Grand Strand Humane Society in turmoil over number of euthanasia cases. Here's why
Between April 2015 and April 2018, the Grand Strand Humane Society euthanized 408 animals in the shelter, according to documents provided by GSHS treasurer Frank Espinal.
The shelter has been under fire since a March board of directors meeting that questioned if too many animals were euthanized at the no-kill shelter for cases that are treatable, according to Espinal.
At the head of the argument was whether or not ringworm, a treatable disease, was a reason for euthanizing animals.
At the meeting, Espinal said former vice president of the board Carol Wallauer made a motion to fire former president Elena Nicholas, citing euthanasia as the reason.
Before a vote could be taken, Nicholas chose to resign.
“Somehow, after that meeting, I don’t know exactly what happened, but somebody at the shelter told one of the volunteer foster people that if we don’t find more fosters to take care of sick animals, we’re going to have to start [euthanizing] them,” Nicholas said. “And that, somehow, got to some of these board members that we’re killing animals. We haven’t euthanized one animal for that.”
Nicholas said that GSHS veterinarian Dr. Michelle Crull had made the decision to stop treating ringworm at the shelter in March. Rather, the disease would be treated in homes outside of the shelter.
In an email sent to DiGangi on March 25, Crull cited an inability to isolate ringworm cases, a lack of trained staff and a lack of protocol as reasons to stop treatment in-house.
“It wasn’t ever to euthanize, it was just to stop treating it in-house and to treat it in trained foster homes,” Nicholas said. “The medical director felt it was really important because a few staff members had gotten ringworm and they weren’t following protocol and they need to be retrained.”
The decision was temporary until staff could be retrained and space was made available in the shelter.
"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."
On March 26, DiGangi responded, stating, “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.”
The aftermath
On March 29, the day after Nicholas resigned, Crull sent an email to Wallauer stating, “In the interest of full disclosure I feel compelled to write to you to correct some misinformation. Elena had talked to me about the board’s reservations, which is why I wrote to Dr. DiGangi and composed the letter about possible conflicts with no kill SC.
“I then made her a copy of these and the ASPCA generic SOP [standard operating procedures]. She went to the shelter early yesterday and made a copy of all of this to give to each board member during executive session so that you could all discuss this and decide on the next step.”
Crull continued, stating, “there have been ZERO euthanasias performed,” but that staff have begun developing ringworm and that “this is one of the warning signs that protocol needs to be revisited and reinforced before proceeding with in-house treatment.”
Wallauer sent Crull’s email to the rest of the board to which vice president Yvette Caufield responded, “Were we missinformed? On all this? Is her letter true? Can anyone confirm?”
Caufield’s email was sent on March 30, two days after Nicholas resigned.
But how many of those euthanizations were necessary?
In order for an animal to be euthanized, the veterinarian, the executive director and the director of outreach and lifesaving must be consulted, Espinal said. Of the three, two must be in agreement.
“It’s not a board member’s decision whether or not we are safe in treating animals,” Nicholas said. “I would think that would be our veterinarian’s decision because if the staff isn’t following protocol, and staff members are getting ringworm, then what? The public could get ringworm, it could spread to other animals. We have like 200 animals in that place.”
“What we say for no kill, that doesn’t mean never euthanize,” Abigail Kamleiter, director of No Kill South Carolina, said. “But, for us, no kill means all healthy and treatable dogs and cats are saved. And that means behaviorally as well as physically.”
According to Kamleiter, the Grand Strand Humane Society became a partner with No Kill South Carolina in 2016.
“It was one of the first few organizations that signed up,” Kamleiter said.
In order to be a partner, Kamleiter said shelters must provide statistics to the organization, as well as share resources with other partners.
“By becoming partners they say that they are willing to work together and learn new things and try new things to contribute to becoming a no kill state,” Kamleiter said.
The Sun News is working to receive a breakdown of why animals at the Grand Strand Humane Society were euthanized between April 2015 and April 2018.
This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 9:01 AM with the headline "Grand Strand Humane Society in turmoil over number of euthanasia cases. Here's why."