Oxford Lafayette Humane Society Receives Allegations of Corruption
It would seem Oxford can’t escape corruption these days. Ole Miss Football has been caught up in their NCAA allegations, Freeze stepped down due to his own scandal involving escorts, and now the Oxford Lafayette Humane Society Board of Directors has been accused of unethical practices. The human society is likely one of the last places you would look for corruption, but it’s 2017 and here we are.
A former board member presented an 8-page document to the Board of Alderman recently detailing complaints ranging from mismanagement of funds to an unreasonably high percentage of animals euthanized. The plan of euthanizing animals to maintain the facility at half capacity was reportedly a leading factor in six of nine full-time employees resigning including animal control officer and executive director.
Within 48 hours of the resignations, the plan to euthanize roughly half of the animals at the human society had gone through.
In addition, the document contained complaints that board members had not been properly elected in at least the last 10 years. Elections were only used to approve board members that already been chosen for the seat.
Other allegations included:
- Allowing a room at the shelter to be used by a private grooming business.
- The hiring a new executive director with a salary of $72,000. The previous director’s salary was $45,000 and hiring a consulting firm, led by the new executive director, for $11,000 a month.
- A change in the shelter’s volunteering program since the resignations that now requires volunteers to be approved by the board
- Little-to-no input by regular board members on how a $600,000 donation left in a will should be spent. The executive board said the donation was meant to go toward creating a spay and neuter facility at the shelter, but several former board members felt clinic was unnecessary as there is already a low-cost spay and neuter program in place.
- The public not being allowed at board meetings.
(source.) 
About the Author
Brittain Thompson Brittain was an associate editor of The Local Voice from 2015-2018, ex-journalism student, and bad noise maker from the highway town of Brandon, Mississippi.
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