TOLEDO, Ohio — Four months after leaving her job as a canine care technician at Lucas County Canine Care & Control, Hailey Blackford is still struggling to process her experience.
“It was just almost like haunting me every night. I just know that there's still dogs there that are dealing with this every single day and there's still these people that work there every single day," she said. "I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to do something about it."
In November, she accepted what she believed was her dream job at LC4. What she didn’t realize at the time was that the dream would become a nightmare.
By the time she left in May, she was often not showing up for work. What she describes as abuse and disrespect for the animals weighed on her, leaving her with nightmares and a heavy spirit.
“You see a lot of death. There’s a lot of death. I wasn’t prepared for that,” she said.
In June, she sat down and began writing about her experiences. Her intention after she finished her notes was to share them with Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken. She hoped that she could push for changes at the Erie Street facility.
On Aug. 27, Blackford called Gerken’s office and left a message, a call verified by her phone log. When the call was not returned by Sept. 1, Blackford posted all of her thoughts on Facebook that she wrote down over three months. The post was more than 30 pages long and went viral. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had been shared 813 times. It leveled serious accusations against two employees and criticized the leadership of Director Kelly Sears.
The most serious accusations were against a veterinarian technician who Blackford described as enjoying the euthanasia of pit bulls. This tech was also responsible for decapitating the heads of dogs who had been euthanized because of biting issues and needed to be tested for rabies. Ohio law requires heads to be sent to the health department so that brain tissue can be tested. Blackford wrote that the employee collected photos with the decapitated heads and claimed that she bullied her into watching a decapitation and asked her to pose with a head.
After interviewing her by phone, verifying her employment history and receiving comment from the Lucas County Commissioners, 11 Investigates reported on her allegations.
She then agreed to sit down on camera for a more extensive interview.
What she did not realize at that point was that the county had received two separate complaints in February, mirroring the stories Blackford wrote in her Facebook post.
11 Investigates received the complaints and findings of an investigation on Tuesday afternoon. A complaint from Feb. 7 said the tech “enjoyed decaps and gloated that she did 10 in one week.” The Feb. 10 complaint was more graphic: “(she) was doing a decap where she told others in the room that she likes breaking their necks and knowing she can snap a neck. Then, she held up the decapitated head and asked a kennel worker to hold the head so she could take a picture of them holding the head. When the kennel worker said no, she was shocked they wouldn’t want to have their picture taken with a decapitated head of a dog.”
The complainant from Feb. 7 provided the names of four witnesses. The Feb. 10 complainant indicated that there were witnesses but provided no names. The human resources department combined the complaints into one investigation. A report says the tech and union steward were interviewed, denying the allegations. There is no indication that anyone else was interviewed and the case was closed on Feb. 16 and the complaint was declared unsubstantiated.
In an hourlong interview with 11 Investigates, Blackford recounted multiple interactions with the tech.
She said she understands euthanasia is necessary at urban kennels and that she would do her best to comfort the dogs. She said the tech and she were alone at one point in April or May when she was asked to watch the decapitation.
"She's like, ‘I think you should watch one.’ And I was like, ‘I really don't want to, you know, I don't want to do that to myself.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, because you're weak’,” Blackford said. "I feel like I'm being harassed right now and I went to leave and she's like, ‘Oh yeah, I knew you were going to leave because you're weak.’ I turned around and said that I'll watch it. I'm not going to sit there and be bullied."
Blackford said the most disturbing part of her interactions was that the tech appeared to get satisfaction out of decapitating the dogs.
"She did a twist on the neck and it popped off. That was the most satisfying part to her," Blackford said.
11 Investigates viewed the employee’s personnel file. It confirmed that the employee received the county’s “anti-harassing policy,” which indicates that no employee should be bullied or exposed to any type of name-calling.
The county would not allow us to talk to the accused employee or any of the employees at LC4. Gerken will be sitting down with Blackford on Thursday so that he can hear her concerns.
The commissioners’ office provided the following statement:
The Human Resources Department received an anonymous complaint on February 10, 2024, via our employee anonymous reporting system. This is a system that allows employees of the Board of Lucas County Commissioners to submit complaints via phone, website, email, or fax that can be anonymous if the employee chooses.
The February 10 complaint alleged that a Caine Care & Control employee who was performing a decapitation held up the dog’s head and then asked a kennel worker to hold the head so the employee could take a photo of the kennel worker holding the head.
HR sent a message to the person who lodged the complaint asking if they would be willing to anonymously provide the names of witnesses to the alleged behavior so that HR could verify what happened. HR did not receive the names of witnesses or any other information regarding the February 10 complaint.
HR conducted an investigation based on the complaint and concluded there were no substantiated findings to support the information received via the employee anonymous reporting system. The investigation was closed.
The County does not have enough specific information regarding the allegations you are inquiring about to conduct an additional investigation.
Commissioner Gerken is aware of Ms. Blackford’s Facebook post and is meeting with Ms. Blackford on Thursday to discuss her experience at LC4.
Because the complaints were submitted anonymously, it is not known whether the same person made both February complaints. However, we asked Blackford multiple times if she ever reported the tech worker and when she experienced the events. She said she did not file a complaint.
“I've seen a lot of people try to speak out and make reports about certain individuals and it always ended in retaliation. I was almost scared to speak to the supervisors and to speak about all these issues because I didn't want to be retaliated against.”
She said her negative interactions occurred in April or early May, roughly three months after the February investigation was completed, meaning there could be as many as three employees making similar complaints.
Despite the statement from the commissioners about no witnesses being reported in the Feb. 10 complaint, there were four witnesses included in the Feb. 7 report. There is still no indication that any of those employees have been interviewed.
For Blackford, she said her goal is to make life easier for the dogs forced to exist in a harsh environment at LC4. Those conditions are not unknown to commissioners or to Sears. There is little space and more than 150 barking, anxious dogs are crammed into that little space. It’s difficult to let some of the dogs out of their cages for more than 15 minutes a day. A new, much larger, facility is currently being built at 1301 Monroe Street.
But Blackford believes the new space will bring along old problems if commissioners don’t listen to concerns or complaints.
"They just say, ‘Oh yeah, we have a new building coming and everything's going to be dandelions and sunshine and rainbows.’ It's not. It's never going to change unless they really, really investigate," she said. “I'm aware we're all different people and we have different opinions. Nobody is going to have the same opinion. But what matters is that every single one of us has the same one end goal and it's to make a difference for the dogs.”