Kane County animal control faced harsh questioning at the end of February by the County Board in regards to recent complaints they received from a woman who adopted four dogs from their organization. Michelle Alexander, founder of Sita’s Dog Sanctuary, complained that four dogs she adopted from Kane County animal control were not spayed and one even had a hernia. She further reported that there was a lack of full disclosure about the health of the animals she rescued, despite a requirement by state law. She informed Board Members that she had to sign what she described as “odd paperwork” in order to adopt the dogs. Alexander stated that she had to sign paperwork as if she was “reclaiming” the pets as if they were her own to begin with. Kane County Health Department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert said that their staff is currently working to remedy the problem by producing three different sets of paper work: for adoptions, for owners and for agencies and rescues.
What is more puzzling however, is the fact that the VCA Aurora Animal Hospital has offered to do the spaying and neutering procedures free of charge for Kane County, although they did not accept the offer and instead pay other agencies to do so. Kane County claimed to use other agencies because they would have to pay room, board, and medication costs at the VCA in Aurora.
Kuehnert stated that there is gray area in the new law that requires pets to be spayed before they can be adopted because it does not address if that is true for animals being taken to rescue shelters or not. He claims to be in contact with the States Attorney.
County Board members also questioned Kane County's euthanasia procedures. As it currently stands now 85% of their animals are euthanized due to behavioral related issues. These questions led to further questioning of how they came to the conclusion of euthanizing these animals just as the meeting reached it's two hour mark. Adminstrators planned to meet with Michelle Alexander to discuss her concerns and do "whatever possible to remedy the situation."
Two weeks after the board meeting, Kane County Animal Control Administrator Mary Lawrie resigned from her position with the County. Although Paul Kuehnert wouldn't comment on the reason for her resignation most speculate it had to do with the allegations brought forth against Kane County. Kuehnert's only comment would be to say, "there is an ongoing investigation that [Human Resources Director] Sheila McCraven and I are conducting. We don’t have any comments to make. I have confirmed that she has resigned, and I have accepted.” Lawrie would comment to say, “This has been in the works for some time, I’m 62, my husband retired early. The timing is right and we have property in Florida.” Lawrie had been administrator since 2007 when Kane County was opening the new Animal Control Center. According to the Kane County wage and salary report, Lawrie was paid $92, 699 a year with no Veterinary experience at all.
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