TOLEDO, Ohio — The Lucas County Canine Care and Control (LC4) volunteer program is now suspended.
A group of LC4 employees went to the Lucas County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday saying they felt intimidated by volunteers. Shortly after, the volunteer program was suspended by commissioners.
"My first job to my employees and our employees in the county is to protect them," Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken told 11 Investigates Tuesday. "If the volunteers are harassing and bullying them, then they have to step back."
LC4 Volunteer Randy Fahringer said he wasn't at the meeting, but heard the news from other volunteers shortly after the decision was made.
"We felt betrayed, and I wish (Gerken) would've picked better words," he said.
Fahringer said he was a volunteer at LC4 for more than a year and said he's stayed out of the drama. He said it hurt to hear he would no longer be able to volunteer.
"That was literally like a slap in the face," Fahringer said. "We spent a lot of our time, effort and money donating. Trying to do fundraising drives and helping out. To all of a sudden have one of our commissioners pretty much categorize us as all of us harassing, I guess we were kind of speechless."
Fahringer said he's a part of a private LC4 volunteer Facebook group. The group states in the "about" section that it's a forum to "positively communicate."
EARLIER COVERAGE: Lucas County pound's volunteer program suspended over allegations of bullying, threatening social media behavior | 11 Investigates
But Fahringer said he would see the opposite from some volunteers and paid employees.
"Back and forth on both sides, messages attacking each other," Fahringer said about what he saw on the group. "It got to a point where it was like, 'what is really going on?'"
Fahringer said it all got worse when a video surfaced showing an employee appearing to hit dogs and spraying them with water in the LC4 kennels.
The employee was placed on leave, pending an internal investigation. Volunteers are now out the door as well, as commissioners investigate the harassment claims.
"I think they made a little bit of a rash decision," Fahringer said.
Fahringer said one of the things he enjoyed doing was to take dogs that were about to be euthanized on a last ride in a car. He did that for a dog named London.
"I brought her toys that she chewed on before, I brought her a cheeseburger," Fahringer said.
He added that he kept her company before getting put down.
"It was just my way of giving back to her just letting her know that you were the perfect dog, but you just may not have found the perfect house yet," he said.
Fahringer said he's worried with LC4 staff being so busy and no volunteers there to help, dogs won't get the love they deserve.
"Overall, when it's said and done, (the dogs) are the ones that are suffering the most," he said.
11 Investigates received a statement from the Lucas County Commissioners about the volunteer program suspension:
“The decision to suspend the volunteer program at Lucas County Canine Care & Control was a difficult one. Lucas County is taking a step back to evaluate the program and identify areas where improvement is needed. The Board of Lucas County Commissioners hopes to bring back the LC4 volunteer program – one that adheres to best practices, has clear policies and procedures, and has organizational support – in the future.”
11 Investigates will be sitting down with LC4 Director Kelly Sears to talk about this. Be sure to stay with us as we continue to look into this conflict.
WATCH MORE FROM WTOL 11