Grand Strand Humane Society veterinarian resigns
Staff veterinarian Dr. Michelle Crull submitted her resignation from the Grand Strand Humane Society Wednesday night during a board of directors meeting, according to a recording provided by treasurer Frank Espinal.
"I'm sorry," Crull said during the meeting. "You know what, this is not going the direction I wanted it to and, really, what I'm here for is to submit my resignation. I am willing to stay here for the 30 days that I offered, and if you guys decide that you do not want me to, then I need a letter to that effect. I wish you all the luck in the world. All I want is for this place to be the best it can be."
At the brunt of the argument was a recent board of directors meeting that ended with two resignations — board of directors president Elena Nicholas and city appointed board member Susan Means.
During that meeting, now president Carol Wallauer made a motion to fire Nicholas, citing euthanasia as the reason, according to Espinal.
During the meeting, which was attended by the press, it was debated whether or not ringworm, a treatable disease, was a reason for euthanizing animals at the shelter.
Before a vote could be taken, Nicholas chose to resign.
Three days before the March 28 meeting, Crull emailed an ASPCA veterinarian for advice on the best ways to treat ringworm, citing an inability to isolate ringworm cases, a lack of trained staff and a lack of protocol as reasons to stop treatment in-house.
"In my opinion attempting to treat a highly contagious zoonotic disease in the current situation is reckless and dangerous to the staff, the public, and the general cat population," Crull writes in her email. "The path of least resistance would be for me to simply acquiesce, however, I do not feel that is the correct medical decision."
The next day, Dr. Brian DiGangi, the ASPCA vet writes back, "I agree with your recommendation here — as a highly contagious zoonotic disease I do not think it is appropriate to treat ringworm in the shelter unless you are able to provide care appropriately and safely.”
Later, Crull writes a letter to the board of directors saying that zero animals have been euthanized for ringworm.
During a conversation after Crull submitted her resignation, board member Terri Brobst said that after checking with the ASPCA regulations, " I discovered that they all were in agreement," and that the March 28 meeting "was a big misunderstanding that there was any conflict between our participation in no kill and these guidelines."
According to documents provided by Espinal, Crull, along with two other staff members had been working on creating a standard operating procedures that would provide guidelines from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
As for the SOP, when asked when the documents would be ready Crull responded, "We stopped doing them because we were under the impression you no longer wished for us to do them," Crull said.
"Well, considering the fact in was insinuated that we wanted to kill animals for needless reasons I assumed it was not something you wished us to continue," she said.
This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 9:01 AM with the headline "Grand Strand Humane Society veterinarian resigns."