Thornton – Police are investigating complaints that conditions at the Mile Hi Humane Society animal shelter are filthy and dangerous to the dogs, cats and horses being housed there.
Commerce City police began their probe of the shelter at the urging of Councilwoman Tracey Snyder, who visited Mile Hi in February after hearing from Commerce City residents. The city contracts with the shelter.
Snyder said she found feces all over the floor in the main corridor of the cat area, and everything else in disarray. “Some of the cages were bungee-corded together, and one animal was completely running loose,” said Snyder. “There was no control of the animals at all.”
Other pets have died after staying at the shelter, she said. “Our citizens need to be assured that once their pets wind up at Mile Hi, they will come back healthy and alive.”
Shelter operations manager Cindy Kelly said she is also investigating the complaints. In addition to Commerce City, the shelter contracts with the cities of Northglenn and Federal Heights to provide services to lost or abandoned pets, Kelly said.
The shelter depends heavily on volunteers, many of whom may not have experience in dealing with animals, Kelly said. Some animals also come into the shelter already sick but showing no symptoms and die later, after having been returned to their owners.
“Sometimes mistakes are made, but we love our animals and we have their best interests in mind,” Kelly said. “The bottom line is that we are dealing and correcting all these issues.”
Commerce City police cannot bring criminal charges against the shelter because it is not in their jurisdiction. But if the claims of mistreatment of pets are found to be true, it could lead to a severing of the city’s contract with the shelter, said Lt. Chuck Saunier.
“Our contract with them stipulates that they keep a clean and decent facility,” Saunier said. He said he inspected Mile Hi recently and found it to be “OK.”
He didn’t know when the city’s investigation will wrap up.
Thornton police have had ongoing issues with the facility since last year, said Cmdr. Jay Steele. They issued citations to the facility for not having enough water for horses during the winter and for euthanizing a dog before a 10-day quarantine had expired.
Shelter officials have been cooperative and willing to make changes, Steele said. The problem may be that the 10-acre nonprofit shelter is underfunded.
Still, Steele said, “we do have our concerns with them.”
Snyder said two cats belonging to a Commerce City resident were dropped off at the shelter in a misunderstanding. It took several days for the owner to find the cats, and when they were returned home, they died.
“These things keep coming up with this shelter,” Snyder said. “Clearly there is a problem there.”
“That shelter should probably be closed,” said Claudia Barnes, a longtime Mile Hi shelter critic. “It’s filthy out there, and the animals are not taken care of correctly.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
