Employees fired after speaking about problems at shelter

Employees fired after speaking about problems at shelter

LIHUE (AP)— Two managers at Kauai Humane Society have been fired after speaking out about problems at the organization, including euthanasia rates higher than those publically reported.

The employees told Hawaii News Now in May that the shelter was under-reporting its euthanasia rates, that some animals were not properly cared for and that unqualified people were being hired, Hawaii News Now reported . They called for the ouster of its executive director.

That executive director, Penny Cistaro, fired field services manager Mana Brown and outreach manager Brady Varvel on June 22.

Varvel said 12 employees have signed a petition calling for Cistaro’s removal.

Cistaro said she can’t comment on the charges because personnel issues are private.

Brown and Varvel said they and other employees took their concerns to Cistaro first but were rebuffed. They said they met with the society’s board of directors in April and provided a 50-page document detailing their allegations.

But the society didn’t correct its euthanasia numbers until the day after Hawaii News Now’s story.

The shelter had incorrectly claimed between 47 and 52 percent of animals there were put to sleep. The actual euthanasia rates published the day after the first media report were in the range of 68 to 75 percent.

Cistaro said the inaccurate numbers were the fault of previous management. She said the system used for calculating euthanasia numbers hasn’t been accurate for the two years she has been in charge.

The president of the shelter’s board of directors, Emily Larocque, told Hawaii News Now in late May that “the board stands 100 percent behind our executive director.”