Week in the Life of an Animal Shelter Reform Campaign

Morgan Dunbar

Editor's Note: Last week, an investigation by the Niagara Falls Reporter found the Cattaraugus County SCPA facility and animals residing there to be in a less than humane condition. Led by Morgan Dunbar, it was revealed that the "No Kill" facility is keeping unadopting animals on-site indefinitely. Dunbar now reports on efforts by the community to bring about reform.

SUNDAY (September 2, 2012):
After learning of The Niagara Falls Reporter’s investigation into the Cattaraugus County SPCA (CCSPCA), its administrators worked overtime to target and silence suspected whistleblowers through intimidation. Ryan Bordner, kennel attendant, is quickly targeted as one such whistleblower and approached by CCSPCA employee Randy Sigler.

Sigler acknowledges that he is relaying the instruction on behalf of a “higher up,” but refuses to identify that person. Sigler tells Bordner he must write up a list, choosing 10 cats and 10 dogs to be removed from the CCSPCA, placed in Bordner’s private vehicle, and taken to be killed. Bordner refuses to write a list and tells Sigler to “do his own dirty work.” Bordner immediately informs The Reporter of these instructions. After hearing from Bordner, I call CCSPCA Board Chair Kristen McDonald to confront her about the accusation. She denies any knowledge of the instructions. I inform her that she would be held accountable for the removal and/or killing of any animals at the CCSPCA, advising her to cease and desist from making any similar threats to Bordner or any other employee.

MONDAY (September 3): All day long the shelter’s parking lot is filled with the vehicles of Board Members and their associates. The vehicles remain in the parking lot and persons are observed occupying the facility throughout the night and next day. The Reporter later learns that those inside were conducting intensive cleaning operations and removing any animals whose untreated illnesses could incriminate the facility.

TUESDAY The Reporter articles, exposing animal neglect and mismanagement at the CCSPCA appear on newsstands and online. As instructed by Board Member Kelly Chaffee, Kennel Attendant Bordner visits the shelter Labor Day morning to deliver a document to Chaffee. Bordner is stopped in the parking lot by Phillip Barrett, CCSPCA Animal Cruelty Investigator, who informs Bordner that he “no longer works at the shelter.” Barrett orders him off the property and threatens to call the sheriff. Krystle Kasprzak, kennel attendant, arrives at work on and is reprimanded by “Lead Staff Person” Danielle Hawley. Hawley chastises Kasprzak, claiming “everyone at the shelter knows [Kasprzak is] the anonymous person speaking to the news.”

Kasprzak denies having spoken to anyone outside the facility. Kasprzak later tells The Reporter that during her Tuesday morning shift she observed a wide variety of items and materials, from microwaves to expired medications, had been disposed of and now filled large garbage bins. Medications and other items which formerly stocked the shelter’s sick bay are trashed and removed from the facility.

After reading the articles published in The Reporter and watching the 18-minute expose video online, outraged members of the community join together to protest outside the facility Tuesday afternoon, from 2:30 pm to 5 pm. CCSPCA employees are seen exiting the facility with animals in their personal vehicles, returning with empty vehicles and leaving again with more animals.
Carol Tutzauer of Buffalo Humane, a Niagara County No Kill rescue group, is observed exiting the facility. As Tutzauer exits the facility’s driveway, demonstrators ask her what is going on inside and how the animals are doing. Tutzauer responds, “It’s not that bad, compared to other places I have seen.” She chastises protest organizers for being “disrespectful” and “agitating,” advising protest attendees that, “if you want them to turn the corner, you have to be nice to them.” Roughly two hours into the demonstration, a group of CCSPCA insiders, led by “Lead Staff Person” Hawley, emerge from the facility holding pro-CCSPCA signs that read “[eye] love animals” and “CCSPCA: a true No Kill shelter.” Seconds after emerging from the CCSPCA, Hawley spits at me, as I cross the facility’s driveway in front of her and the other two staff members alongside her. When asked why she spat at me, she responds “I have a drooling problem.”

Board Member Regina DeFeo emerges from within the CCSPCA and approaches protestors outside the facility. DeFeo initially refuses to give her name, when asked to identify herself. However, several people in the group recognize her as a Board Member and she does verify her identity. I suggest that DeFeo and I speak one-on-one off to the side, a few feet from the main group. DeFeo is asked who gave the instructions on Sunday for Kennel Attendant Ryan Bordner to handpick 20 animals from the facility to be killed. DeFeo replies that Kristen McDonald, Board Chair, had given the order, but she claims that McDonald was “just being funny.”

DeFeo is presented with the same offer that had been previously given to former President/current Board Member Kelly Chaffee and Board Chair Kristen McDonald -- to sign over the animals most urgently needing veterinary care to reputable rescue groups on-site who would seek proper medical attention, at no expense to the CCSPCA. DeFeo says she thinks “it sounds like a good idea” and agrees to relay the offer to the Board Chair and Board Members. DeFeo says she will “be right back.” Several transport vehicles, filled with cat and dog carriers, line the roadway outside of the CCSPCA on Route 16, waiting for DeFeo’s response. Rescuers wait more than one and a half hours in the rain for the promised response. After phone calls to the facility go unanswered, rescuers leave.

WEDNESDAY (September 5, 2012): Kasprzak, kennel attendant, arrives for work as scheduled, only to be suspended from her duties at CCSPCA. During the suspension meeting, Board Member Chaffee reprimands her for taking a representative of The Reporter on a tour of the facility. Escorting members of the public on tours of the shelter is a normal duty of staff members at CCSPCA. Kasprzak appears to be one of the only staff members ever suspended for doing her job. During the hour-long suspension meeting, Chaffee states she has decided to “downsize” facility operations. Chaffee states, “downsizing means not answering calls and not responding when cats are hit by cars.” Later, Chaffee states that the CCSPCA has “saved thousands of cats with maggots that never saw a vet… They don’t need to see a vet.” Chaffee defends the practice of “treating” ailing animals at the CCSPCA without the oversight of a veterinarian for the majority of ailing animals.

Members from the group Citizens for Shelter Reform drive out to the site of Board Member Kelly Chaffee’s private kennel facility on Route 446, and verify that the kennels there appear to be filled to capacity with animals removed from CCSPCA site. Community members descend on CCSPCA for the second consecutive day, holding signs reading, “State Attorney Help Needed,” “Compassion NOT Corruption,” and “Where are your donations going?” In the evening, a core group of community organizers, calling themselves “Citizens for Shelter Reform at Cattaraugus County SPCA,” meet to review events and discuss campaign strategy.

THURSDAY & FRIDAY: A Call in/email campaign directed to raise the awareness of public officials and demand action be taken to defend the animals and taxpayers begins. Phone calls are made to organize meetings with Cattaraugus County officials. An online action alert is broadcast requesting community members with experience in dealing with the CCSPCA compile and provide statements to Citizens for Shelter Reform organizers.

SATURDAY: Citizens for Shelter Reform hold a meeting at 10:30 followed by a 2-day “Rally for the Animals” as an adoption event, volunteer sign-up, material donation drive and “speak out” to support courageous employees who have been discharged, threatened and stalked as a result of speaking up for the animals.

SUNDAY A news conference is held, featuring a recently suspended staff member and a Board Member who resigned three weeks ago. WIVB Channel 4, YNN, and a St. Bonaventure media outlet cover the news conference. Olean Times Herald and Buffalo News correspondents conducted off site telephone interviews later in the day. Board Member DeFeo again approaches rally attendants, this time informing attendants that they are not permitted on CCSPCA property and will be arrested if they cross property lines. This made it difficult to deliver the much-needed material donations collected over the 2-day period. The New York State Police are called by CCSPCA administrators twice over the 2-day rally. Each time the police dutifully report, giving a friendly warning to be careful not to block the driveway and reminding demonstrators of the property line. Kristi Solari, former CCSPCA employee and Shelter Reform organizer recounts the week’s events, stating, “We want to thank everyone who has stopped to tell us their stories and lend their support. Thank you to those who drove by and honked a horn for us! Community support is what keeps us all going. Knowing that we are all together in this struggle and that we are not alone keeps everyone’s spirit high and our hope alive!” Shelter Reform campaign organizers have arranged meetings with various municipal officials for the coming week.

The Reporter will be following this story closely.

See this shocking video.