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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0777.021 1996-1998 Date: 5/5/98 From: Madelyn Barrea TO : All Council Members Subject: Animal Control Contract Good morning Mr. Chairman and Council Members. My name is Madelyn Barrea and I. am a former employee of Hawaii Island Humane Society. The reason that I am here today is because I feel that the Animal Control Contract is not being enforced properly and the funds allocated for this contract should be spent for animal control purposes only. I was employed by HIHS for approximately four years as a Humane Officer and the manager of the Kona shelter. I resigned in July of 1997 because I could not continue to do things that I felt were wrong. At that time I wrote a grievance letter to Lisa Fowler and the HIHS board of directors and requested a grievance hearing for myself and all of the officers at the Kona shelter. I was informed in writing by their ! board president, Christina Skaggs, that it would be brought up before the personnel r h committee and I would be informed in writing of its outcome. 1 never heard from them again and the officers were never granted a grievance hearing. I probably would have ° . been terminated, like many other employees, if I did not resign, because I did not agree with the way the organization was being managed. Anyone who had a different opinion then the executive director, was considered to have a "negative attitude" and accused of insubordination. r After I resigned, I received literally hundreds of calls from employees, volunteers and 8 concerned citizens about the way HIHS was being run. They wanted me to try to do something about it. In fear of loosing their jobs, most of the employees were afraid to speak directly to the executive director, even though they had the same concerns that I had. In fact, all of the officers from the Kona shelter had a meeting at Jack Cox's house. They were all in agreement that things were very wrong and wanted them to change. Charles Overcash quit, Ron Sakata was fired and Jack Cox is now the manager of the Kona shelter. Therefore, along with Ginger Towle, I am asking that the council divide the island, as it was prior to 1990, and award the Animal Control Contract for the west side of the big island back to West Hawaii Humane Society. I am also asking that the responsibility to oversee this contract and the humane societies be turned over to the Police Department. They are both law enforcement agencies and should work closely together. The Police Department would be better able to assess the societies' performances. I feel there would be better control of the organizations if the island were split. That way, the taxpayers and people who donate money to the shelters will be assured that their money is being spent in the proper place and the directors would be able to watch over the operations more efficiently. I know you have all received much written material from and about both humane societies, however, what should be realized is that this is not a popularity contest. It is the concern that the Animal Control Contract is being carried out properly and the funds allocated by the county are being spent on animal control. I feel that if HIHS has been doing what is expected of them, way more citations would have been issued. If they upheld all of the laws within their jurisdiction, they 21 - could have made at least $35,000. for the county in the last year, FUe No. Pt N ?esent~, ~ Ref. Toi__,___ `L Rat. late pay for some of the Animal Control budget. This year they are asking the county for an additional $63. It is the facts and figures that you must concern yourself with, not the nice letters from people saying such things as "I got a cute little kitten their and the people were very nice to me." It seems strange to me how their board of directors can make up the policy and call the shots on the way a shelter should be run when they never even set foot in a shelter. Ginger Towel was an unpaid, badged, working Animal Control Officer. West Hawaii Humane Society's board of directors were volunteers and could be called upon to work in the shelter. They know how a shelter should be run first hand. It is also a wonder how the officers could uphold the Animal Control Contract, and carry out their jobs according to that contract, if they have never even read it. Numerous times I asked the executive director for a copy of the contract. I never received one. I believe that one of the reasons that HIHS is not doing a good job of animal control, is because they only have 2 full time officers in the Kona shelter, only one of whom is a badged officer, and 3 part time officers, none of whom are badged. Therefore, they can not enforce the laws by issuing citations to people that do not comply with the law. Their area is from Waikoloa to South Point. You can not get truly dedicated, well trained officers that only work part time, and I feel that this is a very large area for only one badged officer to cover. Another very important matter that the county should be concerned about is that HIHS has been using a controlled narcotic without a veterinarian on staff. They claim that Dr. Gruen is their supervising veterinarian, however, in the four years that I worked for HIHS, I have never met Dr. Gruen. Before Dr. Gruen, it was Dr. Versluys that was signing the paperwork in order for them to obtain sodium pentobarbital. None of the officers at the Kona shelter met Dr. Versluys either. It is beyond me how they can claim that they have a supervising veterinarian on staff, when none of the officers at the Kona shelter ever met them, let alone be supervised by them. I will not take up anymore of your time. You have more then enough documentation and correspondence in your possession pertaining to both humane societies. I hope you have had the time to go through it all and I would like to invite questions from any of you pertaining to what I have just said or what appears in the correspondence that you have. I realize that I have mentioned some things that should probably be considered administration problems and should be brought up at a latter date. But for now, please remember that my concerns are that the Animal Control Contract is being carried out properly, the appropriated county funds are being spent in the right way and my two major requests are that the island be split so there can be better enforcement and that the humane societies come under the control of the Police Department. Thank you for listening.