Northeast Animal Shelter Responds To Allegations By Ex-Employees

SALEM, MA -- A director for the Northeast Animal Shelter says accusations that the animal rescue group is violating its own no-kill policy is false and the work of some former employees that are seeking revenge. Several former employees and volunteers took to Facebook over the weekend and said that the shelter had euthanized healthy and adoptable pets. One employee claimed the animals were being killed to boost the shelter's bottom line, while another said she had been threatened with legal action by the organization for posting videos of the two dogs Northeast Animal Shelter euthanized this year.

All of that is false, according to Donald Shapiro, a director with the shelter. In an email to Patch late Sunday, Shapiro said the shelter only makes the decision to euthanize an animal after an extensive evaluation by Laurie McCannon, the shelter's director of operations.

"She is the person who makes the difficult and heart-wrenching decision on whether a pet’s aggressive behavior is so dangerous that euthanasia is appropriate. Such decisions are extremely rare and never made hastily," Shapiro said. "Many factors come into play, including the pet’s bite history, the severity of the bites, the circumstances of its aggression, whether the pet has been adopted and returned several times, whether the source will take the pet back, the pet’s behavior while at the shelter, the opinions and observations of NEAS’ employees and volunteers, whether the pet has been professionally trained, the trainer’s opinion, etc."

Shapiro denied a Facebook allegation by former employee Julie Orsillo that she had been threatened with legal action after posting videos of the two dogs that were euthanized in 2018. "I have no knowledge of anyone making threats regarding the posting of videos," Shapiro said.

Shapiro also dismissed an allegation by former employee Scottie Meuse, who implied that the shelter was euthanizing more pets to bolster its bottom line. "You asked if financial considerations have led us to change our policy in recent years. The answer is No," Shapiro said in an email to Patch "We have not changed our policy since we were founded in 1976, and we are not now labeling more pets as unadoptable when in the past they would have been considered adoptable. This is substantiated by the low numbers – 1 dog in 2017 and 2 in 2018. The Facebook posts claiming we euthanize many healthy pets are false, but unfortunately that is what people now believe after reading your article."

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).