Humane Society agrees to reopen animal shelter: Differences settled at Friday meeting
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The decision came after a Friday meeting of the recently appointed Animal Control Committee which was attended by Humane Society president Andy Anderson, member Roxanne Redmon and employee Karla Fischbach, along with County Executive Kenneth Rogers, who made a sincere plea to work out the issues between the group and county government.
“We need to resolve these problems,” said Rogers. “Let’s work together and take care of the animals in Warren County, and I think we can do that. It’s not a personal feeling between me and Andy. I didn’t know Ms. Anderson until this came up. We need to put whatever problems we have behind us and take care of Warren County.”
Anderson seemed ready to move on as well.
“That’s what we want to do,” she said. “But we had worries that we had to get cleared up. We had to know some things first.”
Anderson initially resisted the influence the Animal Control Committee might exert on the shelter, to the point of saying the facility would not reopen unless it was disbanded. But after meeting with committee members, Anderson said her concerns had been addressed and she felt she could work with the group.
The committee, as set up by the resolution, includes a local veterinarian, retired Dr. Karon Jennings, a county commissioner, Wayne Pryor, a current Humane Society member, Lisa Shepherd, and two Warren County citizens, Mary Collette and Cheryl Bull.
As the meeting progressed, it became evident the committee was mainly interested in the shelter’s finances and record keeping, as very few questions about the shelter’s day-to-day operations came up. The only request from the committee was to provide some further information on the group’s charitable donations from fundraising and other sources.
Committee members also expressed their desire to help the group, and not to take over operations of the shelter.
“This committee is the best friend you have,” Jennings said. “You just don’t know it yet.”
After the meeting, Anderson said she felt things could be worked out.
“I think it went well,” she said, “and I think everybody’s in agreement that we’re going to work together and try to do something good for the community, and for the shelter.”
The Humane Society presented bills and canceled checks from July and August, as requested, and Rogers assured the group they would be issued funds this week.
Anderson also wanted to announce publicly the Humane Society meeting set for Tuesday night, Sept. 21, which was announced in an advertisement published in the Southern Standard, will no longer be held. The group also wanted to alert the public that it would take time for the shelter to get up to speed.
“We need for the public to bear with us,” Anderson said, “because we’re going to have a tremendous influx of dogs. We can only handle 60 at a time. We’ll get to everybody as fast as we possibly can to try to solve everybody’s problem.”
Anderson asked that those intending to bring in animals to give the shelter a call first to make sure there is room.