Pact forces removal of cats from no-kill shelter

Cats are leaving a no-kill shelter in Cape Girardeau County as part of an agreement signed earlier this month.

More than 40 cats were taken from the Safe Harbor facilties near Jackson on Saturday to be sent to licensed shelter and rescue facilities, as a consent judgment approved Friday by Circuit Judge Michael Gardner stipulates.

A spokesperson from the the office of Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in an email to the Southeast Missourian Thursday the agreement was negotiated to protect the well-being of animals in the custody of the shelter's former director, Alice Wybert, and the shelter.

The agreement also negates a trial in the matter.

Koster's office, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, filed a case against Wybert and the shelter in October, alleging violations of the Animal Care Facilities Act in 2013 and 2014, including failures to take sick animals to a veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment; maintain health records for the animals; follow cat housing requirements; maintain clean housing facilities; and properly identify the animals.

Mediation in the case followed a March request by Koster to have the shelter's animals removed, citing a "substantial ongoing risk to their health and welfare," according to a news release. The release said 31 of the facility's cats died since Oct. 31. In November, shelter board members said violations had been corrected. In January, the shelter had more than 200 animals on the premises.

The judgment, according to court documents, will relieve the shelter and Wybert of liability for the violations, but allows the state to pursue further action if stipulations go unmet.

For her part, the agreement requires Wybert to withdraw from all activities associated with Safe Harbor aside from soliciting donations of food and other animal-support items and delivering donations to the facilities. The judgment prohibits Wybert from owning, operating, volunteering, being employed by, assisting or managing any entity that requires a state license under the Animal Care Facilities Act.

Wybert owns the property that holds Safe Harbor and plans to retain it, she said Tuesday.

The shelter must remove all cats from the facility by a 60-day deadline that falls near the end of July. The cats must be transferred to licensed shelter or rescue facilties, according to the agreement. The shelter is not allowed to adopt out cats to the public. The shelter also must send recently prepared health certificates with the cats and provide records to the agriculture department.

Safe Harbor, run by a not-for-profit board, must sanitize facilities, apply for a new animal-care license and meet certain requirements during the application process. Before a 90-day inspection period ends, the shelter is required to develop an agriculture department-approved protocol for conditioning new animals to its facilties that will reduce stress and identify and treat illnesses, and must limit the exposure of healthy cats to disease brought by new arrivals.

The shelter also must create a process for accurate recordkeeping for life and medical status and treatment of cats, work cooperatively with the department to identify and resolve potential rule violations and set a standard for evaluation of the shelter. The number of cats allowed at the shelter's facilties also is limited.

The shelter can adopt out dogs, but cannot accept dogs until after a new license is issued.

The shelter, if unable to comply after the 90-day period, must shut down, will have its probationary license revoked, and the agriculture department will take custody of the animals.

The judgment also assessed $26,000 in fines -- $18,000 for the shelter and $8,000 for Wybert -- though each will have to pay only $1,500 if payments are received by the state within 90 days. The remaining amount of the fines is suspended as long as compliance with the judgment's stipulations is found for two years. Parties in the suit also must pay their own court costs.

Wybert, when asked Tuesday about the feasibility of the shelter meeting the requirements set out in the judgment and the shelter's future, said, "We are going to do it. It will stay Safe Harbor."

Teri Taylor, a former Safe Harbor board member who reported conditions at the shelter to the Department of Agriculture, said earlier this month as the judgment agreement was pending she was "extremely saddened" the situation had evolved into animals being removed from Safe Harbor, "but [management] were given every opportunity to straighten up and take care of things, and they refused."

"And my primary concern is now and always has been the health and welfare of the animals," Taylor said.

Transport of the Safe Harbor cats to other shelters continues.

Laura Holloway, founder and president of SEMO Animal Rescue Alliance in Lilbourn, Missouri, said in an email May 8 she had issued a plea to all her contacts in the rescue community, but she was not sure how many of the cats would be placed.

"This is kitten season, so all rescues will be full of cats, kittens and pregnant cats," Holloway wrote.

She said the cats would be transported to the rescues in their own crates with litter boxes.

"If we have a lot of them going to a certain area, I am hoping we can fly them to reduce stress," she wrote.

Wybert said Tuesday the cats that left Saturday "went to good rescues."

A thrift store in Jackson that benefits Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary is continuing to operate and take donations to provide food, shelter and medical care for animals still at the facilities and to offset costs associated with upgrades, the store posted Saturday on social media.

Wybert still faces separate animal abuse charges related to the deaths of two cats at Safe Harbor.

She appeared in court Tuesday before Associate Circuit Judge Scott Thomsen, and her case was continued to June 23. A trial date has yet to be scheduled.

kwebster@semissourian.com

388-3646

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

359 Cree Lane, Jackson, MO