Tom Munds
The Colorado Attorney General filed a civil suit against the
Colorado Humane Society in Arapahoe County Dec. 10, accusing the
group’s top management of illegally collecting donations, of
falsely claiming a low “kill” rate for the shelter and misusing
donations to the charity.
The Colorado Humane Society, a nonprofit organization, operates
the animal shelter in the building owned by the City of Englewood
at 2760 S. Platte River Drive. The group has operated the shelter
since 1992, and the society has a contract with the city and other
municipalities to provide care for the animals brought there by
animal control officers. Littleton terminated its contract with the
society earlier this year.
Englewood allowed the $48,000-a-year contract to remain
unchanged but monitored the situation at the shelter.
“We have adopted a wait-and-see attitude,” said Mike Flaherty,
assistant city manager. “But we are monitoring the situation to be
sure the shelter remains in operation and we are watching the
progress of the suit.”
The lawsuit is the result of a 14-month investigation and, as
part of the action, the attorney general is asking appointment of a
custodian to take over management of the organization, keeping it
in operation while protecting the assets and the animals in the
shelter.
Mary Warren, society director, her husband Robert Warren,
development director, and her daughter Stephanie Gardner,
operations director, are named in the suit. None could be reached
for comment.
Because the facility is aging and the general agreement is it is
too small, the society developed plans to build a new facility to
house an animal shelter, offices and a clinic.
There was a search and the agreement was on a site along the
banks of the South Platte River. Littleton owned part of the land
and Englewood purchased the other parcel from Xcel Energy. The
original proposal was for the cities to donate the land to the
separate but adjacent parcels located south of West Union Avenue on
the banks of the South Platte River so the society could build the
new facility.
