Seventy-five dogs were rescued from the Lindsay Animal Control shelter June 14 in what was the largest rescue operation ever completed at the facility.

But whether or not it was a successful rescue operation depends on who you ask.

The rescue operation was coordinated by the Gage Family Foundation, Puppy Porch Rescue in Minnesota, and the Central Valley Rescue Railroad and a representative of a Love of Animals, a rescue organization based in the Central Valley, and the Can-Do Foundation. The plan was to pick up about 75 dogs on the watch list for being put to sleep, and transport them to no kill shelters and rescue facilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Britt Gage, president of the Gage Family Foundation, who coordinated homes for the animals in Minnesota, said that Kennel Supervisor Wendy Jones ìhorribly mismanagedî the rescue operation.

In a July 21 e-mail, Gage said five dogs loaded the day of the rescue died from heat stress, 12 dogs died the during the week-long transport from infectious disease, 14 dogs that were supposed to be rescued were not sent and swapped for 16 dogs that were not requested by the rescue group.

Gage said the 12 dogs died from a variety of diseases and illnesses including canine influenza, distemper, pneumonia, parvo, campylobacter, giardia, ehlicha and coccidian.

She said the dogs were not properly quarantined and vaccinated prior to transportation, a legal requirement for animals crossing state lines.

Two animals had to be left in emergency veterinary clinics en route to their destination in Minnesota. Alice, a thin female pit bull mix had to be taken to a veterinarian upon arrival in Minnesota where she spent two weeks on IVs and major antibiotic treatments. Despite the efforts, Alice died from what Gage said the veterinarian described as ìthe worst case of pneumonia he had ever seen.î Eight more died within a week of arrival.

Gage, who invested $10,000 in animal crates and donated a cargo van to a local rescue group in April, said rescue groups are now out more than $20,000 in veterinary costs.

ìWe werenít expecting anything like this,î Gage said. ìThese people should not be in charge of the animal shelter at all. Lindsay shouldnít have a shelter, it should be run by a rescue organization that knows what they are doing.î

Capt. Rich Wilkinson, who oversees the operation of LAC for the Lindsay Police Department, said all of the dogs except puppies younger than eight weeks old are vaccinated upon arrival at the shelter. Kennel Cards at LAC showed that every dog that left the shelter on the transport list provided by Gage had been vaccinated.

ìVaccination does not guarantee immunity for any animal,î Wilkinson said. ìOnce they left this facility they were responsible for the welfare of those animals. That is a very long trip for animals to be packed in so tightly.î

Wilkinson said Jones did not send some of the dogs because they had more time than other dogs that were already scheduled to put to sleep. Seven of the dogs that were not requested for the transport were on the Put To Sleep list at the facility because they had been there more than 30 days, a priority for both the rescue and the shelter.

ìThe bottom line is that this rescue gave a second lease on life to more than 70 dogs,î Wilkinson said. ìThis shouldnít be viewed as a bad thing.î

According to the 1998 Hayden Act, animal shelters are only required to keep animals for four days. The cityís own policy already extends that to 14 days in the hopes of adopting out animals and to 45 days to delay euthanizing to allow adoptions groups and rescue organizations ample time to find homes.

The Hayden Act also says that ìpublic shelters should work with humane animal adoption organizations to the fullest extent possible to promote the adoption of animals and to reduce the rate of killing.î

Wilkinson said LAC will continue to work with rescue organizations and volunteers but only through the oversight of Jones. He issued a new protocol for rescue organizations on June 18 that states: ìSupervisor Jones will identify and assess those animals available for rescue and adoption. Volunteers and rescue organizations will be provided with a list of those animals available. Volunteers and organizations will be allowed to view and assess the animals they are interested in placing on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.î

A History of Violations

Lindsay Animal Control has been investigated twice in the last 10 years. A major investigation released in the 1998-99 Tulare County Grand Juryís final report revealed major violations of inadequate record keeping of vaccinations, unsanitary conditions, insufficient quarantine, Rabies Control regulations, neglect of the animals, and euthanizing animals prior to the mandated 72-hour holding period.

The Grand Jury recommended that the ìCity of Lindsay give serious consideration to changing all management level staffî and that the ìLindsay Police Department should not be in charge of the Lindsay Animal Shelter.î At the time of the investigation, Police Chief Bert Garzelli, Lt. Ramon Figueroa and Kennel Master Wendy Jones were in charge. Figueroa is now chief of Lindsayís Department of Public Safety, Jones is still kennel master and the facility still falls under the oversight of the Lindsay Police Department.

However, a follow up report was issued by the 1999-2000 Grand Jury, which reported that all other recommendation had been met and that ìefforts are being made to clean up the shelter and to control the spread of disease. This should be gratifying to the concerned citizens of the county.î

The 2006-2007 Grand Jury investigated LAC regarding its mishandling of an aggressive pit bull mix that attacked three separate people in Porterville because the ìPound Master failed to enforce any of the required regulations.î There is pending litigation involving one of the attack victims. The City of Porterville contracts with LAC for animal control services. Wilkinson said that more than 85% of the animals that come into the facility are from Porterville. Partly because it is a smaller city with a smaller budget servicing a larger city, the Grand Jury recommended that Porterville stop contracting with Lindsay and staff and maintain its own animal control facility.

In response to the Gage Foundationís accusations, the City of Lindsay sent a letter to the Grand Jury ìto clarify the cityís policies, procedures and overall success in providing quality animal control.î

The letter states, ìthe Lindsay Animal Control Facility is often the target of unwarranted criticism.î The letter continues, ìThe City of Lindsay is pleased with the operation of the [Animal Control Facility] and as such is concerned about individuals and outside rescue organizations that attempt to redefine the purpose and objective of the facility.î The letters concludes with an invitation to Grand Jury members to visit the facility for a tour and to meet with city staff to ask questions.

Wilkinson said the accumulative effect of past Grand Jury reports has hampered efforts to start a volunteer program to hold adoption days and to find people to socialize with the animals while they are held at the shelter.

ìWe have always asked the community to volunteer and help out at the facility, but there has been a negative perception in the past,î he said. ìWe encourage volunteers and rescue groups to come in and help us find homes for as many dogs as we can.î

Center of Controversy

The catalyst for criticism of the shelter seems to be tied to the firing of former LAC employee and Central Valley Rescue Railroad founder B.J. Motko.

Motko was a parttime employee at LAC who spent her own time at the shelter organizing rescue operations. She used her personal digital camera and computer to list pets needing homes on PetFinder.com, arranged for transport and often transported animals herself to rescue organizations and no-kill shelters across the state.

She estimates that she has helped rescue over 5,000 dogs from the shelter since May 2006. The shelterís euthanasia rate dropped from about 98% to 40%.

Motko began working with the Gage Family Foundation about seven months ago. In April, the foundation donated a cargo van and animal crates to Love of Animals, a non-profit rescue organization that Motko sits on the board of directors, to help with rescue operations. During the following months, Motko, Gage and Puppy Porch began coordinating a huge rescue effort at the shelter.

ìIt was supposed to be the biggest rescue effort ever in the Valley,î Motko said. ìBut the shelter took it over and it became the biggest botched rescue ever.î

Motko said she was reprimanded for contacting local media prior the rescue because she didnít OK the press release with Wilkinson. Motko said the press release was not sent from LAC but from Love of Animals.

While Motko does admit to hiding her notice of termination, she contends that she only did so because she felt the city was trying to ìclose ranks and hide this facilityís shortcomingsî by firing someone whose only agenda was to save the animals.

ìIíve done nothing wrong and nothing but good things for the shelter,î Motko said.

After Motko was fired on June 31, rescue groups involved in the June 14 operation began flooding the shelter, City Councilís phonelines and inboxes with questions of the facilityís policies and practices.

ìThe only reaction [to rescue] by City/Shelter staff was to remove the volunteer rescue program headed up by Central Valley Rescue Railroad (Motko) ñ a group which has successfully rescued over 1,000 dogs and cats from their facility in the past two years.Without their assistance it will most likely return quickly to one of the worst kill rates in the U.S.,î Gage said in a July 21 e-mail.

Karen Jones, who works with the Basenji Rescue of Southern California-Mefly Brigade, said the decision to fire Motko ìleaves the facility ìin the hands of two inept and incompetent people.î

ìWord of this travesty is going to spread through the many rescue groups that have worked with B.J. and benefited by her large network of contacts with breed rescuers and volunteers who help move dogs to places where they can be fostered until they finally find homes.î

The comments were addressed in the mayorís letter to the grand jury.

ìMost recently, criticism towards the facility and the City has stemmed from a single individual and rescue groups associated with this individual who have attempted to discredit and destroy the reputation of the facility and the City Ö the City has secured and verified various documents that show a pattern of dishonesty and deceit and further demonstrate efforts to blatantly sabotage and undermine the efforts of the facility.î

Motko said she has spent seven years creating a network of rescue partnerships and a quality rescue reputation. But without her help or the help of a dedicated rescue organization, all of those doors are about to close.

ìI donít have to discredit them, they are doing a fine job all on their own,î she said.

Wilkinson said he could not comment on Motkoís termination because it is a personnel matter, but did say that any retaliation by rescue organizations would be unfortunate.

Motko has offered to continue coordinating rescues through LAC, but refuses to work with Wilkinson and Jones.

ìI have lost my job and Lindsay has lost its reputation,î Motko said. ìBut whatís really sad is that the animals have lost the most in all of this.î

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