Woman who cried coyote apologizes

Regina McDaniel says she's sorry she misidentified Copper, the lost dog who has recently caught the community's focus, as a coyote July 3.

"If I misidentified the dog, I apologize to Ms. (Lori) Goodlett and her family," McDaniel said Friday in her first interview on the matter.

"Never did I mean them any harm."

McDaniel, manager of the Franklin County Humane Society, said the animal she looked at "didn't look like a dog," or the picture of Copper in The State Journal.

"The animal I looked at was very ragged. Chunks of fur were coming out of its coat. Its tail was straight back and it had pointy ears.

"One of our staff said it looked like a coyote, so I went on the Internet and looked, and it did look like a coyote.

"We're not allowed to house any wildlife. As shelter manager, I'm responsible for all the animals and staff."

McDaniel said she called two numbers at the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources' Game Farm, but got a recording because it was July 4 weekend.

"I had no way to verify if this was a wild animal or not," she said. "If I could have gotten someone at the Game Farm to say it was a dog, not a coyote, I would have requested documentation and it would have been brought back and taken care of."

That didn't happen, "so I asked the police officer to come back and pick up the animal because I wasn't sure. It had to be off the property because we could be shut down if it was a coyote."

McDaniel said Goodlett, Copper's owner, came to the shelter later that week "with two beautiful pictures of a Shiba Inu, and she asked if that dog was here at the shelter.

"She also had a picture the police officer had given her. I told her I did not have that animal, the real pretty dog at this shelter. I said the one in the kennel was here and taken off the property by the police officer."

McDaniel said whoever put a "lost" ad in The State Journal last month described Copper as looking "like a small fox or coyote with a white face and pointy ears."

Earlier Friday at a Fiscal Court work session, McDaniel sat quietly and listened as others discussed problems of the Franklin County Humane Society.

Other shelter issues came to light after Copper was released behind the old Home Depot building July 3. The 11-year-old female Shiba Inu is still missing.

McDaniel has undergone breast cancer surgery and just recently returned to work.

Later Friday in her office, while dogs barked constantly in the background, McDaniel responded to criticism she and the Humane Society have received.

"I don't think the Humane Society can make anyone happy at this time, no matter what we try to do " portable adoptions, anything," McDaniel said.

"I know I care for the animals, otherwise I wouldn't be down here taking all of this abuse. I love the animals, and it becomes personal when somebody says I don't."

At Friday's Fiscal Court meeting, animal activist Trudi Johnson talked about the importance of lowering the euthanasia rate, working with other animal rescue groups, having a foster care program, and improving public outreach in the schools and community.

"The euthanasia rate is at an unacceptable high 78 percent," Johnson said. "It appears they are euthanizing almost everything coming through that door."

Johnson said the local shelter doesn't work with other rescue groups.

"I do a lot of transports for other shelters that touch our county, like Shelby County," Johnson said. "Constantly on weekends and sometimes during the week there are transports going out, sending animals to safety, to rescue groups, mostly up north.

"Shelby County has an 8 percent euthanasia rate."

She said there's no foster care program in Franklin County.

"That's Woodford County's biggest asset," Johnson said. "They have a huge foster community that takes care of almost all of their animals.

"Therefore they're socialized, they're healthy and they have a very high adoption rate."

Johnson said she has hundreds of e-mails from volunteers who didn't feel welcomed at the local shelter.

"I've called for several years and left my name to volunteer," Johnson said. "Never once have I gotten a phone call back.

"They say they need volunteers but nobody's willing to go down there anymore because it's the same story.

"There are classes online, and people in surrounding counties will come in and give really good training to volunteers."

Johnson said the local Humane Society should have volunteer, rescue/transport, foster care and outreach coordinators.

"We'd just like to see some basic changes made," Johnson said. "They're not hard changes.

"There are people in the community to do it. But right now the community has no faith in the management at the Franklin County Humane Society.

"I think the damage has been done and maybe some people have served their usefulness."

Anita Chinn told Fiscal Court, "I feel sorry for Copper, but the dog was left out overnight without a collar or tags.

"I'm all for owner responsibility. So many things could be avoided if people would take responsibility for their pets."

Chinn said she thinks it's a good idea for Fiscal Court to review its contract with the Humane Society.

The county pays the Humane Society about $50,000 a year to help operate the shelter. The city's contribution is about $55,000.

"I think we've got a great group of volunteers but they're not organized," Chinn said.

"I think the Humane Society is doing the best they can with all the animals that come in.

"When cages are all full and people are still bringing them in, maybe something could be worked out where rescue groups could take some of them."

But until the spay/neuter rate increases and people take responsibility, problems will continue, Chinn said.

She said she would like to see the county selling dog tags again.

"I think things need to be changed, but stay civil," Chinn said. "Let's not have all this bickering."

After the meeting, McDaniel said she agrees the euthanasia rate is too high.

"It's up there," McDaniel said. "I would like for it to be much lower.

"I personally wish we did not have to euthanize at this shelter. But realistically we don't have the space.

"The only thing I can do is help people be able to afford the spay/neuter surgery.

"The Humane Society has a clinic and we do spay/neuter surgery on Fridays. People can call and make appointments for their animals."

The shelter also has a wellness clinic, offering various tests and prevention medications, McDaniel said.

"If you're on a fixed income and can verify you make less than $1,200 a month, the shelter will do two free spay/neuters per year, and the price for vaccinations is reduced," McDaniel said.

"The shelter is doing what it can to help this community and to help with the overpopulation by spaying and neutering.

"All these animals that come to the shelter belonged to somebody at some point. We need to look at owner responsibility.

"They need to put tags on their dogs so we can call them when they're brought to the shelter. And when we do call, they need to actually come and pick them up."

Magistrate Jill Robinson said Friday she would "very much like to see the city and county have a representative on the Humane Society Board."

Robinson said, "There are some very basic things that just need to be addressed quickly," such as having the bylaws and board minutes available at the shelter for public inspection.

The bylaws say the board can have six to 14 members, and Humane Society members interested in serving on the board can nominate themselves.

Animal activist Ce Ci Mitchell said Friday she doesn't want the county to negotiate a new contract with the Humane Society until bylaws can be reviewed and a full board can provide accountability for the tax dollars it receives.

"I've donated money and supplies every year, but I'm never contacted," Mitchell said. "I don't get a newsletter.

"I've never been offered an application to become a member, so I couldn't be a member of the board."

Mitchell and Johnson had helped organize a Saturday meeting at the Paul Sawyier Public Library to get public input on the Humane Society.

Judge-Executive Ted Collins told them Friday to bring recommendations from that meeting for Fiscal Court to review.

In another dog-related matter at Fiscal Court Friday, city employee Debbie Bramlage asked county officials if they would consider approving an ordinance preventing unattended chained animals like the city is considering.

The City Commission asked its attorney, Rob Moore, to draft a law after a 1-year-old Rottweiler mix, Big Boy, was found hanging in its yard on East Main Street Aug. 2.

Magistrate Phillip Kring said Fiscal Court already has an ordinance on the books regarding humane treatment of dogs, approved in 1984.

It says if a dog is restrained by chain, the chain must "be designed to prevent the animal from choking or strangling itself," Kring said.