Lanark animal shelter rocked by mass resignation from board

A messy dispute at Lanark County's animal shelter has prompted a mass resignation from its board amid criss-crossing allegations of harassment and inadequate animal care.

Departing board members allege mismanagement at the Lanark Animal Welfare Society (LAWS) just outside Smiths Falls, Ont., which accommodates about 100 cats. Seven members resigned late last month, while one had left weeks prior.

"In the past few weeks shelter records on animal care have been under scrutiny and the results are appalling," said a letter to the society membership dated Dec. 23, which names eight outgoing board members.

"Through gross negligence on the shelter coordinator's part, many animals have suffered unnecessarily."

The letter describes missing records, expired medications, overdue vaccinations, inadequate training and a lack of compliance with health and safety requirements.

The letter states animals were adopted out before they were spayed or neutered, even before they'd received rabies vaccines.

The shelter co-ordinator did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but the one remaining board member called any claim that negligence caused animal suffering "absolutely false."

"All animals in the care of LAWS receive exceptional care," Kathy Hoyland said. "We have fantastic, caring staff and volunteers."

She said any animals adopted out before rabies vaccines would have been too young to receive them and the new owners would have been required to get them by a certain date.

Some procedures 'slipped' 

In an emailed statement, Hoyland acknowledged that some medical appointments "slipped" when the shelter co-ordinator went on leave in November. She insisted that the shelter was well organized and all treatments were up to date before that point.

"The board members and staff did not know how to access the animal files and did not ask me for any assistance," said Hoyland. "That is when some of the vaccines may have gotten off schedule."

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Helene Arts, former board president and one of the departing members, told CBC deficiencies at the shelter are long-standing.

"This is an ongoing thing, stretching back years," she said.

Arts said staff raised concerns about animal care shortly after she joined the board in April.

She said animals were left caged in an intake area for longer than necessary due to vaccination delays. Poor record keeping was also creating confusion, according to Arts, as staff were unsure which animals already had their shots.

"Because we didn't know, we'd have to revaccinate them," she said. "So obviously that's not a nice thing for an animal to go through."

She said the lack of documentation provided little clarity on who was caring for foster animals. In her view, inadequate training left staff unprepared for the co-ordinator's leave.

Co-ordinator alleges harassment

According to Arts, cleanliness and sanitation standards at the facility were also "way below protocol." She gave CBC a letter from a veterinarian who inspected the shelter twice last month.

Dr. Amanda Mulloy wrote that the facility was "very cluttered" and disorganized, raising concerns about sterility and disease control.

She added that she was "very disappointed" that staff had not been provided with proper training on animal care.

Arts said the efforts of board members to push for improvements met resistance from Hoyland and the co-ordinator.

"That resistance turned into filing harassment complaints," she said.

Arts said the co-ordinator filed a complaint about a profanity-laced statement she denies making.

The allegation was deemed unfounded, Arts said, but the co-ordinator asked to reopen it and raised complaints about other board members.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development confirmed to CBC that it was notified of a harassment complaint in September, but declined to comment on the details as the investigation is ongoing.

It said it issued eight orders to LAWS, but did not specify what they were. Arts said they were mainly related to health and safety.

Hoyland declined to comment on the harassment dispute, citing the ongoing investigation.

Tensions ahead of special meeting

If there's one thing both sides agree on, it's that most of the resigning board members were already set to lose their positions.

Arts said Hoyland had the ear of the majority of the 30 or so society members and decided to call a special meeting to oust her and four others on the board.

"We knew that if we did not do something drastic, we would simply get voted off the board anyway," she said. "So we felt that we would be more effective and be able to continue to support the staff and the animals if we resigned."

Hoyland said the membership was unhappy with two of the members in particular and wished to vote them off the board, but the meeting was "hijacked" and a vote was not held.

In her view, the resignations were simply to "avoid the humiliation of being voted out."