Irvine animal shelter head resigns after euthanasia moratorium, public criticism

Senior Administrator Michelle Quigley resigned Thursday as head of the Irvine Animal Care Center amid a City Council review of shelter operations.

The review was ordered during a council meeting held in November in which former IAAC employees, volunteers and animal advocates passionately voiced concerns over management and euthanasia practices at the center.

Quigley tendered her resignation two days after an emotional City Council meeting Tuesday where many of the same concerns were expressed and a two-member council subcommittee to expedite the review process was approved.

Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Lalloway and first-term Councilwoman Lynn Schott volunteered to sit on the ad-hoc committee.

The council also placed a two-month moratorium on euthanasia at the shelter, citing ongoing frustration with how the center has been operating. Meetings with council and city staff members since November have produced little headway.

Testimony in public comments echoed the call to action.

“We’ve done a lot of talking,” said former shelter employee Ava Crittenden, who left her job at the shelter in November and has attended the bi-weekly meetings. “We keep hoping that we’ll make progress, but city leadership has allowed, supported and relegated the care of Irvine animals to shelter management that do not hold up the city’s mission and vision.”

“I’m getting increasingly frustrated that actions aren’t happening also,” responded Lalloway from the dais. “There needs to be bold actions.”

“The frustration is I see more and more specific instances of problems over there,” Lalloway said after the council meeting. “They’re continuing, and I don’t even know if they’re growing or being taken care of.”

Among the speakers, former three-year shelter volunteer George Hwang wept as he cited three recent incidents of dogs being euthanized when administrators “didn’t have any good reason.”

“This place has become one of the worst places I’ve ever volunteered in my life,” Hwang said. “Please, please, I beg you. Get rid of this management at the shelter.”

Other speakers pointed more directly to senior management and staff attrition under the direction of Quigley, who took over the center in November 2013.

“You want to be the best shelter, you have to hire the best staff,” Jenny Shively stated from the podium. “This statement is no longer true under the Michelle Quigley administration.”

“That is the reason they have hemorrhaged staff so badly in the last year,” said Aileen Anderson, whose family has fostered cats from the shelter for about five years. “They had phenomenal staff, and they’re gone. Almost all of them.”

Quigley was unavailable for comment, according to city spokesman Craig Reem, who said Irvine has restricted employees from speaking on the matter until the review is complete.

The center is operated under the Irvine Community Services Commission with a budget of $2.53 million for the current fiscal year. Funding comes from city taxes and money raised through pet adoption plus private and corporate donations. The shelter also relies heavily on volunteers.

The Irvine shelter built a reputation as one of the country’s most progressive public animal shelters over the past three decades for programs promoting pet adoption over euthanasia. Growing criticism by volunteers and former employees accuses current management of straying from that mission by unnecessarily destroying animals in their care.

Statistics provided by the city of Irvine show the euthanasia rate for all animals taken in by the shelter are lower in the last three years than the five-year average of 8.7% since 2009. According to the IACC website, the shelter has an intake of more than 4,000 pets annually.

“Statistics don’t always tell the whole story,” Lalloway said. “I’m glad the numbers are down in recent years compared to the five-year average, but each case is unique, and we keep getting examples of questionable cases.”

The council voted unanimously to form the ad-hoc committee and order the cessation of euthanasia for the next 60 days with exception of approved cases for health reasons that include acute pain and suffering.

“From the top down, the shelter needs to be reviewed, which is what we’re doing,” said Lalloway, noting the city has hired a certified animal shelter consultant to direct the review. “Any personnel decisions will need to be made by the city manager.”