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CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

Rights group renews charges about Summit shelter

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Karen Farkas

Plain Dealer Reporter

Akron- Fur is flying again between animal rights activists and the Summit County Animal Shelter.

Among the allegations by the Pet Welfare Coalition are that an ill puppy was left to die instead of being euthanized and 18 dogs were not properly euthanized and froze to death in the shelter's freezer.

"Almost everything about that facility is unconscionable," said Deanne Christman-Resch, founder of Citizens for Humane Practices, who recently formed the coalition with other animal rights activists. Christman-Resch has voiced concerns about the shelter for years.

Craig Stanley, the county's deputy director of facilities, who oversees the shelter, said the facility has improved and Christman-Resch's allegations are unfounded.

"We have nothing to hide," he said Tuesday. "If we do have something wrong, we fix it."

In 2004, after investigating allegations of poor conditions, animal abuse and bad record-keeping, the county created a position of animal control manager. It also pledged to follow recommendations made by the National Animal Control Association of Kansas City, Mo., which evaluated the facility, and created a five-person advisory board.

Last summer, manager Jeff Wright resigned. Anthony Moore, a dog warden, is interim manager.

Christman-Resch, who said she and others became concerned last fall when they learned a puppy, which had been adopted from the shelter, was soon diagnosed with parvo virus and was returned to the shelter. She said the puppy was placed in a cage instead of euthanized, and it died that night.

But Stanley said the dog did not have the highly contagious parvo virus. He said the dog's death was unfortunate, but it did not appear ill when it was returned to the shelter.

Christman-Resch said she sought and received impound and euthanasia logs and drug records. She said 18 dogs euthanized by Moore Nov. 2-8 did not receive enough sodium phenobarbital to kill them, meaning that they were alive when placed in the freezer with other euthanized animals.

"Why would we do that?" said Stanley, who denied the allegations. He said he would investigate, but no animal is put in the freezer until after a needle is inserted into its heart to make sure it no longer is beating.

"He's lying," Christman-Resch said. She said she has not talked to Stanley because she doesn't trust him.

Summit County Council member Paul Gallagher, who said he would meet with Christman-Resch and others concerned about the shelter, introduced an ordinance Monday to bring the National Animal Control Association back to the shelter. The goal would be determining whether the group's recommendations had been followed.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

kfarkas@plaind.com, 800-628-6689

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AKRON BEACON JOURNAL

Posted on Wed, Jan. 11, 2006

Animal shelter abuse alleged

Activists call Summit facility inhumane despite 2004 changes

By Beth Rankin

Beacon Journal staff writer

Two years after Summit County Chief Dog Warden Glenn James was fired amid allegations of animal mistreatment, Akron-area animal-rights activists claimed Tuesday that conditions at the Summit County Animal Shelter are as bad as ever.

``That place is death row,'' said Akron resident Gerry Thomas-Moore.

Members of the Pet Welfare Coalition, an umbrella organization that includes members of Akron-area animal rescue organizations, met Tuesday with Summit County Council members Tom Teodosio and Paul Gallagher to air concerns about treatment of animals at the Summit County shelter.

The group contends that many of the problems raised in an audit in 2004 have not been solved.

Inhumane euthanization, inaccurate recordkeeping, lack of proper sanitation and repeated mass euthanizations were among the numerous complaints the coalition addressed at the meeting.

``There is no excuse for this,'' said Deanne Christman-Resch, spokesperson for the coalition.

The group contends that the county-run facility, headed by interim animal control manager Anthony Moore, is using inhumane practices to control and euthanize animals.

It also argued that the animals are being held in cramped, unsanitary conditions where they are underfed and, in some instances, left in cages to die.

The group formed after an incident on Oct. 18, which members call the ``Parvo Puppy Incident.'' They contend that a puppy that had parvovirus, a contagious viral canine disease, was left in a cage alone overnight, where the dog hemorrhaged and went into seizure before dying.

``All we want is for these animals to have a chance, and they don't,'' said Heather Nagel, an animal-rights advocate who started the group Heaven Can Wait, an organization that saves animals from the pound before they are euthanized.

Teodosio and Gallagher encouraged members of the group to voice their concerns at an upcoming Humane Commission meeting, which will be held at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 23 on the seventh floor of the Ohio Building, 175 S. Main St., Akron. The commission is charged with overseeing the pound.

Until then, coalition members say they will do whatever it takes to ensure animals at the shelter, some of which are licensed, are treated humanely. Members say they plan to look into options for the facility, including recommendations for new staff and a new shelter.

``At this point,'' Nagel said, ``anything's better than what we have.''

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