KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Anderson County has named a new director of Animal Care and Control.
Damon McKenna started on Thursday in his new position as director.
McKenna's hiring follows some controversy surrounding the previous director.
The former director, Brian Porter, was accused of not having the proper license to euthanize pets and using inhumane forms of euthanization.
Porter disputed most of these claims during an operations committee meeting in Anderson County on May 9, 2022. He said the only thing he's done wrong is let his license for euthanizing animals accidentally expire. He retired in July.
McKenna has 26 years of animal welfare experience. Most recently, he was the community adoption coordinator at Young Williams.
“I have spent the past twenty-six years in animal welfare to see much progress be made, and I have aspirations to see it go further,” McKenna said.
Prior to McKenna's work at Young Williams Animal Center, he worked as an assistant manager at the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley. While there, he worked to rescue and rehabilitate animals as well as public outreach and education.
Additionally, McKenna spent more than a dozen years working as a veterinary technician in both Tennessee and Alaska. He has a wide variety of experience in veterinary hospital services, animal care, client education and shelter and staff management.
"I am very excited to have Damon join our team,” Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said. “He brings many areas of expertise to our organization, including shelter management, veterinary technician experience, as well as vast adoption coordination experience. He also brings experience in the areas of public outreach and education. I look forward to working with him to advance our Animal Care & Control program in Anderson County."
