CLINTON COUNTY, Ind. (WTHR) — Eyewitness News has confirmed the Clinton County Humane Society is closed.
It comes after director Jim Tate was fired by the board. He tells Eyewitness News it was over a dispute about control of the organization's website and Facebook page.
Tate's staff quit after his firing, causing the building to close. Tate tells Eyewitness News his staff fed and watered the 100 cats and 60 dogs at the facility before they left.
Eyewitness News spoke with Nancy Elsea, the president of the board of directors, who tells us board members and volunteers are now taking care of the animals.
She said the animals are not in danger, though at this point they are not allowing any animals to be adopted and they are assessing new animals to be taken in on a case-by-case basis. They are bringing in a vet next week to assess the animals and make sure they're all okay for adoption.
That means for the weekend, they are essentially closed.
Tate said this all began when the board recently began criticizing his running of the shelter and gave him a list of rules to follow.
Tate tells us there was no way he could follow those rules with the staffing levels he had.
"We're not perfect, but we're a shelter run by three full-time and three volunteers and we're under staffed," Tate said.
Tom Little, a humane society board member, says this is also affecting county animal control operation.
“It does because we do not have an animal control officer as of right now. That’s one of the things will be looking for to replace a soon as possible.“
As for what people can do to help, Little say the group always welcomes volunteers.
“We always need help," he said. "We always need volunteers, we always need people to come and walk the dogs. I encourage people to reach out to a board member or our president, contact one of us and we can get them set up a schedule to come out and volunteer."
LIttle said they also need more board members to help run the humane society.
Little said he was grateful for Tate's contributions.
“I definitely want to say we want to thank Mr. Jim Tate for his years of service. He was here for around 10 years. We appreciate all the love you gave to the animals throughout that time and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors. “