Fort Smith animal shelter accused of failing to document euthanasia, overcharging city
A city of Fort Smith contract with Animal Haven, a nonprofit animal shelter, has come under close scrutiny after an audit of the shelter and new allegations of undocumented euthanasia and overbilling there.
Board director Neal Martin took to Facebook on Sunday night in his "Give Me Five" forum to explain the concerns with the details in the Animal Haven audit.
"There are some pretty concerning things in this audit," Martin said. "This is pretty tough stuff to look at."
Board director Christina Catsavis called the audit, "disturbing."
The internal audit, performed by Tracey Shockley, Fort Smith's internal audit director, examined records of the euthanasia of animals and the shelter's finances as part of the probe. The city released the audit on its website Friday.
"There is a lot of stuff here that is of a lot of concern to me," Martin said.
Animal Haven, a nonprofit formerly known as Kitties & Kanines Animal Shelter, has been audited closely from January 2022 to July 2022 with random audits from 2019, 2020, and 2021, according to the report released Friday.
"To me, the animals need to be taken care of," Martin said.
Animal Haven, 4800 S. 46th St. in Fort Smith, is no longer associated with another Fort Smith veterinarian clinic called the Kitties & Kanines Veterinary Clinic on Phoenix Avenue.
More: Kitties & Kanines Shelter balancing increased in-takes with hopes to expand
The internal audit of Animal Haven looked at bank statements from 2019 to 2022. In 2019, the city of Fort Smith awarded a $400,000 contract to Kitties & Kanines Animal Shelter.
The audit recommends the city terminate the contract with Animal Haven.
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The audit also alleges overcharges to the city, despite overcrowding at the shelter.
Catsavis said she is disturbed by the findings. The audit alleges euthanasia being performed without documentation and injured animals not being treated for months.
Martin voiced his concerns in a Facebook Live post on June 25.
"Ultimately we are going to be sitting down and talking about this and we're going to figure out what is the next step," Martin said.
Martin said that Animal Haven officials have offered to pay back any money owed to the city.
"They disagree with these audit findings, let's be clear," Martin said. "Animal Haven disagrees." There are disagreements on allegations of overcharges and charges of inappropriate care.
Animal Haven's board president James Calvert said a response to the audit has been prepared. Calvert said the response has been presented to the board of directors defending the shelter.
Calvert said there were past mistakes with billing but those have been corrected. He said there has been no wrongdoing with euthanasia used, and the shelter kill rate is only 3%. He said the shelter has been overcrowded and continues to see a large influx of animals.
More: Kitties & Kanines Shelter balancing increased in-takes with hopes to expand
The audit also alleges Animal Haven operates under a bank account that mixes personal and business accounts and expenses.
The city of Fort Smith contracted in 2019 with Animal Haven, formerly known as Kitties & Kanines Animal Shelter to help Fort Smith Animal Control taken animals that are lost or abandoned. Kitties & Kanines made photos available of dogs and cats available for adoption that were regularly published in the Times Record. The city of Fort Smith paid a monthly fixed fee of $56,300 for the service, according to the audit.
Fees were for rent, utilities, water, sewer, sanitation, electric and cable, a part-time vet, salaries, wages, professional fees and traps, the audit reports. Any unused funds are expected to be reported as city equity that must be used only after approval from the city administrator, the audit reports. City equity used for a building or facility takes approval from the board of directors, according to the audit.
The shelter received an additional amount of $45 per animal per day.
Euthanasia without documentation
Animals were euthanized or and given rabies shots "outside of the required Arkansas law," the audit states. The shelter is required to "document the basis for the euthanasia for all animals," the audit states.
There are cases of euthanized animals with no documentation as to why the animal was euthanized or who performed the euthanasia.
A number of discrepancies have been found with medical records as well, according to the audit. Animals allegedly have remained in the shelter for months with injuries before being taken to a local veterinarian for treatment, the audit states.
What else is in the audit?
In the audit are allegations of overcharges for medications, euthanasia, the number of days animals were at the shelter, and incorrect amounts billed the city for impounds, the audit states.
The audit alleges "no segregation of duties for cash/accounting functions."
Personal business, and personal checks were deposited into the shelter account, the audit alleges.
Duplicate checks were written, checks with the same check numbers, but with different amounts and for different dates, the audit alleges.
Profit and loss statements did not appear to be accurate, the audit alleges.
Animal Haven continues to bill the city, and an invoice was made for an additional $10,607 for the January 2023 fixed cost for new employees and capacity increase, the audit states.
Martin said the Fort Smith Board of Directors will have to decide how the city moves ahead with contracting for animal services.
Martin said there are discrepancies over the billings over a seven-month period.
"Really, we've got to decide on the long-term plan. Do we stay with Animal Haven? Or do we go a direction? Martin asked.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Animal Haven in Fort Smith faces complaints in city audit
