CARUTHERSVILLE HUMANE SOCIETY GIVEN NOTICE BY CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE

CHS must find new location to operate or face closure

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. (July 23, 2012) — The Caruthersville Humane Society is asking for the public’s help in finding a new location and facility in which to operate.

On June 9, the Humane Society received a letter from City of Caruthersville attorney, Lawrence Dorroh, that the City wishes to terminate the long-standing partnership with the Humane Society and has given the society six months to find a new location.

The Humane Society has been closed since April 19 when City of Caruthersville Director of Operations, Terry Rushing, issued a memo that the shelter was to close until further notice.

CHS is asking the public for donations to help with moving expenses and finding a suitable building.

To make donations towards the relocation of Caruthersville Humane Society, donors can mail a check to Caruthersville Humane Society, P.O. Box 345, Caruthersville, MO 63830 or make a secure online donation via PayPal at www.caruthersvillehs.com. All donations are tax deductible.

Anyone with property or a facility available is asked to call Karol Wilcox or Mindi Rice at 573-333-0100. Messages can be left at this number and are checked regularly.
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TIMELINE OF EVENTS AND FACTS FOR MEDIA OUTLETS DOING A FULL NEWS STORY

CHS searching for new facility after receiving notice from City of Caruthersville

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. (July 24, 2012) — The Caruthersville Humane Society announced today it is actively looking for a new location to operate.

In March, CHS board members Marlene McNatt, Teresa Watkins and Mindi Rice, sat down with City of Caruthersville Director of Operations, Terry Rushing, to voice their concerns about the overall operation of the shelter by the city and inhumane treatment of animals after several healthy animals disappeared or were found dead.

During the meeting, Rushing asked for proof from the board members to support their concerns. The board members told Rushing during the meeting they were thinking of placing a security camera to monitor on the CHS animals to gain such evidence. Rushing did not voice any concern or object to the idea at the time. In fact he stated he might install cameras of his own in different areas of the shelter.

In April, employees discovered a case of Parvo and Distemper at the shelter. On April 19th Rushing sent a letter ordering that effective immediately, no dogs could be taken in until further notice. According to the memo, only animals deemed dangerous, ill, or otherwise facing euthanization were allowed to be brought in.

“We had one dog test positive for Parvo and one for Distemper in April. Those animals were removed and we immediately made the decision to give all of our other dogs the booster shots and quarantine them for two weeks to make sure no other dogs were positive,” said Karol Wilcox, CHS president. “We even went as far as to revaccinate all of the animals in the shelter, even the city animals, at our expense. During the quarantine is when Mr. Rushing issued his memo and it has been three months and we have yet to reopen since.”

The city animals were all euthanized after the Parvo and Distemper case. The CHS animals were not. However, even after the remaining CHS animals were all issued health certificates by a veterinarian and deemed to have a clean bill of health, Rushing still refused to let CHS reopen.

During the initial days of the closure, CHS found yet another suspicious death of one of their dogs, which occurred over a weekend in which the city was responsible for maintaining the shelter.

The Humane Society then placed video surveillance on their animals. The City found the camera and Rushing took the camera and turned it over to Caruthersville Police Department Investigator, Mike Coleman. The police department continues to hold the camera despite requests to have it returned.

“The camera was a decision made by our board members to protect our animals from abuse,” said Mindi Rice, CHS public information officer. “That is what we do. It is our obligation to protect the animals, so we positioned the camera on our dogs in order to determine the cause of the suspicious deaths and who is responsible.”

As more time passed, Rushing still would not allow the Humane Society to resume normal operations at the shelter.

“We worked closely with three veterinarians to try to meet the City’s requirements to reopen. One acted as an advisor, one visited the facility and did an inspection and the other issued the health certificates on the animals. The opinion was all of our animals were all adoptable and healthy. All three vets gave us the go-ahead to reopen,” said Wilcox.

On May 20, to protect the dogs in their care, the Humane Society moved some dogs to foster homes and the rest were transported to a shelter in Quincy, Ill. through a joint effort with the ASPCA.

“We felt if we transported all our dogs to another location, there shouldn’t be any reason to not reopen,” said Wilcox. “That hasn’t been the case.”

On May 22, the shelter received an unexpected visit and inspection by the Missouri Department of Agriculture, which regulates animal care facilities.

“Our inspection went great. However, we, along with the city, were cited for some minor building maintenance issues and the city was given until June 22 to have those corrected,” said Rice.

Each entity is inspected independently by the Department of Agriculture, except when it comes to the building since it is a shared facility.

The Department’s inspection report cited the city for deficiencies in record keeping, medical records, veterinary care and the use of prescription and controlled medications without the supervision of a veterinarian.

The city allowed the Humane Society to use the former Brown Shoe Company, or Cupples factory building, to house the cats that remained at the shelter while the floors were painted and repairs were made to the shelter. The move was to be a short-term, temporary location. The Humane Society was told by Rushing they would be able to return to the shelter on June 22.

The Humane Society has retained an attorney to request a meeting to discuss their concerns about the treatment of the animals. That request was denied.

Instead, the Humane Society received a letter from Lawrence Dorroh, the City’s attorney, on June 9th notifying them that they had six months to find a new location. The City stated in the letter that it had decided to terminate the long-standing partnership with the non-profit organization due to placement of the camera being a “violation of trust” and for allegations made against the animal control officer.

That letter was copied to Caruthersville Mayor Diane Sayre.

The June 22 deadline passed and the city would not allow CHS to return to the shelter or take in animals. They claim they are still working on the facility. The public is only allowed to enter the Cupples building to adopt an animal. However, no animals are being taken in at the location.

“We have been to the shelter building to pick up supplies and there are animals out there,” said Rice. “It is obvious the City is operating business as usual despite their claims that the building is not ready. We are able to adopt cats right now, but the City will not allow us to take in any dogs in the Cupples building other than six puppies that were brought in by the City, at the direction of Rushing. The puppies have had to be bottle fed after someone left them and their mother in a box outside the shelter; the mother was killed when a vehicle hit her. It’s heartbreaking…we receive calls every day from people asking for help and we can’t help them.”

The Humane Society, in an effort to continue providing animal welfare services to the area, has now begun to search for a new facility.

On July 24, the Humane Society discovered that the City had re-programmed the gate going into the shelter and their access no longer works. As of July 25, a new key has not been given to the Humane Society by the City for access to the shelter, despite Humane Society property still being inside the building.

“We are still at the Cupples building and it is looking like we may not be allowed back into the shelter. We have no other choice than to look for a new facility and we are turning to the public to help us find a new location,” said Wilcox. “Ideally, we would love if someone would donate an empty space to us but we will look at low-cost options as well. We just have to find somewhere to operate, there are animals suffering due to the closure.”

CHS hopes to turn a negative into a positive and with the opening of a new location apart from the City of Caruthersville. The society hopes to be able to become a regional shelter and serve surrounding towns and the county as well.

Rice stressed that all available options for a facility will be explored. The society is not looking for property only in Caruthersville, but would be willing to move to another city or to the county.

“It is unfortunate that it has come to this,” said Wilcox. “We would have loved to sit down and talk things out with the City but if they won’t agree to meet with us, our hands our tied. Given the six-month timeframe they have set for us, we have until December to find a new location.”

“We hope this will be an opportunity to expand our shelter and help even more animals. We have a lot of work to do but with the help of the pubic, we are confident it can be done,” said Rice.

To make donations towards the relocation of Caruthersville Humane Society, donors can mail a check to Caruthersville Humane Society, P.O. Box 345, Caruthersville, MO 63830 or make a secure online donation via PayPal at www.caruthersvillehs.com.

Anyone with property or a facility available is asked to call Karol Wilcox or Mindi Rice at 573-333-0100. All donations are tax deductible. Messages can be left at this number and are checked regularly.
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Caruthersville Humane Society is located in Caruthersville, Mo. The Society was founded in 1979 and is a 501(C) not-for-profit organization dedicated to animal welfare. The Society works to find loving homes for abandoned, neglected and abused animals and works with local law enforcement on animal cruelty investigations for successful prosecution. More information can be found at www.caruthersvillehs.com or www.facebook.com/caruthersvillehs.