The St. Louis County Council’s Ethics Committee wants to remove Public Health Director Kanika Cunningham from leading the county animal shelter.
In its recent report, which will be presented at the council’s weekly meeting Tuesday night, the committee recommends a vote of no confidence on Cunningham. The report is the culmination of four council hearings, during which 11 people involved with the shelter testified.
“I, after drafting this ethics report, do not have any confidence in Dr. Cunningham running the animal shelter,” council member Michael Archer, chair of the Ethics Committee, said.
In February, the county regained control of the shelter from the Animal Protective Association, which had been running it for several years. The shelter then suffered a parvovirus outbreak that resulted in the euthanizing of 19 dogs, failed several inspections and briefly lost its license. After these events, the county council decided to investigate the shelter’s operations starting in May.
The report cited several moments from the hearings, including the firing of multiple employees without explanation and a disorganized organizational structure.
The report also alleges that Cunningham used a liaison to the APA who had a dog allergy. It states that 12 minutes prior to the June 12 hearing on the shelter, the Department of Public Health submitted 28,000 documents comprising more than 65,000 pages.
Based on over 13 hours of testimony, Archer found that the shelter is poorly managed and that “the Department of Public Health is tone deaf as to the needs of the animal shelter.”
“The facts point to gross mismanagement at best, or at worst, a complete disregard for the procedures in place to protect St. Louis County citizens and the employees of St. Louis County,” Archer said in the report.
Because of this, the report recommends that a no-confidence vote be held “as to Dr. Cunningham as the Director of Public Health regarding leadership of the animal shelter.”
Archer also states in the report that the county charter does not require an animal shelter. Its only requirements are to carry out animal care and control duties.
When reached for comment, Archer said that the county has demonstrated it cannot effectively operate an animal shelter on its own.
Council member Dennis Hancock has echoed this sentiment, saying the county should reconsider its involvement in the animal adoption business.
The Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
