Over two dozen volunteers at the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA), a local animal shelter and foster program in Washington, D.C, claimed they were fired for raising concerns about poor conditions and disregard for animal welfare at the facilities.

Volunteers reportedly voiced concerns about cleanliness and animal safety conditions in a letter to the shelter system’s board of directors last October. In addition to having unkempt facilities, the letter also accused HRA of unnecessarily euthanizing kittens with treatable sicknesses, such as an eye infection or diarrhea. 

Kate Meghji, the chief operating officer of HRA, told The Hoya that these allegations are false, and said the employees were terminated because of behavioral issues. She said she only wished the HRA corrected their alleged behavior sooner. 

“We ended relationships with volunteers due to serious breaches of their Volunteer Agreement,” Meghji wrote to The Hoya. “We are certain that no nonprofit organization would tolerate these behaviors. And our regret is not addressing these issues earlier, as our responsibility extends not only to the welfare of animals under our care, but also to the safety and wellbeing of our dedicated staff and volunteers. We should’ve acted more swiftly.”

According to HRA, these breaches included violations of employee confidentiality, information privacy and organizational policy, as well as bullying behavior.

Christy Lambert, one of the volunteers who was fired, told WUSA9 that neither she nor any of the other volunteers who were terminated or expressed concerns acted in such a way. 

“Myself and my friends, we were nothing but respectful and kind,” Lambert told WUSA9.

Sue Bell, the executive director of the local Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, told The Hoya that shelters are facing widespread problems as they are overfilled with unwanted animals.

“We are seeing shelters and communities bubbling over with unwanted animals and shelters and rescues have the difficult task of seeking ways of managing this,” Bell wrote to The Hoya. 

“It is not the fault of the shelters, although shelters often bear the brunt of the blame, which is not fair. This is a community problem and can only be solved with community solutions. That means volunteering, donating, helping your neighbors,” she added. 

According to a report from Time magazine, the number of stray dogs being taken in by shelters has risen 22% since 2021. 

Lambert said the HRA has neglected their duties to maintain clean facilities and keep the animals in a safe environment because of the influx of dogs. 

“The kennel had lots of feces, pee, blood even, on the walls,” she told WUSA9.

Meghji defended the shelter, adding that the well-being of the animals will always be their first priority. 

“Our animal care team diligently works to maintain clean kennels and provide excellent care for our pets. Dogs have accidents, especially ones who are in a new setting,” Meghji said. “Every kennel is deep cleaned first thing in the morning seven days a week and spot cleaned multiple times throughout the day. We take great care to keep the facility clean despite experiencing an unprecedented surge in animals.” 

With such a high surge in occupancy, Bell said her job has never been harder and that animal shelters need more help than ever. 

“No time in my 22 years of running Homeward Trails has animal welfare been so incredibly challenging. The number of animals entering shelters and the demand on our services is unprecedented. It is an extremely, extremely difficult time for anyone working in animal welfare, whether paid or volunteer,” Bell wrote to The Hoya.

With tensions running high as a result, Bell believes the best way to handle internal situations is to ensure that all parties are being heard. 

“Regular ongoing communication and transparency is key. We must not only welcome the public into our work and commitment but be honest with all about our struggles, our needs, our successes and our failures,” Bell said. 

“This is sometimes not easy as it is emotional work and opinions may vary and disagreements will happen. But if we all remain focused on lifesaving and can appreciate each other and communicate, ideally we can get there,” she added.

Meghji said that the HRA respects the former volunteers’ right to speak out and does not plan to pursue legal action against them, but does not plan to hire any of them back because of the breach of their volunteer agreements. 

“If a volunteer fails to uphold their agreement, we part ways. We’re committed to ensuring positive experiences for our more than 800 active volunteers, and we don’t believe we can sustain that by re-inviting volunteers we’ve recently separated from,” Meghji said.