‘The volunteers are not the enemy!’

Jennifer Marcello of R.S.V.P. Inc., animal advocate Lillian Lennon, Jodi Record, and Kathy O’Donnell were the first shelter volunteers out of about a dozen who spoke, including concerned residents and former shelter supervisor Linda Klampfl, at the July 20 Brookhaven Town meeting, yet again, to plea for more shelter staff that they say would enable better sanitary and safer conditions, fix ongoing conditions there, and for the volunteers themselves to continue walking the shelter dogs.

“The deluge of rain caused the ceiling in some areas to collapse,” explained Record of the raging downpour that affected the shelter on July 16. “Had we not acted quickly, the dogs in the crates would have been flooded.”

“We were told the volunteer program was on hold due to safety issues because of the fallen roof,” said Marcello of the downpour. “Then we were told it was suspended indefinitely.”

Volunteer Kathleen Kocher commented that edict was reversed after the board meeting.

“The powers that be, after the outcry at the board meeting, allowed us to volunteer again with restrictions,” she said. “We’re not allowed to go into the shelter, where the dogs are in kennels, to get the dogs to walk. Now we go into the building to a waiting alcove; then, you buzz in and say who you are and the name of the dog and a kennel number, and a humane education specialist brings it out. The volunteer then walks the dog, comes back and buzzes in, ‘I’m returning the dog.’ Then the volunteer asks for another dog. The humane education specialist—who works with the dogs, trains them and performs behavioral work, as well as applications for those interested in adopting and setting up appointments—can’t do that if they’re shuffling dogs to the volunteer. They weren’t hired to do this.”

Public Safety assistant commissioner Dave Moran, who was brought in to oversee the shelter in February, responded. He said that union rules had a hand in the decision.

“On that Sunday (when the rain deluge hit), I asked them to leave the shelter for safety reasons and because of union rules, we lost four ceiling tiles,” he said. “Two fell into the kennels; it wasn’t a roof cave-in, and it was because a vent pipe got overwhelmed by water. Not being in the situation, I dispatched directions over the phone. The order was given that I can’t have the volunteers in the shelter until I know it’s safe. They were told they couldn’t volunteer until then. The engineer and maintenance crews were coming in and out, and we created a space for them. Their role is to walk dogs; they can say we’re trying to put a blanket over the shelter, and that’s not true.”

Moran explained the new procedure the volunteers are now asked to follow.

“The system is brand new,” he said. “The only reason it’s being done that way now is to make sure it works.  That’s the only reason we’re using an upper-echelon process right now. It’s the responsibility of the assistant shelter supervisor and two education specialists, until we eventually give it to another employee like a kennel attendant. It’s a dynamic process.”

Moran said he would talk to successful shelters at some time, but pointed out that many are privatized and have a smaller animal population to deal with.

“Are there problems? Yes. But it’s fixable,” he said.

At the board meeting, volunteers echoed the same complaints as expressed in the June 8 and May 8 meetings: not enough staffers, dogs left in unclean cages because of the staffing issues, flooded areas due to a drain backup, dogs not getting their medicine properly at times.

“The volunteers are not the enemy,” reiterated Lennon. “We’re the ones walking the dogs in heat and rain.” Katrina Moran, who no longer works at the shelter, mentioned nepotism issues, and full-time and part-time staffers quitting frequently. Loud audience cheers could be heard often after the volunteers spoke; some stood up to applaud.

Klampfl, who spoke, said she was promised adequate staffing in several meetings with whoever she wanted. “I had several part-time staffers who were very good, but weren’t promoted. Every time a position came up, I was assigned someone. We had part-time staff there for the right reasons, then a full-time position would open, and instead they’d take someone’s brother, uncle, son. It’s all about who you know instead of appropriate staff.  I would get people who never had a pet before. That doesn’t bode well for safety and humane issues. The last year, in 2022, they said we went substantially over budget. But I wasn’t included in any budget meetings or trained in budgetary matters. The financial auditor for the town looked at what was purchased and ordered, and said it was just inflationary increases for food, medicines, kennel supplies, cattery supplies, and those costs went up dramatically. The auditor legitimized everything that was purchased.”

A volunteer, who had reached out to deputy supervisor Dan Panico’s office, distributed a packet at the end of the board meeting to each town board member with bullet points on essential needs and concerns along with photos, as requested by his office, said Kocher.

In a previous interview, Moran said when the building was expanded, it was over a cesspool cover. An engineer was being hired to examine it. The town was suggesting installing a pipe through the side so it could be pumped out, which would eliminate the backup. Mold was treated as it appeared.

Improvements were planned, including a $75,000 design/engineering 2023-2027 Capital Project Cost Analysis Building & Improvements request for 2023. For that, the redesign of the front office and expanded storage areas was needed, as well as other areas with new flooring, ceiling tiles, and wall covering.  A $500,000 2024 request for redesign/new flooring and new ceiling was also in the 2023-2027 Capital Project Cost Analysis. The town has spent just over $1 million in renovations and improvements since 2018, the Finance Department said.

Moran said there was a meeting this week with the Finance Department and engineers to prioritize improvements. “This project money is available,” he said.

Did he still believe that the 20 staffers, full-time and part-time, he said would be available were enough to oversee the shelter that expands to 100, then reduces to 60 as well as around that amount of cats?

“I think with volunteers walking the dogs, I think there’s enough staff. But the administration has given us the leeway to get the job done. I will ask for two part-time kennel assistants to be made full-time for next year,” he said.

“The volunteers have complained about existing problems that have been there for years,” he continued. “A $2.5 million budget has never been reached for the shelter, and the money, as far as I could tell, is there. At the town board meeting I said the budget was never reached.”

“It’s never going to be perfect,” he said. “But I’ll fix it.”