After ‘really frustrating’ hearing on animal shelter, St Louis County Council orders 11 subpoenas
CLAYTON, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Back in February, St. Louis County regained control of its animal shelter, taking it back from the APA.
From there, problems began, and after a tense hearing last week, the County Council is escalating the situation by issuing subpoenas for nearly a dozen people to show up and testify.
“We’re not looking to lop somebody’s head off, we’re looking to find out the facts,” said Archer.
St. Louis County Councilman and chair of the Ethics Committee Mike Archer called last week’s hearing on the county animal shelter “really frustrating” after not getting clear answers and the health director distanced herself from blame.
“A lot of the blame was prescribed to folks not sitting out here,” said Cunningham.
In last Thursday’s hearing, St. Louis County council asked tough questions on why the state denied the county a shelter license and how dozens of dogs got parvovirus, leading 19 dogs getting euthanized.
Health Director Dr. Kanika Cunningham told the council she didn’t learn about them failing an initial state inspection for weeks and blamed Dr. Douglas Pernikoff for euthanizing the dogs.
“I was not consulted when it came to the humane euthanasia of the dogs in our care,” said Cunningham in last Thursday’s hearing.
Tuesday, after an Ethics Committee and regular council meeting, the council voted to subpoena 11 individuals — including Dr. Pernikoff, who no longer works for the county shelter; Dr. Cunningham; as well as other former and current employees at the shelter. That includes leaders with the APA and state officials who inspected the facility three times this year.
“I think it’s time that the council stepped up and took the appropriate action,” said Councilmember Dennis Hancock.
Archer added he believes the situation has been mismanaged.
“We can’t even get a license now and we don’t have a lot of good answers as to why we can’t get a license now,” said Archer.
The county in the past never lost its license, nor did the APA when it ran the shelter, so they want to find out what changed.
“If we have to issue more subpoenas we’ll do it. We’re going to be rather dogged about this,” said Archer.
Mary Elizabeth Dorsey, an attorney for the council, said in the meeting they can compel these folks to testify if they give a reasonable amount of time.
It’s unclear when future hearings would happen.
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