BATAVIA, Ohio — A Clermont County Animal Shelter volunteer faces a misdemeanor charge stemming from an alleged altercation that occurred Sunday.
Roger Vogel, 74, was charged with disorderly conduct in connection with an incident that took place inside the animal shelter.
According to a citation, Vogel was acting "... unreasonably (boisterous) ... berating an employee of the animal shelter before throwing a safety vest at his face."
WCPO 9 News requested a copy of the incident report from the Clermont County Sheriff's Office, but most of the narrative describing what happened has been redacted as law enforcement continues to investigate.
"I think that's essentially the culmination of this all coming to a head and shutting down the volunteers and essentially shutting down the voice for the animals," said Kathleen Faulkner, a shelter volunteer. "It's really become a dire situation for the dogs."
In a statement, Angie Livesay, deputy assistant county administrator and acting kennel administrator, said in part, "We are in transition as we look for a permanent administrator and to fill other vacant staff positions, but we continue to improve our processes while caring lovingly and responsibly for our dogs."
A spokesperson for the county would not comment on the charge Vogel faces or the incident it stems from.
During a Clermont County Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, a handful of residents and volunteers brought their long-simmering concerns, once again, to the board.
"What has happened to Roger is just abominable and our community fully stands 100% behind Roger," resident Stephanie Freeborn said.
WCPO has reached out to all three commissioners for comment but has not heard back as of the publishing of this story.
Read the full statement from Livesay here:
"We are in transition as we look for a permanent administrator and to fill other vacant staff positions, but we continue to improve our processes while caring lovingly and responsibly for our dogs and finding them forever homes. For example, eight dogs were adopted last Saturday (Oct. 19) alone.
Please check our Facebook and X social media accounts where we publish testimonials from families who’ve adopted our dogs, news about our adoption promotions such as our current half-price promotion and other creative ways our staff and volunteers reach the public.
We value our volunteers. They are an important part of helping us care for the dogs in our shelter. As part of our effort to improve operations, we are implementing updated guidelines that clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of our volunteers and our shelter staff. Providing volunteers with red reflective vests so they are readily identifiable, just as our staff is immediately identifiable with their orange shirts, is an example. This new practice is helping us better manage who is coming and going and who is performing given tasks in the shelter, which improves security for our staff, the dogs, volunteers and the public."
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