Animal Shelter Worker Fired, Chief Reassigned

The manager of the county animal shelter in Lancaster has been reassigned and a technician fired as a result of an internal investigation of animal neglect, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, county officials announced Wednesday.

Results of the inquiry, which confirmed allegations made by a shelter volunteer, led to the reassignment of Sam Morris, the shelter’s manager, and the dismissal of its only full-time health technician, who was not identified.

“I am very much concerned about our image. We never win any popularity contests at best. But I wanted people to know we care,” said Frank Andrews, the new director of the county’s Department of Animal Care and Control, after a news conference at the shelter.

County officials said they confirmed several episodes of animal neglect there during the Christmas period. The health technician failed to euthanize a starving dog, improperly left another dog after giving it a lethal injection and improperly kept a live animal with a dead one, Andrews said.

In addition, Andrews said, staff at the Lancaster shelter had been failing to provide proper public services at times by not answering the phone or picking up stray animals.

To remedy those problems, Andrews said, staffing will be bolstered at the facility, which had only 17 people working but was authorized to have 24. The shelter at 5210 W. Avenue I has a new interim manager and it is slated to get added kennel areas to relieve the overcrowding.

Morris, who spent more than a dozen years managing the shelter, will be given other administrative chores in the Lancaster area, Andrews said. He said Morris was away on vacation during the time animals were neglected.