UPDATED: Humane society battles lawsuits, questions about leadership
Mike Thomas/Yukon News
Shelley Cuthbert is the president of Humane Society Yukon.
Jordi Mikeli-Jones, owner of Triple J’s Music Cafe, was the president of Humane Society Yukon from August 2010 to July 2011.
Before that, she was a board member for four years and has helped raise over $80,000 for the society.
Now, she can’t even enter the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter on Tlingit Street.
On Aug. 4, she received a letter via registered mail from the Humane Society Yukon board.
The letter, dated July 31, informed her she was banned from the society’s premises effective immediately, and that the RCMP would be called to remove her if she set foot on the property.
She hasn’t been to the shelter since October, Jones said. She is not a current member of the society.
The letter also said the society is considering filing criminal harassment charges against her.
The society is also accusing her of slander and defamation, Jones said.
The situation and allegations are absurd, Jones said.
She only received the letter because she has expressed concerns about some of the society’s actions and how it is being run, she said.
Jones wasn’t the only one to receive unpleasant mail from the society.
Madeleine Girard, a previous board member, received a letter denying her renewal of membership.
She has also been banned from the shelter.
Her brother, Paul Girard, owner of Ovation Construction, was also banned from the society’s property.
Other society members have also received similar letters.
These letters are part of the society’s attempts to move in a positive direction, said president Shelley Cuthbert.
Negativity has created an unsafe environment for staff and animals, she said.
If this continues, the board may have to consider closing the shelter, she said.
But closing the shelter doors is an unlikely prospect, she added.
Neither she nor the board members have heard from the individuals they sent letters to, Cuthbert said.
The prospect of the shelter closing angers Mikeli-Jones. “Over my dead body will she shut down the shelter,” she said.
The Yukon government is investigating the society for potential breaches of the Society’s Act.
More details about the investigation are expected this week, Madeleine said.
Cuthbert is looking forward to the results of the investigation, she told the News on Monday. It will help the society improve operations, she said.
Concerns about the society’s activities and management are not new.
Last week, the society issued a press release calling for an end to repeated verbal attacks on the board of directors from former staff, board and society members, and the public.
The current board of directors has faced criticism since being formed in August 2011, the release said.
That board has also seen significant changes.
When it was formed, Marta Keller was president.
She stepped down in January.
Cuthbert became president and Keller then became a director.
Keller recently resigned that position, Cuthbert told the News on Monday.
The board will be announcing new directors soon, she added.
On Aug. 7, the society’s website still listed Keller as director.
There is one other director listed on the site.
Last week’s release lists actions taken by the current board to change the negative image of the shelter.
This includes fighting lawsuits filed against the society.
Ovation Construction is suing the society for breach of contract.
The company alleges it was not paid for work it had been contracted to do at the shelter, and did not receive a tax receipt for services donated to the society.
There were “minor deficiencies” in some of the work, Paul Girard said on Thursday night.
He was not notified about these issues or allowed to repair them, he said.
He would have been willing to repair them, he added.
The initial contract stipulates mediation in case of dispute over payment, said Paul.
But Cuthbert refused mediation, he added.
Paul has another lawsuit against Cuthbert.
She hasn’t paid for use of his personal cellphone, he alleges.
Madeleine is also suing the society.
She is seeking reimbursement for $1,643.71 worth of expenses she claims she incurred for the society.
The Girards both stressed they want to see the society continue and have no interest in hurting the organization.
“I have no interest in filing any sort of vexatious claims against the society,” Madeleine said Thursday evening. “All I am interested in is justice.”
Madeleine has concerns about the organization’s transparency.
Members have been denied access to membership lists and financial statements, she said.
Societies are required to keep a list of members at their registered office and let members view it at any reasonable time, the Societies Act says.
Madeleine has begun a petition for an emergency meeting for the purpose of removing the current board of directors, specifically Cuthbert, she said Friday.
Cuthbert had not heard of this petition, she said on Monday.
She wants the society to move in a positive direction.
Personal agendas have caused much of the conflict, she said.
Contact Meagan Gillmore at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
16 Comments
Why haven’t we heard from Mike Grieco in the meantime? His silence is unusual.
I appreciate the hard work that is done at the Humane Society Yukon. It is a very difficult work environment, dealing with abandoned animals, trying to give them a good life. This work attracts ‘passionate’ people, and I can just imagine the fireworks. I believe most if not all of them have a good heart, and I hope they can get some professional guidance to work out the difficulties so that the Yukon community and especially the animals, can continue to benefit from the work of the people at the Mae Bachur, and the facility itself.
Last time I checked minor defficiences didn’t result in a stop work order and a condemmed building. Now cut your whinning and let the staff at the shelter do their work.
What are the intentions of these people attacking the society? Why isnt anyone standing up to them?
S Mac, maybe you should become a board member if you’re not one already.
How has this happened to such a wonderful bunch of eco/animal .......... at the Animal Shelter?
I think they need to put up a bronze sculpture of Trevor the Dog in front of the animal shelter to commemorate the superior work of the Humane Society in demonstrating their commitment of success regarding humanitarianism and fiscal responsibility and the ability of everyone to get along and work together. It would only cost taxpayers a small amount in the thousands which I am sure everyone can agree would be well worth it. There is no reason we can not continue spending money. What is a few more litigious court cases. We could get YTG to back a festival for this and call it “What Would Trevor the Dog Do?”. We could run the theater play “Dogtown: The Musical”. Everybody could write poems, essays, stories, songs and sell artwork of Trevor while everything would be backed by government funding. There could be different factions of people that support Trevor the Dog by wearing too tight collars and would be identified by their different colors. It could be its own religon.
I really don’t see how anybody could think that Trevor the Dog cost the taxpayers all that much it is estimated @ $68,352.12 TOTAL
The 3 years he was kept in a kennel at the shelter there was a minimum of 12 nice, healthy, adoptable dogs that could have used the kennel and found new homes. It was soooo worth it to keep an animal locked up and suffering.
Who will rescue the animals from the Humane Society?
It seems like the focus has left the animals all together and its turning into an ego war. I see nothing posted about the things that are helping the communtiy and what a womderful job the staff are doing. Its always been a difficult place to work and until people check their egos at the door it will always be. The shelter needs all the support they can get, in the end its the animals that will suffer. All at the price of stroking someones ego. Good going guys!
SFTP: In my mind the funding is for the animals and not the people, so while I agree that there has to be some responsibility on the part of those running the joint that they bury the hatchet and get on with the business at hand, I can’t abide by your suggestion that the funding be stopped. The collateral damage to the animals that depend on this place would be awful.
Please don’t shut the Shelter down by with holding your donations. Don’t sacrifice the animals for the sake of punishing the crazies. I don’t understand why some people choose to create conflict and cause problems with the Humane Society, but it is the only safety net there is for abandoned animals, and they should not pay for the radical or crazy behaviour of the humans. The peoples’ intentions are likely sincere with regard to caring for the animals, but may misinterpret or not always follow the Society rules and regulations, or mismanage the operation, and this is not the fault of the animals.
It was the City who chose to fight HSY in Court to kill Trevor, and spent the $40,000 of taxpayer money. The Shelter’s lawyer donated her time as did the volunteers who chose to help Trevor. Had the City just allowed Trevor to live, as was the final outcome, that would have not cost the taxpayers. Had the City just donated this same $40,000 to the Shelter for the animals rather than paying it out to lawyers fees, it would have accomplished far more good.
There should be no public taxpayer funds going into this crazy place. The nut cases have been involved for a decade. They have ignored their constitution which provided for euthanisation. They have continued to spend thousands of dollars on dangerous dogs or animals who are not adoptable. They have an over-crowded facility which is a direct threat to human health. WHY WCB has not shut them down because of the over-crowding, is very hard to understand!! YTG should NOT be funding these people at all.
No surprise that the old Board who were responsible for the “Trevor-the-$40,000-dog” fiasco, would be displeased with the new Board that were brought in to clean up the mess.
In defense of the shelter…First ask around the city what kind of business man Mr.Paul Girard is first, before you assume it’s the shelters fault…I have a very PERSONAL experience with this man and his shifty ways.
I cant for the life of me see how this has happened to such a wonderfull group of eco/animal spazmatic’s. The $40’000.00 some dollars we tax payers spent on trevor the dog should have been enough to shut down this joke of a public service before it ever became an issue.
this sounds like a case for mike grieco!
Isn’t someone who takes over the president position - WITHOUT being voted into that position considered “acting” president? No one voted Miss Cuthbert into the role.
If the society brings up dog trainer/abuser Brad Pattison again, their problems are going to grow dramatically. I’ll be ending my small but longstanding sponsorship, to start with. The videos on YouTube showing the way Pattison treats dogs are appalling.
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