It was a grim scene at the Jackson County, West Virginia animal shelter last winter. 

Concerned citizens like Bonnie Oliver found starving, freezing horses and a dumpster full of dead dogs. The West Virginia state police investigated the Jackson County animal shelter following reports from concerned citizens.

Dead dogs were found in garbage bags in a nearby dumpster. It was a gruesome scene and not how any animal should end up. 

Also, the shelter had 2 horses that were left out in temperatures that plummeted to 10 degrees or less. Oliver and other residents found the horses with little water and no turnout blankets. A halter had been left on one horse. Oliver said, "This is something that no safety conscious horse person would ever do.  It was so very tight that it had left imprints in the flesh on the sides of the face and across the nose. This horse had infection in both eyes."

The only shelter for the horses was a lean-to built many years ago for deer. Many of the boards are missing, however, and it provides no protection against the temperatures or snow. One resident who  declined to be named for fear of retaliation from Jackson County shelter manager, Cynthia Katris, said, "The horses were certainly attempting to shelter from the storms, because the lean-to was filthy with piles of manure everywhere."

Katris advertised the horses for $50 on a local "swap and shop" program. This means the horses would most likely end up at the slaughter house.

The shelter management was more focused on killing than saving lives. Indeed, Katris has been quoted as saying, "It's cheaper just to kill [the animals]."

Oliver and dozens of area residents then organized Citizens Loving Animals Within Shelters (CLAWS), a nonprofit, dedicated to helping arrange placement for shelter animals.  CLAWS along with Animal Law Coalition's Southern Regional Director, Tracey Smith, began working with the Jackson County Commissioners to pave the way for CLAWS to work with a rescue team to provide vaccinations and other veterinary care and place impounded animals into foster care or permanent homes or with rescues.

The Jackson County Commissioners Joe Pitts, Tommy Nutter and Don Stephens, seemed initially to support the changes which were to include:

• (1) Animals will be vaccinated when they come into the shelter (there will no longer be an assumption they will be euthanized);
• (2) Volunteers will have access to the petfinder website to post information about each animal along with a photo;
• (3) An experienced volunteer rescue coordinator will place animals with fosters or rescues which have been vetted and approved by CLAWS or the coordinator, and dogs over 6 months of age and cats that are at least 4 months old will be spayed/neutered prior to leaving the shelter; the rescues will choose the veterinarians that will perform the spay/neuter surgery, pay for the costs of the surgery and vaccinations, and assume responsibility for the animals including the spay/neuter of puppies and kittens too young for the surgery when they leave the shelter;
• (4) CLAWS and Smith will arrange necessary transports with the assistance of an experienced area transport coordinator;
• (5) Any dogs that may be or are dangerous will be evaluated by an experienced trainer and provided with training and care and efforts will be made to find proper placement for the dog;
• (6) Horses that come into the shelter or which must be impounded will be taken care of by Oliver and CLAWS;
• (7) Shelter management cannot override the rescue coordinator, CLAWS or Smith's decision about placement of an animal in a foster or rescue; nor can the shelter management demand the return of an animal to the shelter after it has been placed with a foster or rescue without the approval of CLAWS or Smith;
• (8) No animal will be euthanized without first consulting CLAWS or Smith; and
• (9) Protocols will be developed to help implement these policies.

CLAWS has been able to save more than 200 animals since the horrific conditions were discovered at the Jackson County shelter last December.

But Katris was never on board with the proposed changes, and most have never been implemented. Katris has continued to prefer her method of animal control and care - killing. Saves on time, paperwork, or just having to do the job. A bureaucrat's solution. The commissioners have said they support the changes, but CLAWS members say most have turned a blind eye to Katris' efforts to sabotage the new protocols. 

Katris has killed animals that she knows rescuers working with CLAWS have found homes for. She has actually ordered animals that have been placed with fosters or rescues to be returned to the shelter, apparently so she can kill them.  Katris has gone out of her way to interfere with the efforts to provide veterinary care and find homes for animals.   

Katris has now said she will not work with CLAWS and has also said she will not work with volunteers. When CLAWS members have come to the shelter, Katris has treated them rudely and then fabricated reports to local authorities that they are "violent". She made up such a report about one CLAWS member who was across town at the time!

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Katris is well-paid by the taxpayers of Jackson County; she receives good benefits. It is time the people of Jackson County, West Virginia got what they are paying for - someone competent and caring to run an animal shelter, someone who can comply with the animal cruelty laws, and work with the community to save animal lives and promote owner responsibility. 

Katris has demonstrated she can do none of these things; her spitefulness taken out on innocent animals is devastating and astonishing. Don't let her stay in that job another winter where horses are left to freeze to death or sold for slaughter, and animals are routinely and brutally killed by an unqualified shelter staff and left in dumpsters.

Contact the Jackson County commissioners and urge them to find a competent and caring shelter director with experience in shelter medicine and care, dog behavior assessments and rescue and adoptions. There are qualified people right there in Jackson County.

Jackson County, W. VA. Commissioners: Joe Pitts, 304-532-0859, JPitts@verizon.net; Tommy Nutter, 304-273-4092; cell:  304-532-6956; and Don Stephens, 304-273-3477. You can also reach them at 304-373-2222 or FAX: 304-373-0245 or email: Commission@jacksoncountywv.com 

Go here for information about shelter animals available for adoption.