Delaware

Hearing March 6 on proposed animal sanctuary in Delaware sparking criticism and support

Published

10 months ago

March 6, 2025

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Hearing March 6 on proposed animal sanctuary in Delaware sparking criticism and support

The proposed animal sanctuary is on about 11.5 acres of donated land on Hartly Road.
First State Animal Center and SPCA plans to provide a home for about 10 animals at a time, mostly older horses and livestock along with a few dogs.
A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 6 at the Kent County Regional Planning Commission meeting in Dover.

A proposed animal sanctuary near Hartly has led to a stampede of questions about how many animals and what kind will be housed at the property.

The plan is on the agenda at the Kent County Regional Planning Commission’s public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at the County Administrative Complex, 555 S. Bay Road, Dover.

The hearing is also accessible by phone by calling 1-408-418-9388 with access code 23399384113 and online with instructions on the county’s website.

First State Animal Center and SPCA is proposing a home for animals like horses and other livestock and a few older dogs, according to John Parana, First State’s executive director.

The residential and agricultural property, about 11.5 acres at 3048 Hartly Road north of Halltown Road, has been donated to the animal center which operates at 32 Shelter Circle, Camden.

The county’s category for this proposed use is “commercial kennel,” and that has probably led to the speculation about what is planned, Parana said.

Some people on social media have said the sanctuary will be housing dozens of dogs, perhaps aggressive dogs, with concerns about all the barking.

“That’s been the major complaint,” Parana said, adding that the animal center has received dozens of phone calls asking if it’s true. It is not, he said.

“We will have primarily larger animals that have been neglected, abused or are in need medical attention and a place to live out the rest of their life quietly,” Parana said. “A lot of them have been used as work animals, but the owners don’t have the resources to care for them anymore.”

County Assistant Planning Director Kris Connelly said the definition for “commercial kennel” comes from the county code: “any building or land used for the housing, breeding, training or care of animals for commercial purposes. This use includes animal hospitals.”

No limit to the number of animals has been specified in the applicant’s proposal, Connelly said.

Parana said about 10 animals will be at the property at any given time, mostly ones referred to First State Animal Center and SPCA by government agencies like the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

At least one caretaker will be at the site 24 hours a day.

“We will have a few dogs, but they won’t be vicious,” Parana said. “They will mostly likely be terminally ill, and we’ll be keeping them comfortable.”

An example would be a dog with diabetes whose owner can’t afford insulin and isn’t available to give the dog shots at the required times.

“People don’t adopt a dog like that,” Parana said.

Another main complaint Parana has seen from opponents to the sanctuary is that it will hurt property values in the area.

“We are working with the county to create a park-like setting,” Parana said. “The property is fenced in now, but the county requires a privacy fence around the entire property and over 200 trees as buffers, and we will do it. We need a place for these animals.”

He said the area near the property has multiple commercial businesses, including a scrapyard, a concrete and asphalt recycling center, an automobile body shop and even an Amish kennel that breeds and raises dogs.

While the staff at First State Animal Center and SPCA has received complaints and has seen social media comments against the proposal, they have also received about 300 comments of support from people who think the sanctuary is a good idea, Parana said.

On the center’s Facebook page, the staff posted “an urgent answer to all the phone calls we are receiving” in response to what they described as “misinformation being spread in the Hartly area.” The post gives information about what First State Animal Center is planning at the sanctuary.

The property is in the county’s 6th District, represented by District Commissioner Paul Hertz, who didn’t immediately respond to a call or email Wednesday afternoon about the proposal.

After the public hearing March 6, the Regional Planning Commission is scheduled to make a recommendation about the animal sanctuary at its business meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 13.

Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate, development and business news. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.

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Delaware

Delaware state police trooper killed in active shooter incident at DMV facility; suspect also dead

Published

1 hour ago

December 23, 2025

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Delaware state police trooper killed in active shooter incident at DMV facility; suspect also dead

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

Delaware state police say a trooper was killed in what officials said was an active shooter situation at a DMV facility in New Castle on Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect in this incident is also dead, Gov. Matt Meyer said.

State police said they are “are continuing to assess additional injuries.” There is no official word yet on the exact number of people injured.

Police say the active shooter incident is now over.

The incident happened around 2 p.m. at the facility on Hessler Boulevard.

No further details have been made available.

Police are asking residents to avoid the area.

Stay with Action News and 6abc.com as this story develops.

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Delaware

2 hurt after car crashes into building in Talleyville, Delaware

Published

13 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

2 hurt after car crashes into building in Talleyville, Delaware

Two people were hurt after a car crashed into a building in Talleyville, Delaware, Monday morning.

The incident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. along the 100 block of Brandywine Boulevard. Police said a woman was driving a light-colored vehicle when she somehow lost control and crashed through the first floor of a realty company.

A fire station is located across the street from where the crash occurred. Firefighters responded in less than a minute and the driver as well as another person were both taken to the hospital. Investigators told NBC10 both victims suffered minor injuries and are expected to be OK.

Crews removed the vehicle and boarded up the damaged building. They continue to investigate the cause of the crash.

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Delaware

Delaware-based dark money group ‘Alabama Patients First’ unleashes TV, digital attack on Blue Cross Blue Shield

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

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Delaware-based dark money group ‘Alabama Patients First’ unleashes TV, digital attack on Blue Cross Blue Shield

A brand-new, out-of-state dark-money group launched an attack on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama over the past week, and has already invested over $320,000 in negative television advertising alone.

During some of this weekend’s largest SEC football matchups, including Alabama vs. Oklahoma, the group ran a shock-style message that is now being pushed to Alabama voters more aggressively than any political campaign could afford to spend on television at this point in the 2026 election cycle.

According to business filings, “Alabama Patients First LLC” was formed in Delaware on December 11. The state is known for its Teflon business privacy laws. LLCs are not required to publicly list their ownership or members, making it an ideal vehicle for dark money to reach its target.

Since its formation, the group has been busy in Alabama.

Using a “Paid for by Alabama Patients First” disclaimer, the group aired television advertisements, launched a website, and directed SMS marketing campaigns directly to voters, igniting a costly media attack against the state’s leading insurer.

“They make a killing off telling you ‘No.’ Blue Cross Blue Shield: ‘No.’ That’s Blue Cross “B*******,” the ad says.

A station-by-station breakdown of the Alabama Patients First TV buy across multiple Montgomery-area outlets, including WSFA, WAKA, WCOV-TV, WNCF, and others, totals $226,071.

The group also spent $102,000 across Birmingham, Huntsville, and Dothan media markets.

The buy spans six weekends, ranging from its first airing on December 14, with a much smaller spend scheduled after January 1, to a wind-down on January 18, 2026.

By comparison, in the Montgomery media market, the group spent $211,633 in December and just $14,438 in January.

In total, the out-of-state group has spent at least $328,071 on pushing the TV spot to Alabama residents.

Alabama Patients First’s TV spend isn’t the whole tab, either. The professional fees required to deploy such an operation likely reach into the millions – and the timing is striking.

The attack on Alabama began the same week that Jackson Hospital and Clinic, Inc. initiated a high-visibility litigation campaign against BCBS of Alabama.

Jackson Hospital and its lender, Atlanta-based Jackson Investment Group, are on the clock for a December 31, 2025 bankruptcy court deadline to secure $100 million in public funding, which would help satisfy a debtor-in-possession (DIP) agreement the two signed earlier this year.

Yellowhammer News requested information from officials at Jackson Investment Group, Jackson Healthcare, and Jackson Hospital to confirm or deny a connection between the hospital’s lending relationship and the creation of Alabama Patients First.

At the time of publication, those requests went unanswered.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama did respond to the negative ad blitz in a statement on Monday afternoon.

“The ads are an intentional misrepresentation of how we do business,” Sophie Martin, Director of Corporate Communications for BCBS of Alabama, said.
“Based on the timing of the ads, we believe they are nothing more than an improper attempt by Jackson’s investor-lender to improperly influence litigation.”