning from Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, that the shelter would be shut down unless improvements were made.
The board of pharmacy’s notice states that the Danville shelter violated state code in the following ways:
- The shelter did not document the name and strength of the sedative drug administered in its euthanasia logs, which is required by state code.
- The shelter did not use the correct dosages while administering drugs for euthanasia, and it failed to include dosage information on euthanasia logs, which is required by state code.
- The supervising veterinarian failed to indicate competency for two shelter employees performing euthanasia, rendering their competency certification incomplete, according to state code.
Dean said that the shelter became aware of these recordkeeping errors during a state inspection several years ago. All the errors have now been corrected, she said.
“We were offered to pay a fine, but if we did not want to actually pay, we could attend the hearing,” she said. “It’s not about the money. I want them to see the changes in paperwork … We are just more comfortable with a face-to-face.”
The notice said that the committee can conduct the hearing, even if representatives from the Danville shelter do not attend.
The notice also said that an inspection of the shelter by the Virginia Department of Health Professions in January 2024 “identified the following deficiencies”:
- The facility had not taken inventory of controlled substances since July 2021, though state code requires a count every two years.
- The July 2021 inventory was not signed by the person conducting the inventory, which is required by state code.
A special committee of pharmacy board members will hear these allegations during the hearing in June at the Department of Health Professions building in Richmond.
The Board of Pharmacy posts its hearing schedule for the past 90 days online. In the current time period, only one other animal shelter came before the board for a hearing.
“Anytime there is probable cause that a licensee may have violated a law, a hearing may take place for board deliberation of the matter,” Kelly Smith, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Health Professions, said in an email.
If someone believes that a licensed health practitioner in Virginia has violated the standard of care, they can file a complaint with the department’s enforcement division online.
After the June meeting, the committee can either dismiss the case, exonerating the Danville shelter; require the shelter to pay a fine; place the shelter on probation; refer the matter to the pharmacy board for a formal administrative hearing; or offer the shelter a consent order for suspension or revocation of its registration in lieu of a formal hearing.
