SPOKANE VALLEY– Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) has been under fire for several months over their compliance as a no-kill shelter and allegations of animal abuse.
In recent months, there have been numerous complaints against the behavioral assessments for certain dogs at SCRAPS.
The Canine Assessment Of Risk For Shelters (CARS) came to do assessments for about 20 dogs to determine if the dogs, which are deemed dangerous, can be rehabilitated or not.
Some former volunteers and former employees at SCRAPS reached out to NonStop Local and described the assessments as “archaic.”
The concern amongst the former staff is that behavioral tests are not an adequate measure of how safe a dog is and that if a dog does not perform well in the assessments, it could be euthanized.
Last week, Bryanna Franzen, a former SCRAPS employee, claimed she was terminated due to disagreements with SCRAPS Director Jesse Ferrari.
“Behavior Assessments are like flipping a coin. You cannot predict future aggression or future behavior assessment and a battery of one-time tests,” Bryanna Franzen, a former SCRAPS employee, said.
Franzen claims she was terminated due to disagreements with SCRAPS director, Jesse Ferrari.
Kevin Vanhook volunteered at SCRAPS for roughly five years and then became an employee working on the SCRAPS Dog Team.
He told NonStop Local he was fired in February after an argument with Ferrari about the behavioral assessments.
“At that time, in that meeting, another employee brought up that everyone knew that management was looking to have outside individuals assess the dogs, which has been done from time to time. It’s not necessarily uncommon. However, they were doing it in secret and did not want to share that information with the rest of the team, which I felt was detrimental,” Vanhook said.
“To my understanding, people from California are being flown up to do these assessments. So, these dogs are supposed to meet with people that they don’t know to do some… pretty archaic assessments, if you will, of their behavior. So, I absolutely don’t agree with that,” Elicia Spotts said.
Spotts was a volunteer on the Dog Team at SCRAPS; she claims she was fired after advocating against euthanizing a dog, Amelia.
According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), behavior assessments have not proven highly accurate or precise when used to predict aggression after adoption.
Meanwhile, SCRAPS management does believe that the assessments are ethical and important for the safety of the community and dogs.
“The assessments are all about understanding dog behavior. We brought in specialists that are nationally recognized to really provide some great insight into what Spokane County is offering,” Nick Hobbs Doyle, SCRAPS Shelter Operations Manager, said.
“I think that overall it’s encompassing for safety in the community rather than just adopt a dog out and kind of… [a] fingers crossed scenario. I think this is a whole lot better way to help protect against potentially dangerous dogs in the community,” Jesse Ferrari, SCRAPS Director, said.
The assessments were supposed to conclude in the last week. The next phase will be collecting the data from CARS and deciding how to move forward with the animals.
The other topic of concern that NonStop Local discussed with SCRAPS leadership was concerns regarding dispatchers telling members of the community that SCRAPS will not assist them.
In early August, NonStop Local reported the story of Duck, a malnourished dog who was near death and collapsed on a Spokane woman’s front lawn.
The woman who found Duck was able to get him treatment that saved his life; however, while trying to help Duck, the woman sought the assistance of SCRAPS. She was initially turned away by a third party that fields after-hour calls for SCRAPS.
“If An Animal Is Sick Or Injured, Scraps’ Policy Is To Go Pick Up That Animal,” Ferrari said.
SCRAPS and Spokane County have said that the dispatcher should have connected the woman with an Animal Protection Officer (APO).
NonStop Local verified a human resources investigation regarding numerous complaints against SCRAPS, including multiple allegations of SCRAPS staff being instructed to turn some animals away and release the strays onto the streets.
That report concluded that Ferrari did not issue any directive instructing staff to tell community members to return animals where they found them if SCRAPS is at capacity and unable to accept the animal.
NonStop Local also confirmed the legitimacy of an email sent to SCRAPS staff on Dec. 9, 2022. The email was sent by a Spokane County clerk providing instruction options to give the public when they call SCRAPS.
Among the options, it states that if the finder of an animal is unable or unwilling to get the dog to safety, they should “put it back where it was found in hopes it knows it’s way back home or, and the owner will find it when they are out searching.”
