State seeks to oust three from Carthage Humane Society

CARTHAGE, Mo. AP) -- Missouri's attorney general is seeking to oust three paid officers from the Carthage Humane Society over allegations of financial misdeeds and poor animal care, including that employees were ordered to place kittens and cats in a freezer to euthanize them.

Attorney General Jay Nixon said in a Monday filing he wants the local Humane Society to continue operating but without its current executive director and two board members and with better financial controls.

Nixon filed a petition in Jasper County Circuit Court that seeks to dissolve the current board but not to disband the organization.

"Our desire is not to see this worthwhile organization disbanded, but instead to have responsible people in the community step up and ensure that its future operations are proper, legitimate and beyond reproach," Nixon said in a written statement accompanying the filing.

The filing asks the court to remove executive director David Butler and board president Charles Miller for allegedly misappropriating funds and board treasurer William Johnson for not stopping them.

James Spradling, a Carthage lawyer representing the board, called the state's allegations "conclusions without facts."

Spradling said the group is prepared to go to court to prove that Humane Society officers are innocent of the charges.

The state filing also asks the court to require the organization to set appropriate financial and governing standards to continue to operate.

The state office launched an investigation of the Humane Society last fall, based on complaints from local residents about fiscal accountability and problems at the animal shelter.

Allegations of poor animal care in the filing include claims that animals in distress were not euthanized in a timely fashion and that animals were overloaded into the gas chamber.

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Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com