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ST. PAULS, N.C. – People are in an uproar after reading about alleged animal abuses at the Robeson County Animal Shelter.

E-mails from the country and the world have been pouring in, including hundreds of posts to Gov. Bev Perdue's Facebook page, demanding something be done about the shelter.

Jeff Bass, the director of the animal shelter, said he's received several death threats.

"People are just going to the extremes,” Bass said. “Talking about coming down, punching us in the face, do all kinds of other things and it is just really getting out of hand."

Many e-mails being circulated reference a letter that Rachelle Dudgeon, an animal activist, wrote describing her visit to the shelter in January. She tells of dogs with parvo, unheated conditions and rough treatment of the animals by officers. At one point, she describes being in the parking lot and hearing the cries of one dog after another as dogs are put down using the heart stick method – without sedating them first.

"I posted it out there because I wanted people in Robeson County community to realize that this is happening in their shelter," said Dudgeon.

Bass says the sound that she had heard was actually the sound of animal control officers using a control stick, a pole with spring-loaded loop at the end, which they use to protect themselves from being bitten by the dogs. They use the poles to transport the dogs from pen to the other so that they clean out the pens and feed the animals.

As for heart sticking, Bass says he has records detailing how much sedation is used for each animal and that it matches the amount they have to order to replenish their stock.

"I'm willing to be able to show that to anybody to prove that these animals are sedated," said Bass.

Since the e-mails started pouring in to the state, several state inspectors have already come down to check out the facility.

"We had an inspector that came back yesterday,” said Albert Locklear, the Robeson County Environmental Health Director. “Dr. Hunter sent another inspector with a different set of eyes. No issue, but a couple of minor things. Some of the food bowls had been chewed on the sides and some minor cracks in the floor, so we were given a clean bill of health."

News 14 Carolina contacted the governor's office for comment. They responded with a statement saying the governor's office has contacted the commissioner of agriculture's staff and the Robeson County Sheriff's Office. She says that she trusts the two agencies to make sure the law is being followed.