The Clinton County Fiscal Court held its regular monthly meeting Thursday night with several standard items on the agenda, but the one item that packed the seats at the Clinton County Courthouse was the topic of the Tri-County Animal Shelter.

After all formal business was completed, Clinton County Judge/Executive Richard Armstrong opened the meeting for comments, allowing two minutes per person to come forward and offer their thoughts, opinions and suggestions pertaining to the animal shelter.

“If you didn’t sign the sheet then you are here to listen and to watch,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong read a few words before opening the court up to comments.

He addressed the accusations against the Tri-County Animal Shelter that have recently come up on social media and on some fliers posted around Albany last week.

Most of what was found on social media (Facebook) were videos and photos of animals claiming to be made at the Tri-County Animal Shelter in Clinton County.

The most recent posts on Facebook were made by Val Heines of Frankfort. Heines posted a video and photos on Sunday, August 7, of one dead kitten laying in the floor of the cat room in which Animal Control Officer James Stonecipher had left the day before.

“We would like to address all the accusations that have been floating around multimedia and fliers posted around town,” Armstrong said. “First and foremost, there has been no blatant neglect or abuse. There has been human error, and these situations have been addressed and changes are being made.”

Another item the public has been upset over is the budget in which the animal shelter works.

“As for the misuse of funds, our budget is limited as to how funds are allocated and used, so the majority of funding is used for wages of the county employees,” Armstrong said.

When Armstrong won the office of Clinton County Judge/Executive, he said none of the county employees had received a raise in more than seven years.

“We addressed this with giving every employee a two percent cost of living raise,” Armstrong said. “In addition to the two percent in 2015, all employees who had been employed by the county for more than six month was given a .50 (hourly)raise. When it came time to look at the 2016 budget, we gave each employee a .25 (hourly)raise. This is so everyone will understand that we didn’t just hand out thousands of dollars to one employee. Every single employee received a way overdue cost of living raise.”

Armstrong then went on to explain to everybody in the courtroom that a budget is just a projection.

“When you look at the shelter and we only have 100 dollars allocated for food, this is because Seth (Stonecipher, Animal Control Officer) has managed to obtain dog and cat food through donations from various entities,” Armstrong said.

Deputy Judge/Executive Joy Armstrong told the NEWS several weeks ago during an interview that during the current administration, they have not had to spend any money on food for the shelter because it has all been donated.

Armstrong when on to address accusations about James Stonecipher having an illegal gun in his possession.

“The only weapon he has is a CO2 rifle, which is perfectly legal for him to possess,” Armstrong said.

Of all the comments and opinions on Facebook, one of the most talked about items concerned the hours the shelter is open.

During a recent phone interview with Heines, she stated the shelter was only open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. By law, the shelter has to be open to the public for 24 hours each week. The judge’s office as well as the sign located at the animal shelter, says the facility is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“The job is considered a 24/7 position, because he can be called out to work at any hour of the night,” Armstrong said. “They arrive at the shelter Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. where they begin cleaning the shelter. This usually takes about three hours. At 10 a.m. they open the shelter to the public and remain open until three p.m. On weekends, they go in each day for two hours to feed and water. James has worked at the shelter from the first day it opened and has only taken one week’s vacation in 14 years. Seth has never taken a vacation since he started working in 2006. This is sad that two men have dedicated their life to a job, and now individuals who know no more about them than what is on paper are ridiculing two human beings over the death of two animals that could have or would have died no matter who had been in charge.”

Armstrong went on to say that the shelter has received more than 200 animals on average per month during the past three months and the Tri-County Animal Shelter isn’t equipped to handle that kind of volume.

“We have no other choice but to rely on the rescuers and the people to adopt a dog and get them out of there or we have to kill them,” Armstrong said. “We don’t want to do that, that’s unfortunate, but that’s what happens. Very little of that has been done lately because most of the dogs have been taken off our hands and they have been doing a good job getting rid of the dogs and I thank you all for that.”

Since the previous special call meeting, the court has hired Peyton Booher to serve as Volunteer Coordinator for the Tri-County Animal Shelter. Armstrong says she is paid for working 96 hours per month.

“She doesn’t get any benefits from us, just an hourly rate,” Armstrong said. “She is there to help the rescuers and anybody who wants to adopt a dog or look at the dogs. That’s what she is there for. So far, Seth and James tell me she has been doing a good job.”

After Armstrong read his comments, he then opened the floor up for comments from the public.

Melissa Bowmen, with the Kentuckians Vote for Animals group was the first to speak and she handed out documents to each magistrate, as well as the judge, that contained suggestions for short term and long term issues.

“Some of them may already have been addressed,” Bowmen said. “For long term, maybe looking into adoption fees, vaccinations, and spay/newter. I think several of the issues have already been addressed like the shelter hours. We think it’s good to go by the guidelines to have a functional, safe shelter for the animals and the people of these three counties, Wayne, Clinton and Cumberland. I think your shelter has the basis to be a good shelter and serve the community well. It’s going to take some work and everybody working together.”

Cynthia Criswell was next to speak at the meeting. She is also with the Kentuckians Vote for Animals.

“Working together is the key to this situation. I worked with the animal shelter in Bourbon County four or five years ago and the shelter had a very sub-standard building. You all are fortunate … you have a nice building, but it takes letting the volunteers help, working with your rescues, and having your employees there seven days a week to clean and feed.”

Criswell went on to talk about cleaning procedures and what should be done when caring for the animals.

“There are very simple things that can improve the health qualities for these animals,” Criswell said.

Armstrong then explained to the public about some of the things that were being done or that have been done to the shelter in the previous months, including a new septic tank, the purchase of industrial strength cleaners, collection trays for the cages, stainless steel bowls and the installation of automatic watering devices.

Armstrong also stated more than 1,000 pounds of food has been donated as well as cages for the animals.

“We are also dealing with a company on medicines, so maybe we will save a little money on that,” Armstrong said. We have a new washer and dryer and a new freezer. All that has been put in and the old freezer has been taken away. The outside of the shelter looks a lot better. We’ve cut down all the weeds and we added covers over our outside shelters last month.”

Gale Covington was the next speaker during the meeting Thursday night.

“I would like to commend you all for getting the cages and improving the situation at the shelter,” Covington said. “Unfortunately it took the media, it took resistance from animal lovers to get it done. I have eight of your shelter cats. Every one of them was riddled with fleas, worms, tape worms … they are all sick. I have an adult cat right now that was pulled on the seventh (August 7). The widest part of a cat is their hips. Her hips are two inches wide … to me this is not a shelter, it’s a concentration camp and it breaks my heart. It takes all of us to work together to save these animals. They didn’t ask to be born into this.”

Up next on the list was Heines, who posted the video and photos on August 7, that she said were made at the Tri-County Animal Shelter.

“I’ve never seen anything so poor in all my life,” Heines said. “I was accused of trespassing and I’ve been a rescue worker for 10 years and have never seen filth like what I saw. I’m here today to go down there tonight with Peyton (Booher) to pull 10 more cats. I have a rescue in Frankfort who is going to take them.”

Heines went on to tell the court who she thought was to blame.

“This is not Peyton’s fault, it’s not the rescuers fault, it’s your town’s fault because nobody got involved and saw what was happening,” Heines said. “I truly believe that James Stonecipher needs to be fired. This is just inexcusable. When I met him he was cold and callus … he was not there to clean. I have no agenda here. I’m here to save animals’ lives.”

After several people declined to stand up and speak, Lisa Carmany was the next in line to speak to the court.

She said she didn’t agree with the smell at the shelter as being gone and said the shelter coordinator needed to be more active on Facebook.

“Social media is our number one thing for saving animals,” Carmany said. “If we are going to get those animals out we are going to have to have communication.”

The next person called on to speak was Lindsey Stonecipher, Seth’s wife. According to Lindsey Stonecipher, Seth did go to the shelter and feed and water the animals on Saturday, August 6.

“On Sunday, we were headed to the animal shelter when we got a call from Peyton,” Lindsey Stonecipher said. “She said they had the state police down there. We had our 20 month old son in the car and he didn’t want to address that with him in the car. I know everybody has room for improvement, but if you all are going to work together you can’t throw slurs or they aren’t going to want to work with you. They do go down there on Saturdays and Sundays and feed because I know it for a fact.”

Neither Seth nor James Stonecipher were present at the meeting Thursday night.

Magistrate Micky Riddle posed the question as to who gave Peyton Booher a key and said the court spent an amount of money to change the locks last month.

After the previous call meeting, the court voted and decided to only let the public in during the working hours while a county official was on hand. Since Peyton Booher was hired as the Volunteer Coordinator and being paid a wage for services, she would be considered a county employee.

“I’m looking at the liability of the county. We sat last month and took $500 and changed the locks and said not to let them go in unless there was a county worker with them during working hours, that was fine.” Riddle said. “Then she goes down there at three o’clock on Sunday with no one around and gets the law called.”

Armstrong said there is plenty of time for everyone to go to the shelter during the week and find an animal suitable for their home.

“There is 24 hours plus every week now,” Armstrong said. “We are on this … we are taking care of this.”

Janet Brummett then spoke to the court and praised the work they had been doing in the past couple of months.

“The animals are being well fed every single day,” Brummett said. “I’m down there off and on throughout the week at different hours. Peyton is there almost everyday. Those animals are being fed and watered and their cages are being cleaned.”

Armstrong addressed the crowd concerning a grant that was in place for $14,000 for the animal shelter that was used to cover the outside kennels at the shelter, and other modifications to the building itself.

“All this about us having money and misappropriated funds for the shelter is untrue,” Armstrong said. “We only had one grant and it was used. We actually went over about $1,200, but we took care of that. That should end the issue of the grants.”

Magistrate Terry Buster said he stopped by the shelter on Thursday and he was really pleased with how the facility looked.

“I mean you are going to smell dogs, but it wasn’t bad … it was clean, they all had water, and I thought it looked good. I have to commend our help,” Buster said.

The next speaker of the night was Kathryn Callahan, Kentucky State Director for the Humane Society.

“I’ve heard a lot of good recommendations from people here today and there are issues,” Callahan said. “We have talked about those issues. There is an issue about whether or not the shelter is compliant with state law. We went through there and saw that there were issues that were not compliant with state law. I know there have been a number of those you have been trying to address. I am here to help you. I’m not here to criticize you.”

Callahan then went on to say the volunteer director needed a key to the facility because rescues need to have access when they can come to the shelter and not just when the shelter is open.

Booher then spoke to the court and gave her report since she was hired as Volunteer Coordinator at the Tri-County Shelter.

Most of what Booher said was confirming they have the cleaning supplies needed to properly clean the facility. Booher said during her tenure, there has been around 60 dogs rescued from the Tri-County Shelter, as well as 45 cats.

One of the biggest problems is the over population of cats and dogs as well as the spaying and neutering of animals.

Booher said with spay and neutering comes cost and the shelter has to have some way to offset that cost, which is why she is looking into charging an adoption fee for the animals. This fee, however, isn’t in place at the moment, but it is the direction the shelter is looking at going in the future.

H.C. Maupin then was called upon to speak to the court and commended the court and James and Seth Stonecipher for a job well done. He said in the past he has had problems with packs of wild dogs on his property and disrupting his cattle.

“I think they did real good and I would like to thank you for cooperating with the Humane Society,” Maupin said.

Armstrong then introduced Cumberland County Judge/Executive John Phelps as well as Wayne County Judge/Executive Mike Anderson.

Anderson was asked the question why didn’t Wayne County have its own shelter?

“This contract was in place way before I was in office,” Anderson said. “Wayne County has about 55 percent of the population of the three counties, so we are going to have more animals.”

He did say he opened the courthouse up and looked at ordinances in Wayne County and had a discussion on what needed to be done on this issue.

“I think a lot of people need to keep in mind that at any given time you are going to see something that you don’t want to see. We are looking at those things,” Anderson said. “We will support Judge Armstrong and the workers, as well as Judge Phelps, to make this work. Right now, I don’t have the budget to take care of that. If they were to say that they are going to back out of the contract then those 150 a month we have wouldn’t live long and that’s the sad part about that. I think we just need to tighten up our rules and regulations.”

Anderson also said he wants to form a committee to help out.

“The root cause at the end of the day are people who don’t care for animals,” Anderson said. “We all just need to work together.”

Before the meeting adjourned, Armstrong mentioned he would go to the shelter after the meeting if anyone wanted to take animals with them.

“To show my heart is in the right place, if anyone wants to go down there tonight I will go with you,” Armstrong said.

Lindsey Stonecipher, above left, spoke during the Clinton County Fiscal Court meeting last Thursday night to assure those present that her husband, Clinton County Animal Control Officer Seth Stonecipher, and Officer James Stonecipher did feed and water the animals housed at Tri-County Animal Shelter during the week, as well as on weekends. Val Heines, above right, took issue with several aspects concerning the operation of the facility, going on to show photos from her cell phone of a dead cat she said she made on August 7 at the shelter.