07:01 AM CST on Wednesday, March 29, 2006

By Jeff McShan / 11 News

Click to watch video

Two former employees have made serious allegations against the City of Houston Animal Shelter.

They said it's no place you'd want your lost pet to be.

The two women took their concerns to City Hall Tuesday.

They say BARC, the city's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, is a nightmare for both the animals and the people who work there.

"I am extremely disappointed to see the disparity between the lip service given by local officials and what is actually taking place," said Margaret Gongo.

KHOU-TV

Former employees say the cages are too small for some of the larger dogs, among other problems.

They went on to tell the council that BARC's facility is most likely out of compliance with city codes.

They provided many photographs showing problems with cages.

Some are too small for larger dogs that can't even turn around or wag their tails.

They also said there are serious problems with the grates.

"The grates have holes in them that are large enough for animals to get their feet caught in and if you don't catch it within a few hours of it happening, then you end up euthanizing the animal in the cage because you couldn't get their foot loose," said Michelle Haberland.

Haberland says she's witnessed it all first hand.

She was a veterinary technician there until last month. She says she couldn't take it anymore.

"They were hanging art work that costs thousands of dollars in the lobby and we couldn't order antibiotics for the dogs that we were euthanizing day in an day out for an upper respiratory infection. I said, 'That's it. I have got to go', said Haberland.

The art work was indeed ordered and installed to improve the shelter's image and to make it more people-friendly. Manager Cynda Lewis says it did not cost thousands of dollars.

"I think it was about $1,500 for materials and an inside person did it for us," said Lewis.

Lewis admits some of the problems are real.

BARC is a busy place.

Last year, of the 26,243 animals picked up by BARC, 21,214 animals were euthanized.

There were 1,463 animals adopted and 1,579 animals reclaimed by their owners.

There were 1,698 animals saved by rescue groups and 289 animals lost or unaccounted for.

Some of them were actually lost down the sewer drain.

"I personally lost a Jack Russell Terrier in the drain system. Well they said, 'Don't worry, he will show back up.' Well he eventually did show back up but I don't want to tell you what he looked like when he showed back up," said Haberland.