ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — On Monday, the Animal Protective Association, known as the APA, officially stepped in to manage the St. Louis County Pet Adoption Center.
It's now called APA Olivette.
This is after a 2019 audit showed poor conditions and concerns about high euthanasia rates.
Some problems the audit included:
- Inability to control infectious disease due to overcapacity
- Cages and kennels not being properly disinfected, which contributes to the spread of disease
- Not enough animals being transferred to rescue groups
The APA was awarded a contract to manage the shelter after a competitive bidding process.
Sarah Javier, President and CEO of APA Adoption Center, tells 5 On Your Side they've been working with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, the agency overseeing the facility.
Both have been working on an operating plan.
But on Monday, the APA officially stepped in.
Javier admitted some of the hardships.
"There were many animals that had not been out, sometimes for weeks depending on the situation. We also wanted to make sure the place was deep-cleaned. There were definitely some challenges in part due to staffing, it’s our understanding," she added.
Following up from the initial day, the APA shared this statement on Friday:
"While the conditions we encountered when taking over operations at the St. Louis County shelter were less than ideal, we are proud of the strides we have made over the past 4 days. Several animals have found wonderful homes, dogs are getting walks and enrichment needed to thrive, the stress levels in the shelter have been reduced, and we have a great team of employees and volunteers who helped make this happen. We look forward to sharing many more successes in the coming days."
While the APA didn't dive deeper, former employee Mandy Zatorski did.
Prior to the APA coming in, she was able to do a facility walk-through of the St. Louis County Pet Adoption Center on Oct. 28.
"Almost every kennel had feces in it. There were gnats flying around. It was horrendous to say the very least," Zatorski added.
Her hire at the end of 2019 came after audits, lawsuits, protests and volunteers being told they would need to reapply if they wanted to help.
She was then fired on Dec. 11, 2020.
In turn, she sued the county in a whistle-blower lawsuit.
Through a subpoena, she was able to tour the facility.
"Even with a mask on I can taste the ammonia in my mouth, the smell was the worst part. There were dogs crammed into kennels, dogs in kennels together, they were overflowing. It was heartbreaking," Zatorski said.
With her 20-year experience, she points out what this could do to animals.
She noted, "You are creating a dangerous situation when you have a lot of animals. Kennel stress can change a dog's demeanor. When you lock a dog in a box and not taking them out, it amps them and create stressful situations and dog bites can happen."
The St. Louis County Department of Public Health released a statement to 5 On Your Side saying:
"St. Louis County is committed to Improving services at its animal shelter. That is the main reason that, more than two years ago, we began planning to solicit bids from non-profit partners to manage the facility on our behalf. We are thrilled that the APA won a competitive bidding process to serve as our contractor in managing the shelter. Our staff worked extremely hard to get the building ready for the APA, efforts that included one of our co-directors literally cleaning and doing laundry in the building in the days leading up to the handover. Now that the APA is on site, we trust that it will make the best management decisions possible concerning the animal population."
Zatorski believes more work needs to be done, especially on the animal control side that's still under the health department's ownership.
Her lawsuit argues privatization was not needed and believes bringing in an outside group was an expensive fix.
But she also believes, good work is starting to happen.
"I do love the APA, they are a great organization and I'm glad they are taking care of the animals now," Zatorski said.
The APA also wants to acknowledge some of the positives.
Since APA Olivette officially opened up to the public on Tuesday, 12 animals have gone to foster homes and there have been eight adoptions.
One of the animals adopted this week was Ruffio, who was found on the top of the roof of an abandoned house.
One animal, Griff, who's been in the shelter since February, also had a playgroup session.
APA points out, enrichment programs are starting up.
On day one, APA implemented a foster care program, since the shelter did not have one before.