RSS 2.0 FeedMarch 17, 2011, Cover Stories, Merrick Life
Director removed from town animal shelter
Horan denies voice on 17-year old video is hers.
Pat Horan, acting director of the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter in Wantagh, has been reassigned from her position to a post outside of the shelter.
She was reassigned after a YouTube video went viral showing Ms. Horan and other shelter employees with a kitten about to be euthanized.
Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray “reacted with shock and dismay over the actions contained in a 17-year old video filmed at the township’s animal shelter,” reads a prepared statement from the town. The town is conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the video.
The video shows two men and Ms. Horan in a room at the shelter. One man brings a kitten in its cage into the room and the other pulls the cat out of the cage with a pole. Ms. Horan is standing in the doorway but then disappears from sight.
One man asks a person off camera, perhaps holding the video camera, “Debbie do you want to kill a kitten?”
Off camera someone says “kill the kitty, kill the kitty.” The video says it was Ms. Horan making this statement.
Supervisor Murray calls the statement “ugly and unacceptable.”
Ms. Horan has emphatically denied that the off-camera voice is hers.
The video, sent to Merrick Life by Derek Donnelly of Merrick, executive director of Hope for Hempstead Shelter, an advocacy group that has called for sweeping changes at the town shelter, said “voice identification technology is so good today that Ms. Horan should think long and hard before disputing the facts.”
The town said that the man seen bringing in the kitten is a town kennel worker who has not worked for the town in over 16 years. The other man was a former private (nontown) animal hospital employee handling the cat.
“The age of the video is irrelevant. The fact that the supervisor in the room at the time was recently promoted to shelter director is a relevant fact today,” said Mr. Donnelly.
The Hempstead Town animal shelter first made news in October when several volunteers, who had been banned from the shelter, alleged the facility did not have basic services to care for its animal population, despite a budget of $7.1 million.
The town removed several employees, initiated an internal investigation and contacted the Nassau district attorney’s office, which launched its own investigation. Town officials say the issues are administrative in nature and have nothing to do with mistreatment of animals.
Earlier this month the town hired two new employees, a rescue liaison and an adoption coordinator. It also retained the services of two veterinarians for animal and emergency animal medical services.
But with the unveiling of the video, animal activists are calling for more changes. “It is obvious that the mindset of the shelter has not changed over the years, and our community’s homeless and helpless animals continue to be at the mercy of those who will do them harm,” said Diane Madden, a banned rescuer.
Supervisor Murray stated that she has taken immediate action on this matter to ensure that animals at the shelter receive the highest quality of care. The town is conducting a search for an animal shelter director.
