Cattaraugus SPCA Under Fire at Council Session

Morgan Dunbar

Jax was attacked by another dog while staying at the CCSPCA. He laid bleeding and convulsing from shock for 7 hours before driven to a vet in Rochester, NY. Photo courtesy of Kristi Solari.

Emaciated cat with severed leg and bone sticking out, infested with maggots. CCSPCA Animal Cruelty Investigator Phillip Barret brought this animal to the CCSPCA, where there are no vet staff. The cat sat in the lobby, without vet care, for over 21 hours. CCSPCA representatives claim this cat is now in foster care with Board Member Regina DeFeo, but calls to confirm the cat's whereabouts have not been answered.

"Aurora Cremen, former CCSPCA employee, raising awareness at a shelter reform outreach event this past Saturday at the American legion #9 in Machias, NY"

The ongoing campaign for shelter reform in Cattaraugus County exemplifies the power of a grassroots movement for social justice. Initially triggered by the Sept. 4 Niagara Falls Reporter special investigation exposing animal neglect at the Cattaraugus County SPCA (CCSPCA), the campaign gathered momentum and now encompasses broader initiatives geared toward protection of employees and the Cattaraugus community.

In addition to allegations of animal neglect, this facility has come under scrutiny for apparent labor law violations and endangering the public through possession and distribution of forged rabies vaccination certificates. This grassroots movement has generated media attention from the Niagara Falls Reporter, Olean Times Herald, Buffalo News, Channel 4 (WIVB) News, Your News Now (YNN), and National Public Radio affiliate station 88.7FM WBFO.

Dozens of citizens attended last Tuesday’s City of Olean Council meeting, where a discussion of the city’s animal control contract with the CCSPCA was the topic of the evening. Current board members and volunteers of the CCSPCA, as well as citizens seeking shelter reform and termination of the city’s animal control contract were present to voice their concerns. Discussions lasted over an hour.

The group Citizens for Shelter Reform at Cattaraugus County demonstrated that the CCSPCA contract with the City of Olean is being violated in numerous ways, including: failure to spay/neuter, vaccinate and license all adopted animals; failure to provide adequate veterinary care for sick and ailing animals; failure to answer/respond to phone calls from the public regarding stray, abandoned and/or injured animals; failure to provide adequate facilities for the proper care and sheltering of animals.

City of Olean Mayor Linda Witte was present at Tuesday’s council meeting and, after hearing arguments for termination of the city’s contract with the CCSPCA, voiced her support for upholding the agreement. For now that contract will remain in place. [Editor’s Note: The Reporter has learned that alternative animal control services have been offered at no additional cost to taxpayers to take up the role of animal control officers in the City of Olean.]

On the heels of last Tuesday’s council meeting, a petition was created calling for the immediate termination of all municipal contracts with the CCPSCA. The City of Olean contract alone infuses the CCPSCA with $5000 per month. The petition, available in hard copy and online, reads, “Cattaraugus County taxpayers demand fiscal responsibility. We the people demand that the violations of contract between the CCSPCA and County municipalities be recognized and addressed through the immediate termination of all public funding to the CCSPCA. Taxpayers will no longer tolerate their hard earned money being squandered on animal neglect and employee abuses.”

One of the topics presented at last Tuesday’s council meeting concerned CCSPCA Animal Cruelty Investigator Phillip Barrett’s recent arrest for possession of a forged rabies certificate, a class D felony offense. Since Barrett’s arrest on Aug. 14, several more forged certificates have emerged.

Veterinarian Dr. Timothy J. O’Leary, whose name appears on the forged certificates, confirms that on Feb. 6, 2012 he made a statement to the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department, concerning the forged rabies certificates. “The Cattaraugus SPCA was using my name and NYS veterinary license number on rabies certificates that they were issuing,” O’Leary told the Reporter. “The forgeries were clearly not under my authority and I was not present when they were made out.”

New York State Public Health Department states, “Rabies is a viral disease which almost always leads to death, unless treatment is provided soon after exposure. New York State frequently leads the nation in the number of rabid animals.”

Cattaraugus County Environmental Health Service echoes this sentiment. Their website reads “[Rabies] is endemic in certain wild mammal populations across New York State including primarily raccoons, bats, fox, and skunk…In general, pets are far more likely to come in contact with rabid animals than people.” The website goes on to say that, “Most reported exposures involve domestic animals (dogs & cats) with owners.”

Regarding the threat to public health, Dr. O’Leary asks, “How many [forged rabies certificates] are there out there, 8 or 800? My concern is that there are animals without a rabies vaccination in Cattaraugus County at risk of rabies and families at risk…. The risk is serious.”

Have you adopted an animal from the CCSPCA and been provided with a rabies vaccination certificate? In order to safeguard public health and mitigate the risk of rabies in Cattaraugus County, it is advisable that anyone in possession of a rabies certificate provided by the CCSPCA contact the veterinarian listed on the certificate to confirm that he/she did in fact sign that document.

Phillip Barrett is expected to appear in front of Town of Hinsdale Justice Michael Gilliland this Wednesday, September 19, at 5 pm in Hinsdale. He is charged with one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument, a class D felony.

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