Safe Harbor reopens with new license, renovations

Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary near Jackson re-opened Friday after being issued a new license by the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

So far, the shelter has taken in 14 cats and four dogs.

The new shelter operators say everything in the shelter has been redone since it closed in May. Volunteers worked on interior renovations all summer, and the shelter has a new president, director and assistant.

“The old is gone, and it’s time to move on,” assistant director Pat Coomer said.

Shelter president Connie Schmidt said the new Safe Harbor is trying to establish trust with the community. People are wary because the shelter was forced to relocate all of its cats as part of a consent judgment in May stemming from a lawsuit brought on by the Missouri attorney general’s office and the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

Montica Babers, new director of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, spends a moment with Courtney in a recently remodeled room at the shelter.Glenn Landberg

Allegations from October 2014 to March 2015 included that 31 cats died at the facility and 57 veterinary-care violations occurred.

The initial petition cited instances when as many as 164 cats lived in the single-story facility, and Safe Harbor volunteers said there were as many as 185 cats in the facility in spring 2015.

Safe Harbor was found in violation of the Animal Facility Care Act for failing to spot-clean and sanitize surfaces that came in contact with dogs and cats; failing to remove dirt, grime and excreta from walls and heaters; and failing to prevent mold growth in the special-care building, among other violations.

“It was overwhelming,” director Montica Babers said of the former condition of the shelter. “That is not going to be allowed.”

The Animal Facility Care Act violations are associated with former director Alice Wybert, who no longer works or volunteers with Safe Harbor.

“She got in over her head. She took in too many cats,” Schmidt said.

Wybert was not allowed to take part in day-to-day operations with Safe Harbor as a condition of the consent judgment.

All cats needed to be removed from the facility last spring. Babers said cats were sent to 25 shelters.

Other conditions in the judgment concerned future routines at the center, including intake documents and differentiation of conditioned and non-conditioned animals.

Babers said cats will begin in isolation in their first week, then be moved into a room with kennels where they can move freely most of the time, then to an open-roam room.

Renovations during the summer and fall included removing all shelving in the animal area and replacing rusted fencing.

Safe Harbor has met all the conditions of the consent judgment, said Misti Peterson, director of strategic initiatives with the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

Organizers and volunteers hope to receive donations and recruit volunteers, now that the shelter has been re-opened.

“We go in the hole with every animal that walks out the door,” Coomer said of the need for donations. “All our cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, tested for FIV, leukemia and microchipped. We have a $75 adoption fee on a cat. If you got all of that done, it would be $250 at a vet.”

Safe Harbor is a no-kill shelter, and it will keep “unadoptable” animals until they die.

Safe Harbor will euthanize an animal, but only if it is terminally ill, Babers said.

She said there has been community interest for the shelter to return because it is no-kill.

“We had calls all summer,” Babers said.

She said when the shelter is at full capacity, it will refer all animals dropped there anonymously to the Humane Society and will refer anyone in person to other no-kill shelters in the area.

Humane Society Shelter manager Tracy Poston recognized Safe Harbor as an alternative option.

“It’s kind of like comparing apples and oranges,” Poston said of the difference between the two organizations.

“Our shelter is moving towards being a low-kill facility. ... They are two different facilities with two different philosophies. We wish them luck and hope that the atrocities that occurred don’t re-occur.”

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

359 Cree Lane, Jackson, Mo.