BATAVIA, Ohio — Michelle Gonzalez spends much of her free time at the Clermont County Animal Shelter.
“I love working with the dogs, I love the volunteer team,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said she's one of around 40 active volunteers who take time out of their weeks to tend to the animals waiting to find their forever homes. But, like many of her fellow volunteers, they've spoken out about the conditions in the shelter, and the struggles with full-time, paid staff.
“It doesn’t seem to get better and so many people keep quitting,” Gonzalez said.
She told WCPO the shelter is low on kennel technicians and veterinarian technicians. She said they do not have a veterinarian on staff at all. She cited issues with the stress of the position and difficulty of the job as part of the reason for constant turnover.
Volunteers took their concerns directly to county leaders Wednesday morning, pleading for help.
“Here’s the reality: the kennel manager is out on medical leave, one kennel tech has already resigned, that leaves one person to carry the full weight of all the work,” animal shelter volunteer Paula Hayden said.
The volunteers told the commissioners that staffing is at a critical level, and that there aren't enough people working to care of the animals.
"These dogs need us," another volunteer said to the county commissioners.
Back in August, concerned volunteers sat down with us to discuss their concerns for the shelter and staff. They showed images of the shelter not being able to be cleaned, making it unhealthy for the animals that live there.
Clermont County Commissioner David Painter told WCPO that within the last couple months, the county has worked with the Clermont County Sheriff's Office to help add more manpower to keep the facility clean.
Female inmates at the county jail who have been vetted and appointed by jail staff are being allowed to help clean the facility three times a week, Painter said.
The commissioner told WCPO that he thinks the facilities are "top notch," noting he visited on Tuesday. He said they are actively hiring as well, but commented that kennel techs are a difficult position to hire.
"We keep an open requisition out on the street for people who are interested in the position of kennel techs, and we have three starting on (Sept.) 29 and 30," Painter said.
Painter said that he encourages anyone interested to apply for their open positions at the animal shelter.
We reached out to the director of the animal shelter by email but did not hear back by the publishing of this article.
Watch Live:
