Aug. 11—This story has been updated from its original version to correct two passages.

The Whitman County Humane Society has been busy restructuring the shelter and interviewing candidates for job vacancies after six out of seven staff members issued their resignations at the end of July.

Shelter officials hope the facility will be fully operational by Sept. 1, in an ambitious plan to remodel the society and re-hire a full staff. Before the resignations, there were three full-time employees and four part-time employees at the shelter.

John Musselwhite, president of the Board of Directors at the society, said he is "saddened" by the recent situation, and wished well for all staff who resigned.

Musselwhite became president of the board in July after a board member who was running for president resigned surrounding allegations of bullying. Musselwhite is a Lewiston resident, and he said people often comment on this, as the humane society operates out of Whitman County in Washington, while Lewiston is in Nez Perce County in Idaho. He said the Lewis Clark Animal Shelter had a full Board of Directors when he applied, so he looked elsewhere to lend a helping hand. Musselwhite said he views Pullman, Moscow, Lewiston and Clarkston as four cities that are tightly tied together and support each other.

The board has been staffing the shelter since Monday when the staff resignations went into effect, Musselwhite said. He added board members and remaining staff are cleaning up, remodeling and restructuring the inside of the shelter.

Board members will be interviewing four candidates for the shelter manager position in the coming weeks. Musselwhite said all applicants have extensive backgrounds in veterinary care and management. The shelter is also hiring animal care attendants and shelter staff. He said there are currently seven applicants for staffing positions, many of whom are in or are finishing up veterinary school.

Former society staff expressed frustration with not receiving benefits or paid time off — staff at the society do not receive benefits, with the exception of full-time staff receiving paid time off. Musselwhite said the society is a 501C, or a nonprofit organization, and the society operates off donations and contracts with surrounding cities. Future staff will not receive benefits but full-time staff will receive the same amount of paid time off the former full-time staff received.

As of last week, most of the animals at the society were transported to shelters around the Northwest, but some stray animals have remained in their care. Musselwhite said the society is not taking surrendered animals at this moment, but hopes they can when the shelter becomes fully operational.

Musselwhite said he has become aware of some issues past staff had with the board and wanted to clarify misinformation. He said staff were upset that the society was operating on old bylaws from January 2020. The society had created new bylaws in January 2022, but those bylaws were not uploaded to its website. The old bylaws were available on the shelter's website until Aug.1, when the board became aware that the old bylaws were still on display and it uploaded the current bylaws.

Musselwhite said the board did not have access to edit the website until last week, and that the staff were the only ones who had ability to update the website.

Community members have also complained the website no longer had membership options and there was no opportunity to become a paying member at the society until recently. The board is working on refining and revising membership options, which it hopes to make available soon.

The budget at the society was discussed in a board meeting July 25, when board members told staff the shelter must fundraise around $75,000 by December to keep the institution operating in the future. Musselwhite said the society's annual payroll budget is $171,000; when calculating a five-year average of expenditures, the society's annual operating budget is $337,000. He added the city of Pullman contributes $50,000 to the society's operating budget for in-city services, and two other cities in the county, Garfield and Palouse, provide $600 each. The remaining budget is provided by fundraisers, donations and grants. Musselwhite said like most shelters, the society is struggling financially.

In a previous interview with the Daily News, now-resigned staff members said they weren't aware of future fundraising opportunities other than the Wine and Whiskers event Saturday, which featured a silent auction, and Merry Cellars Winery provided beverages. Musselwhite said the fundraising event went well and raised around $3,000 dollars. Musselwhite said the community has been helping out, and the owners of Merry Cellars said they will consider sponsoring another fundraising event for the society.

The society will also be part of Pullman's Lentil Festival, which runs Aug. 19-20. The humane society will receive a donation from the Lentil Festival for being part of the event. Musselwhite said every board member will help out at this event to pour beer. He hopes this event will go well to garner funds the society needs.

"Taking care of the pets is my main concern and the reason I went for president," Musselwhite said. "I'd like to make sure this shelter is viable and vibrant for the next 25 to 35 years."

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce.