Investigators say shelter is in fair shape

Deepa Bharath

A Huntington Beach animal shelter that former volunteers alleged was

operating under deplorable conditions, is actually in reasonably good

shape and poses no life-threatening danger to the animals, Costa Mesa

animal control officials said on Friday.

The city of Costa Mesa is investigating complaints about the

Orange County Humane Society, with which it has a contract to house

rescued animals.

Shelter owner Samir Botros disbanded the volunteer program on Aug.

30, following differences of opinion between the volunteers and the

management about how to run the shelter.

The former volunteers have been staging protests for the last six

weeks outside the shelter, alleging that the animals there are

starving and are not receiving veterinary care. But Botros and other

volunteers who continue to support him have denied all the

allegations.

Costa Mesa officials and Orange County Animal Control officers

have been conducting an investigation of the shelter and found nine

violations mostly relating to ventilation, cleanliness and drainage

in the facility in late August, Costa Mesa Police Lt. John

FitzPatrick said.

The violations as observed by the officers included kennel doors

that needed to be replaced, dirty kennels and cages, insufficient

drainage gutters, failure to isolate aggressive animals and a rodent

problem.

Botros corrected most of those violations within days, FitzPatrick

said.

All of the problems have now been fixed, Botros said on Friday.

FitzPatrick and an Orange County Animal Control officer will take

a final walk through the shelter next week to determine that all

problems have been fixed.

“Most of the issues had to do with the fact that the building is

old,” Botros said.

Things needed to be fixed in the facility, but Botros did not want

to pay big money for replacing fences or doors, which will be soon

torn down to make way for a new facility, he said.

The issue with the volunteers had to do with their hostility

toward him, he said.

“People come here over and over again to adopt animals,” he said.

“Would they do it if animals were starving or mistreated? It just

doesn’t make sense. I knew the truth will prevail, because I did

nothing wrong.”

The former volunteers are happy as long as the shelter is cleaned

up and the animals receive good care, said spokeswoman Shelly Hunter.

“We’re happy if things are OK and they remain that way,” she said.

“All we were asking is that the animals have clean kennels, food,

water and good veterinary care.”

The former volunteers also filed a complaint against Botros’ AAA

Animal Hospital next door, stating that the veterinarian employed

unqualified technicians to perform surgery on animals. Botros denied

those allegations, as well, saying that the volunteers were being

vindictive, because he asked them to leave.

The volunteers will continue to protest outside the hospital,

Hunter said.

“We’ll do it such a way that it doesn’t affect adoptions at the

shelter,” she said.

FitzPatrick will submit the findings of his investigation soon

after he, along with the Orange County Animal Control officials, take

a “final walk through the shelter,” he said.

“I’m merely a fact finder, trying to establish whether the shelter

is complying with the codes or not,” FitzPatrick said. “I’m going to

present what I have and let [the council] make the conclusions.”

But having personally inspected the shelter, FitzPatrick said he

believed the volunteers’ allegations seemed exaggerated.

“There were violations, but they were nothing significant,” he

said.

Botros has also been trying to work with the city of Huntington

Beach to renovate the facility, which is very old, FitzPatrick said.

“Many of the existing problems go hand in hand with how old the

facility is,” he said. “I agree it’s no Taj Mahal. But the animals

get the care they need and are by no means mistreated.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or by e-mail at

deepa.bharath@latimes.com.