MONROE, Mich. – Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is taking a closer look into its own animal shelter after several accusations of neglect from the community.
The reports started rolling in this week, and the sheriff says they will begin taking a full audit and assessing operations immediately.
Tensions are so high in Monroe County that the community member we spoke to wanted to stay anonymous. They told Local 4 News that this started with multiple Facebook posts shedding light on alleged neglect at the Monroe County Animal Shelter.
“They were posted in a lot of public groups that caught a lot of attention and sparked an outrage,” said the anonymous person.
The first posts showed before and after pictures, accusing the shelter of neglecting care for two dogs that were being held for a year due to a pending court case.
“One of them did have cancer and was most recently diagnosed, but the other one is just as skinny and has just as many health issues along with signs of anxiety from being in there so long,” the anonymous person said.
The Facebook comments, including hundreds of shares, started rolling in. Then another post is made about a different dog.
This time, it was a stray.
“She started chewing away at her kennel, and she broke all of her teeth trying to get through this kennel,” the anonymous person said. “And it was actually very graphic.”
The anonymous person alleges the dog was put back in a kennel, and it took more than a week plus backlash from social media to get that dog to the vet.
In a statement, the sheriff’s office says when they were notified Monday about the incident, the dog was taken to the vet, and it was determined there were no injuries as a result of biting through the cage. Adding, the dog’s intake paperwork shows it was already missing a tooth.
A captain has been assigned to complete a full audit and assessment of the shelter’s operations.
While it is a start, some are still concerned.
“A co-worker should not be performing an audit on their own co-workers because it’s very easy to just cover it up.”
The sheriff wasn’t available for an interview but said this audit started immediately and that they would be looking as far back as January 2021.