TOLEDO, Ohio — A week after officials suspended its volunteer program over social media bullying allegations and a month after a video showing an employee apparently mistreating dogs, Lucas County Canine Care & Control is now being accused by a former employee of allowing dog abuse to take place at its Erie Street facility.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Hailey Blackford laid out a series of concerns ranging from dogs being kenneled for 24 hours a day to the necks of euthanized dogs being snapped before their heads are decapitated.
Blackford was a canine care technician at the facility for six months and resigned in May. By Tuesday afternoon, the post had been shared 523 times and had generated 214 comments. The post, embedded below, includes videos of dogs cowering in cages and others covered in feces.
First-hand look
Last week, an 11 Investigates team toured the facility, which was housing 164 dogs in cramped conditions. Several cages did contain feces. In one case, a dog escaped from his cage and defecated on the floor. Several dogs were shivering uncontrollably. Others were under obvious mental duress. But commissioners have known for years that the facility is outdated, cramped and inappropriate for the humane care of the volume of dogs it receives. A new, much larger facility will open in about a year.
However, Blackford’s post painted an unflattering picture of employees, in some cases, delighting in the pain of some of the animals.
“After spending about three months writing, editing, and discussing my work, I am finally ready to speak my truth,” Blackford began her post.
“This post is not intended to spread hate or misinformation. It is intended to raise awareness about what really goes on behind the walls of LC4. This is for the dogs that need an advocate to speak on their behalf.”
She used fictitious names when detailing specific actions of employees.
Commissioners, warden respond
11 Investigates offered commissioners and Warden Kelly Sears an opportunity to respond to the allegations. Late Tuesday afternoon, we were provided the following statement: “The Commissioners are aware of the Facebook post. We don’t have any further comment.”
In addition to Sears, Blackford called out the actions of two other employees.
She stated that dogs at LC4 often are in their kennels for more than 23 hours a day. She said one of the team leaders would only take 10-20% of his dogs outside, meaning the rest never left their cages.
She said the same employee would roughly drag the dogs down the hall and “shove” them into their kennels if they did get to go outside. She wrote of this employee: “You are a huge reason that LC4 is the way that it is and you are nowhere near deserving of employment here. … The dogs deserve better than the person you will ever be.”
'Cruella' and dog decapitations
She leveled her sharpest criticism at a woman she called “Cruella.”
If a dog bites a person, Ohio requires that it is put into rabies quarantine for 10 days. If it dies before those 10 days, its head is decapitated so that the brain tissue can be sent to the health department for rabies testing. LC4 will sometimes euthanize a dog before the 10 days have passed if it is considered too dangerous to keep in the kennel area or if it is considered too dangerous to leave its cage.
Blackford said “Cruella” delighted in the killing of pit bulls, saying she was “known for taking pictures with the dogs’ heads after cutting them off. She would hold them up like they were some sort of trophy.”
“Instead of using a surgical saw to cut through the neck bone, Cruella explained that she likes to snap the neck on her own because it was ‘satisfying’,” Blackford wrote.
Blackford also said "Cruella" called her "weak" for not wanting to watch her snap the necks of dogs or look at her photos.
The warden speaks
Blackford called the director of LC4 “Tammy” and criticized her for not having control of her employees. Kelly Sears is nearing five years as director of LC4. Last week, 11 Investigates interviewed her for nearly an hour, asking her if she believed she was a good warden. She told us that she believed she was.
We met with her a day after the volunteer program was suspended by commissioners. That step was taken after employees complained of being harassed and bullied by volunteers on social media. We have been told by multiple people that the harassment online was doled out by volunteers and employees.
Sears acknowledged that she was aware of the posts made by her employees. When asked if she told them not to engage in the social media dialogue, she said she did. When asked why they did not listen, she did not answer.
Blackford said in her post: “Never in my lifetime have I seen a so-called ‘director’ be so disorganized and insensitive toward what actually goes on behind closed doors … you are to blame for letting these actions be swept under the rug.”
'We're evaluating Kelly'
Commissioner Pete Gerken was asked last week if Sears was doing a good job as director and he responded: “We're evaluating Kelly. She knows that. We added HR staff over there. We put our chief of staff over there for a while because we want any evaluation to be accurate and in real time to do it.”
Blackford was reached by phone Tuesday afternoon and agreed to meet with us later this week to more thoroughly discuss her comments, but she told us something needs to change.
“It's so frustrating because so many people there shouldn't be working around animals," Blackford told us. "My biggest concern is the people who work there."