Under new leadership, Humane Society leaving its problems behind

CEDAR RAPIDS - For an organization that endured a years-long internal dispute and a police investigation, the quiet routine that greets visitors to the Cedar Valley Humane Society's shelter and offices represents progress.

“I think they're doing an exceptionally good job with the facility they have,” said Anne Duffy. “I feel very good about the direction they're going.”

Just over a year ago, Duffy, a professor of veterinary technology at Kirkwood Community College, inspected the shelter at 7411 Mt. Vernon Rd. SE at the request of the society's board. She reported “some real serious problems,” including sick animals kept near healthy ones and substandard ventilation contributing to the spread of disease.

Duffy's inspection came as Zach Melton was taking over as the society's executive director amid what he called “a nasty divorce between the coordinators.”

Melton, 30, a Colorado native, managed a Denver veterinary clinic before he and his wife, a Lansing native, decided to return to Iowa to raise their young son.

“I figured I could find a job in animal health somewhere,” Melton recalled. “They were struggling with some of the basic practices and procedures, and I kind of fell on their doorstep.”

Cedar Valley Humane Society was struggling to recover from an unsettled period that seemed to date to the 2001 retirement of its 28-year director. The nadir came in March 2008, when Marion police raided the offices of the society, which provided the city's animal control services. Acting on a tip from a former shelter worker, police sought two years' worth of accounting records to prove double-billing.

After investigators failed to find proof of fraud, the case “is fully closed,” Marion Police Chief Harry Daugherty said.

Marion took its contract to Cedar Rapids' city-run animal control operation and negotiated an $11,600 settlement with the society for incorrect billings.

The situation had an effect on finances, with contributions dropping from $662,014 in 2007 to $175,773 the following year, according to its most recent IRS filing. Income from adoption fees and other services posted a moderate increase, from $210,891 to $243,322.

Only a few volunteers stayed through the transition.

“Literally a handful, five or six people, that cared more about how the animals are doing than about who was running it,” Melton said.

Volunteers are returning. Melton said the shelter averages about 420 hours of labor monthly from about five dozen volunteers. They supplement a paid staff of 11, five of them full-time.

A $32,900 grant from Linn County funded upgrades to the shelter's plumbing, heating and ventilation systems and a “deep clean” of rooms where animals are kept.

“The facility's about had it, but I think they're doing an exceptionally good job with the facility they have,” said Duffy, whose students help maintain the shelter and vaccinate animals.

The shelter adopted written procedures for receiving and caring for stray animals. Sick animals are now segregated from healthy ones, and there's no public access to rooms where sick animals are kept - basic steps in controlling disease.

Melton said less than 10 percent of the shelter's current population is sick, compared with more than half last fall.

“You start doing these things, and fewer animals have to be euthanized,” he said.

Melton said the shelter, last expanded in the late 1990s, has outgrown its capacity of 199 animals. A recent week saw 35 dogs and 164 cats on the premises, with about another 30 animals at foster homes or part of adoption displays at area pet shops.

The Cedar Valley Humane Society is on pace to handle about 1,800 animals this year, and Melton expects the agency to equal or top last year's 851 adoptions. He expects the agency will euthanize about 50 fewer animals than last year's approximately 500.

“I don't think that's out of line,” Duffy said of the euthanization rate. “Any time you're an open admissions shelter, you're going to have higher euthanization rates. That's just the way it goes. You have limited resources, and those resources can only go so far.”

With the immediate animal-care issues addressed, Melton plans to turn in coming months to the society's relationships with Linn County and its smaller communities. The county's $60,000 annual contract with the agency for animal control services hasn't been updated since 1998.

“Based on the history of this place, both organizations had been kind of negligent on that,” said Melton. “One of the first things I remember talking about is the renegotiation of that contract, to establish some form of trust so that both sides could sit down at the table.”

Rural residents report stray or injured animals to the Sheriff's Office, where dispatchers call the society. Response time depends on staff availability.

“I might be able to send that person out, but that's often the same person who helps get my supplies or who helps with vaccinations,” Melton said.

Melton hopes to improve service with a new contract with the county, which at least has a contract. Animal control in the county's smaller communities has been provided informally for free.

“I don't think anybody from this organization has taken the time to go and talk to the different municipalities,” said Melton, who envisions fee-for-service agreements with each town. “I don't think they're pleased with the way the service is now. People are confused; they don't know who to call.”

“The communities are really kind of expecting Cedar Valley in many ways to pick up the slack for them,” said Duffy. A formal agreement “is only fair. I don't think the communities are opposed to that; you just have to approach them.”

Even with that work still to be done, those within and outside the society say the organization appears to have righted itself.

“Things are feeling like they're a lot more stable, working a lot more smoothly,” said Bernie Letting, president of the society's board. “We've had a lot of positive results in the past year or so.”