An investigation is underway in the city of Auburn, stemming from claims of diminished care for animals at the Auburn Valley Humane Society.
In the last month, nine of the shelter’s 14 employees resigned, according to their CEO.
“I don’t know,” says CEO Phil Morgan, when asked what prompted the mass exodus.
He denies the resignations impacting the quality of care. “Absolutely not,” says Morgan.
KIRO 7 spoke with several current and former employees for this story. BreeAnn resigned last week.
“I do feel like the quality of care has diminished. That’s kind of inevitable,” says BreeAnn. She tells KIRO 7 that in addition to care issues, she also worries about the safety of animals, staff, and volunteers while current leadership remains.
Another concern from staff, shared with KIRO 7, was Morgan’s alleged comments about healthy kittens that were three-and-a-half weeks old. Staff allege that Morgan suggested they be euthanized if the shelter couldn’t find volunteers to foster them.
“I asked the question, ‘What happens to them? What do we do?”, says Morgan. “In previous shelters I worked at, that was the policy.”