Town of Hempstead Under Fire Again for Animal Shelter Abuses

Three employees and a longtime critic of the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter are suing it, saying that the employees were punished after they spoke out against the director.

Diane Madden, an animal rights activist and critic of the town shelter, along with employees Dolores Stormo, Nancy Giris and Wendy Cariello filed the suit on Monday against the shelter and the Town of Hempstead itself, alleging that the director cares more about politics than the animals.

Jonathan Tand, the lawyer for the employees, said they filed the suit after the shelter "...punished people who dared speak out against its totalitarian supervisor."

According to Newsday, Madden filed a suit against Michael Pastore, the shelter director, for interfering with her volunteer work. The three employees filed a separate suit about the workplace retaliation.

Years ago, reforms were made to the animal shelter after video surfaced of employees joking about killing kittens. But the employees told CBS those changes are already slipping away. The programs created to encourage adoptions are no longer being run. Instead, the employees say, the shelter is again euthanizing animals indiscriminately.

"This behavior is unacceptable from our elected officials," Tand said on his website, "And the worst part is the defenseless animals are the real victims here."

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