A newspaper in NC posted a series of pretty damning reports on the county shelter yesterday titled “Lincoln Co. Animal Dis-Services“. It’s a lot to digest but if you want a lesson in the politics of Good Ol’ Boys and how the community’s pets are negatively impacted by same, you should read all the stories. Here are the highlowlights:
Thousands of local animals put to death, but county accepts dogs from Alabama – Even though Lincoln Co kills thousands of its community’s pets every year, when HSUS asked them to take 10 dogs (one in whelp) from a case they worked in AL, the shelter accepted. The paper asked Animal Services Supervisor Jack Kerley why the shelter took in these 10 dogs:
“We were doing a favor for the Humane Society of the U.S.”
A favor for HSUS apparently does not come with an obligation to keep the dogs alive:
Kerley said he is hopeful that the dogs will be adopted but admits that they may be gassed to death if they are not adopted, even though the Humane Society of the United States deplores putting pets in the gas chamber.
[…]
Kimberley Alboum, state director for the Humane Society, said she was glad Lincoln County graciously stepped up and took the dogs.
Anyone poll the dogs on their level of gladness?
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In April, Kerley and 7 armed police officers seized every animal living on the property of a local resident. Included in the haul were 30 hogs who were supposedly malnourished. But apparently they also looked delicious because several were “hauled to a butcher shop and turned into sausage and barbecue for animal shelter employees including shelter manager Patty Lackey”. The owner denies they were malnourished and says the shelter can only account for the whereabouts of 6 hogs. When questioned about the “missing” 24 hogs, “Kerley says the county is not required to keep records on livestock, only domestic pets”. So I guess that’s that.
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The shelter manager, Patty Lackey, was only promoted to the position this year.
Although the county requires a safe driving record for employees who use county vehicles, Lackey had a 2004 DWI conviction in Mecklenburg County and at least two speeding convictions when she was hired.
She was again convicted of drunk driving in 2009 and served a week in jail. Her pay raise and promotion to manager came less than a year after her release.
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Joann Hager is an area rescuer working for shelter reform. The county has a long history of legal battles against her:
Lincoln County sued her for violations of the animal control ordinance.
She won.
She then sued Lincoln County for violating the state’s open records laws.
She won again.
Just moments after she left the county manager’s office last June where she sought an investigation of Animal Services she was arrested for assaulting animal shelter manager Patty Lackey.
Case dismissed. Hager won again.
The county has spent tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money in legal fees fighting Hager, and she has spent thousands of her own dollars either defending herself or taking the county to court.
Too bad, so sad the woman demanding shelter reform has the money to defend herself against the county’s trumped up charges. Boo hoo.
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In violation of NC law, uncertified workers, including manager Patty Lackey, have been killing pets at the shelter. Kerley says the records indicating this are wrong. Also in violation of state law, pregnant pets and sick pets are routinely gassed at the shelter. Kerley says these records too are wrong.
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NC law requires shelters to maintain records including the name and address of anyone adopting a pet. But the newspaper “studied hundreds of animal shelter records and found many instances of incomplete or obviously false documents, something that Animal Services Supervisor Jack Kerley admits has occurred”. One adopter for example, was listed as “Dick Tracy” with no address, phone number or any other identifying information. The paper tried to locate Dick Tracy in Lincoln Co but came up empty.
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Less than 24 hours after the paper ran the series exposing corruption at the shelter, the supervisor, Jack Kerley, announced his retirement at the end of the month.