State-Journal.com - Battered board to fill empty seats

A beleaguered Franklin County Humane Society Board of Directors – six members short and mired in controversy over the misidentification of a dog – has laid out plans to fill its vacant seats and look into foster and rescue programs.

However, the five-person board said during Saturday’s meeting it would hold off on reviewing the shelter’s management until the six seats are filled in a special election.

A meeting to review the findings of the foster and rescue committee formed Saturday will be 9 a.m. Aug. 28 at the shelter. The special election will be discussed at the meeting as well, and no date for the election has been set.

An estimated 78 attended Saturday’s two-hour meeting set up in a white canopy tent adjacent to the shelter grounds on Kentucky Avenue. Some onlookers stood outside as dogs barked in the background and rain sporatically pelted the top of the tent.

Matthew Kleinert, a local attorney who joined the board two months ago, spelled out his proposed amendment to the Humane Society’s bylaws regarding a special election.

Those seeking a seat must complete an information sheet and be a member of the Franklin County Humane Society by at least Sept. 20.

“Everyone who fills out this sheet and who joins the membership before the cutoff date (Sept. 20) can and will be on the ballot for the board of directors,” Kleinert read from his bylaw amendment, which was unanimously accepted.

“There will be no discretion on the board as to who is on the ballot.”

Membership sheets were available at the board’s table, and Kleinert presented a mock information sheet for potential candidates.

Some in attendance wanted a faster pace for change. Animal activist Trudi Johnson, one of the more vocal of those calling for change, said she’d rather see an election sooner, asking the board not to “30-day us to death.”

Johnson cited the 130 animals euthanized at the shelter since mid-July as proof for the need of a shorter timetable for board elections and changes in management. She suggested starting from scratch and electing members for all 11 seats on the board and having the top six vote-getters stay on the board for two years and the bottom five serve one year.

“Now, if you wanted to do it and you guys stay as-is, you could be the one-year members, and the six that are elected become the new two-year members,” Johnson said. “I’m willing to negotiate that, but I think that this is an emergency situation, and we must act quicker than 30 days here, and 30 days there, and 30 days here.”

City Commissioner Sellus Wilder, who was on hand Saturday, said it wouldn’t be fair to ask the current board members to seek re-election because they haven’t completed their terms.

Kleinert’s amendment changed slightly over the course of the meeting. Originally, the amendment said all Humane Society members may vote for three candidates, but raised that number to six because of the number of seats available on the board.

Kleinert said information on the election would be available through The State Journal and other outlets and would be held at the Humane Society animal shelter. The League of Women Voters may count the ballots, but that hasn’t been finalized.

Membership forms and candidate information sheets are available at the shelter. Those will also be publicized in The State Journal at a later date, Kleinert said. It costs $25 to join the society.

Also during Saturday’s meeting:

>The board established an advisory committee regarding potential foster and rescue programs.

The committee consists of Humane Society board member Teresa Masters, Jeanine Sloan with L.I.F.E. House, Cheri Effron, Jennifer Pridemore and Johnson.

After the meeting, Johnson told The State Journal the committee will look at joining the network of animal rescue programs throughout the nation. Those programs, she said, would link animals locally with other areas of the U.S. and find them homes outside Frankfort.

Johnson said there’s a shortage of dogs in the northern areas of the U.S., and animals can find a home “with a little coordination and work.”

The committee will report back to the board Aug. 28.

>The board voted to open its books for an audit by the state auditor’s office.

>Paul Brooker was chosen as interim president of the board in light of John Forbes’ resignation Aug. 11.

After the meeting, Brooker and Johnson spoke to The State Journal about the prospect of changes at the shelter. Both were cautiously optimistic.

“I think we’re making progress, but I think we’re a long way from the final improvement,” Brooker said. “I think we’re over-represented by people who think the Humane Society has lost the support of the community.

“I think it’s a very vocal minority of good people who love animals, but I think the silent majority of this community supports what the Humane Society does and realizes we have a difficult job.”

Brooker, a long-time board member, noted the shelter microchips and vaccinates animals, returns a high number of pets to their owners, and spays and neuters animals.

One change he’d like to see is moving the shelter out of the Kentucky River’s floodplain and into a more visible area of the community.

Johnson said she was “kind of up-and-down” on the meeting.

“I think the board got a lot accomplished,” she said. “I would’ve rather seen some quicker movement, quicker dates, because I feel like it’s an emergency situation.”

Johnson said with all the support from the community, the Humane Society could move quicker on implementing changes, especially with the shelter’s estimated 80-percent euthanasia rate.

“I think the board’s tried, and I’ll give them that. Now if I could just get them to work on my timetable, it’d be perfect,” she said with a laugh.

The public outcry regarding the Humane Society boiled over when shelter manager Regina McDaniel misidentified an 11-year-old Shiba Inu named Copper as a coyote July 3. Copper had been brought to the shelter as a lost dog but was released to run at large behind the old Home Depot building near Lawrenceburg Road as a result of the misidentification.

She hasn’t been found, but those looking for her haven’t lost hope.

Johnson said changes wouldn’t have happened without Copper’s situation.

“Several of us have been working on this, complaining to people for several years, and what happened with Copper finally gave us the platform that we couldn’t get before,” Johnson said, noting she’s called the Humane Society numerous times looking to volunteer or sit on the board of directors but was rebuffed every time.

On top of changes with management, Johnson said she hopes to achieve a better relationship between the shelter and the Frankfort and Franklin County communities.

2.	Posted by stubbornasamule August 22, 2010
	"An estimated 78 attended Saturday's two-hour meeting set up in a white canopy tent adjacent to the shelter grounds on Kentucky Avenue. Some onlookers stood outside as dogs barked in the background and rain sporatically pelted the top of the tent." "The FCHS meeting wasn't conducive to having the public attend and future meetings should be conducted at easily accessibly public locations, like the fiscal court meeting room offered for these meetings by Judge Ted Collins. Yesterday's meeting was like attending an auction with dozens of people in the rain trying to crowd under a small tent top to hear people w/no amplification over the din of desperate barking, crying dogs. Not conducive or inviting to public participation and attendance at all." FCHS should be forwarned that until positive changes are seen there will be more than the board members and staff attending board meetings. The table for board members was under the tent while the chairs for attendees were outside in the weather. Eventually those that could crowded underneath while those prepared with umbrellas and chairs chose to sit outside. With such critical matters to be discussed I would think it would have been easy to obtain a microphone from someone whether it was used or not. The impression was given even before the meeting that there would be no compromise on the location. The reason given was that it had to be held on FCHS property. I don't believe FCHS "owns" that property. It is leased from the city. Did they think they'd be struck by lightning - it was a good possibility on Saturday by having it outside - if they used common sense, were receptive to having public input and accepted the county judge's offer? They did stay out of trouble with ADA requirements by having it handicap accessible so to speak. I'm sure unbeknownst to many that there have been meetings held in other places - perhaps at one of the board members homes or a local restaurant for breakfast. But in order to deter a large, interested crowd of taxpayers - it didn't work - they decided to pull out the rule book. So once again current FCHS board members: we're interested, dug in for the long haul and won't go away. If you don't furnish chairs we'll bring our own or sit on the floor. It'll make a great photo opportunity.

1.	Posted by thefarsidefarm August 22, 2010
	Majority supports Humane Society? I don't think so! The majority may not give a crap one way or the other, but of the people who care about animals, I believe the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY do not support the Humane Society's actions, activities, operations, decisions - and comments by Brooker now the new president of FCHS board. This is the guy who defends himself, the board and shelter at every opportunity and who is the person the shelter staff contacted about the "coyote." (Brooker is Wildlife Solutions, whatever that is.) Brooker has been quoted in paper saying he hoped LifeHouse took over their operations and that they are the "salvation army for animals" here. BS! Having a "difficult job" does not give an organization or individual the right to do a bad job. At yesterday's FCHS board mtg, Brooker opposed a suggestion that during the period before a full board can be seated to address the outrageous euthanasia rate here (130 put down last month alone according to their shelter report yesterday), that they suspend adoption fees thereby permitting citizens and rescue organizations to freely adopt animals that will be euthanaized. BROOKER OPPOSED THIS IDEA. Why? It would save them the cost of the euthanasia drugs, the food to feed the dogs and free up kennels for more dogs to potentially find more homes. OUR HUMANE SOCIETY IS MESSED UP, BUT WE MAY BE ABLE TO FIX IT IF YOU ALL - THE PUBLIC - CARE ENOUGH. Tell your elected officials not to renew the contracts with Franklin County Humane Society until such time as there are improvements in their operations and accountability. Tell your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers your opinions and ask them to be involved and to make those phone calls to officials. And if you really want to help us effectively make changes and demonstrate that we care about the humane treatment and protection of our animals in the capital of Kentucky, please join the humane society now (costs $25) so you can vote for new board members. The individuals on the board now will stay until June, but unless we soon get new people on the board elected by members now, all is lost in my opinion. Instead of recruiting new members, Brooker sees fit to dismiss what he believes is a minority. The FCHS meeting wasn't conducive to having the public attend and future meetings should be conducted at easily accessibly public locations, like the fiscal court meeting room offered for these meetings by Judge Ted Collins. Yesterday's meeting was like attending an auction with dozens of people in the rain trying to crowd under a small tent top to hear people w/no amplification over the din of desperate barking, crying dogs. Not conducive or inviting to public participation and attendance at all. PLEASE HELP US CHANGE ALL THIS. You've got to join this organization in order to vote to install new board members. If with new, better informed and more caring board members there is no improvement in the services of our animal shelter, then you should never join or donate another dime to them after this effort. Nor should they get the contract for animal services for our city and county governments - there are other capable organizations who may be able and willing to do a much better job. PS - we hope the State Journal will soon publish the comparison of euthanasia rates for the counties around us. Yesterday Brooker twice quoted nationwide figures for euthanasia blindly defending their rates, but we've gotten comparison amounts from adjacent counties and have given the FCHS board the data and the same info will be formally presented to the city and the county. Franklin County is inarguably the worst county around for stray and abandoned animals! Sad and embarassing to everyone but Paul Brooker.