Police find nothing amiss at animal shelter

Deepa Bharath

Former volunteers at a Huntington Beach animal shelter protested yet

again Saturday, this time alleging that shelter administrators had

neglected the animals on Thanksgiving Day.

At least 25 former volunteers gathered outside the Orange County

Humane Society on Newland Street Saturday, said Shelly Hunter, who

has been spearheading the protests.

But Costa Mesa Animal Control officers who investigated Hunter’s

complaint found all animals had been fed, given water and cared for

during the holiday, Costa Mesa Police Lt. John FitzPatrick said.

Costa Mesa has a contract with the shelter to impound and care for

its stray animals, as does the city of Westminster.

“I got a call from [Hunter] on Thanksgiving Day saying that the

shelter hadn’t been cleaned or the animals hadn’t been fed or given

water,” FitzPatrick said. “I sent my officers out to the shelter late

Friday morning. They found that the animals had been taken care of,

and the place was cleaned. They had someone come in and do it on the

holiday.”

But Hunter said one of the former volunteers had been watching the

shelter from 7:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., and only one person had gone in.

“Based on information we received, we had reason to believe that

no one was at the shelter from Wednesday afternoon through

Thanksgiving Day,” she said.

Jon Vreeland, who still volunteers at the shelter, said Hunter’s

information was wrong.

“The animals were of course cared for,” he said. “Because of the

volunteers’ complaints [to police Thursday], some of our employees

had to cut short Thanksgiving with their families. We basically

panicked and thought something was wrong at the shelter when, in

fact, everything was fine and taken care of. It’s frustrating for

us.”

Former volunteers have been butting heads with shelter owner Samir

Botros since Aug. 30, when he dismissed most of them because he

believed they were interfering with management. Some volunteers had

already quit over differences with shelter staff members in March.

Other volunteers supportive of Botros remain at the shelter. Botros

has denied all allegations.

Since August, former volunteers have been protesting on and off

outside the shelter, demanding better veterinary care for the

animals. Last month, Hunter also filed a complaint with the state

Veterinary Medical Board alleging that the veterinarian who owns the

shelter uses unlicensed technicians to euthanize and perform surgical

procedures on animals at his adjoining hospital.

Many of the former volunteers came to Costa Mesa City Council

meetings asking that the city cancel its contract with the Orange

County Humane Society and take its stray animals elsewhere. But an

investigation led by Costa Mesa and Orange County animal control

officials found only a few violations at the shelter, which Botros

immediately fixed, FitzPatrick said.

But for Hunter and the other former volunteers, the animals will

remain a source of constant concern, she said.

“We’ll be watching the shelter very closely during the upcoming

holidays,” she said. “Even if it means having someone out there with

a video camera.”