Activists were thrilled in August 2005 when the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved an independent audit of its aging, bunkerlike animal shelter.

Three years later, the same advocates are howling mad.

No audit has been done, and conditions at the facility continue to deteriorate, they say, with the shelter on Bradshaw Road putting to death half of the animals it takes in.

"When is this going to happen? When is it going to happen?" asked Brandy Duncan, who has been pressuring the county to go forward with the audit.

Not until the opening of a new $25 million shelter next year, according to county officials.

"We feel at this time it just makes sense to wait until we are in the new facility, and then have an auditor help us improve our processes and procedures," said shelter director Pat Claerbout.

The evaluation approved in 2005 was to be led by the Humane Society of the United States, whose audit of Sacramento's city animal shelter in 2001 led to widely praised changes and a drop in euthanasia numbers.

But Sacramento County administrators had problems with the animal group's "standard contract," which has been used for audits at shelters across the country, HSUS said. "We couldn't even agree on the scope of the evaluation," said Carolyn Machowski, manager of the HSUS animal services consultation program.

"We can't go into an agency without its permission and without getting access to what we need to do a proper evaluation," Machowski said. "I've been involved in this program for three years, and I have never had anything like this happen."

Neither side would be specific about why talks failed. County Supervisor Don Nottoli said money for the audit, which would cost about $30,000, was not an issue.

"We want the best care for our animals as soon as possible, and I believe an audit would be valuable," Nottoli said. "I was hopeful it would have happened."

"Why have an audit done in an antiquated facility that we know is outdated?" Claerbout asked.

Activists have criticized the shelter for its concrete and metal enclosures, inadequate staffing, poor disease control and failure to market its animals to the public. Many of those issues will be solved once the new, state-of-the-art facility opens, said Claerbout.

Machowski at HSUS said an evaluation would be a valuable tool for the county before it moves to a new building. The audits take three days and examine management, field operations, adoption rates, staffing levels, infection control and a host of other issues.

"It's not about pointing fingers and saying 'gotcha,' " Machowski said. "The purpose is to give the agency a road map to improve operations. It almost always makes a tangible difference."

Patty Letawsky and other activists said the city transformed its shelter after its 2001 audit. Among other things, it renovated kennel runs, increased its spay and neuter operations, began requiring vaccinations of incoming animals, improved sanitation procedures and streamlined the adoption process.

Since 2002, city shelter figures show, the number of "adoptable" animals put to death has plunged from 41 percent to 4 percent. The audit and subsequent changes to shelter operations are "100 percent responsible" for the drop, said administrative officer Donna Wicky.

The county put to death 49 percent of all animals brought to its shelter last year, compared with 46 percent in 2006, figures show. But it is unclear how many of those were healthy enough to be considered adoptable.

Nottoli said he hopes the county shelter will one day be a "no kill" facility, putting to death only animals that are too sick or too aggressive for adoption.

Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.