By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post

There was an unmistakable presence in the room Monday afternoon for the Salina City Commission meeting.

Between 75-100 people filled the public seating area and overflowed into standing-room-only in both entryways, prompting one woman to remark that the last time she saw the room so full was when the county “was trying to dismantle the City-County Health Department.”

Most people were there to show support for Vanessa Cowie, the much-beloved manager of Salina Animal Services who was put on paid administrative leave last Wednesday for reasons that are officially unknown to the public. City officials refer to the matter as a personnel issue and decline to comment on specifics of the case.

Prior to the start of the commission meeting, a number of those in attendance gathered at the front entrance to the City-County Building to rally in support of Cowie, at one point chanting “Vanessa.” Many carried signs that they then brought with them to the commission meeting.

Prior to the public comment portion of the meeting, during which individuals can directly address the commission for five minutes each, Salina Mayor Karl Ryan asked that those in attendance maintain decorum and that those who were there to speak maintain civility.

“Please be respectful,” he said.

Interim City Manager Mike Schrage then addressed both the commissioners and the public. He explained that the city had processes in place to deal with personnel issues, and said that regardless of whether an employee appealed the action taken by a department head, the city manager reviews the recommendation.

“I have yet to start a review,” Schrage said.

“I’ve had plenty of interactions with her (Cowie) and immense respect for her. I readily acknowledge the contributions she has made for the animal shelter and the community and that certainly will be a consideration,” he added.

Ryan then asked that those in attendance to support the animal shelter and Cowie stand so that city officials could get a headcount. Nearly everyone who was seated stood. Someone who was standing toward the back in the east-side entryway asked that city officials also count those who were standing in the entryways as no public seating remained.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, many people spoke in support of Cowie. In fact, that portion lasted approximately an hour.

The first person to speak read a letter from a Salina Animal Services employee who wished to remain anonymous.

“Having been a part of the animal shelter for quite some time now, I have had the ability to see all of the incredible work Vanessa Cowie has done, not only for her staff but the animals in the community of Salina. I have been able to see how tirelessly she has worked to improve the image and standards of the animal shelter over just a short period of time,” the woman read.

“Vanessa has an incredibly long and impressive list of accomplishments over the past few years as the director of the Salina Animal Shelter, but to me what is most important is the things she does when the cameras are not on and the public is not watching. She truly loves animals and the team who work for her,” the letter continued. “She works countless hours in order to make sure the Salina Animal Shelter is a premiere shelter, not only in Kansas but across the country. She has given everything she has to make sure the animals are given the opportunity to live, an opportunity to be adopted into a home, an opportunity to be loved. So then commissioners, I ask you why are we not giving Vanessa the same opportunity?”

Nancy Hodges, of Salina, who started working with the shelter as a volunteer in the early 1970s, praised the work Cowie and her staff have done.

“We have come so far since those first days that it is just amazing and she has a great staff,” Hodges said.

Patrick Harrington, of Salina, reminded city officials that the word “scapegoat” also “means somebody calling the pot black and I think there’s a black pot here. To her credit, she may have simply spoken against somebody that didn’t want to hear it.”

Kansas Senator Randall Hardy, who represents the 24th district, spoke to the commissioner from several perspectives: as a former city commissioner, as a state senator, and as a citizen of Salina.

“As a city commissioner, I observed Vanessa Cowie to be a professional and dedicated animal shelter advocate. She performed her duties well, to the point that our animal shelter became a no-kill shelter. She helped us to navigate other issues like our dog park and our pitbull ownership policy,” Hardy said. “Not only has Miss Cowie shown herself to be a creative and thoughtful supervisor, she has shown that is adept at securing substantial grant funds for the animal shelter. Her ability to raise money should be used to expand the reach of the shelter and not have an adverse effect on her budget.”

Hardy said he believed that one issue holding the animal shelter back is that it falls under the Parks and Recreation Department where it has to compete with soccer fields and ball diamonds when in reality it is there to provide a service to the community.

“I do not think that we should have to be in the position to decide whether we have first-rate soccer fields or a full-funded animal shelter. I think we can have both,” Hardy said. “I think the more appropriate department for the animal shelter to be included in is the Community and Development Services Department. Many of the questions that come up in that department might touch on issues that the animal shelter would need to address and therefore would be a nice fit in that department.”

In switching to his state senator mode, Hardy said that during the last legislative session, he attended a luncheon and educational opportunity sponsored by the Kansas Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“When I arrived, I found out that Miss Cowie was providing the program for the legislators. Miss Cowie was chosen for the presentation because her shelter is considered by the state society to be a model program that includes best practices that could be considered by shelters all over the state. I was sitting there thinking how proud I was to be associated with a city with an animal shelter that has a statewide reputation of excellence,” Hardy said.

Hardy concluded by telling the commissioners that he had adopted a cat from the shelter in May.

“I had a first-hand opportunity to see the dedication and love for animals shown by the employees and volunteers at the shelter,” Hardy said. “That kind of dedication happens when the leader lives those qualities. Miss Cowie has worked wonders for our animal shelter. A person with her level of dedication, experience, and knowledge should be applauded, not punished.”

Maggie Gillam, an animal shelter volunteer and member of the Friends of the Animal Shelter Board, said she was there to tell the commissioners about all the things Cowie did behind the scenes that they might not hear about.

“Vanessa does not clock in at 9 a.m. and she does not clock out at 5 p.m. She’s not someone who is just there for a paycheck. She has literally poured her blood, sweat, and tears into managing the animal shelter,” Gillam said. “She loves the job, she loves animals, and she loves helping people in the community. It’s all the little things she does behind the scenes that not only make her a good manager, but also the leader.”

Gillam noted that because Cowie was on administrative leave, she was not able to participate in the shelter’s Clear the Shelter event, part of a nationwide initiative on Saturday and an event that Cowie had planned and was looking forward to. Rather than just sit at home that day, Cowie went to Wichita and worked as a volunteer at the shelter there on Saturday, Gillam said.

Gillam also noted that on Christmas Day, Cowie was on-call at the shelter so that her staff could enjoy the holiday with their families.

“There are numerous times she has worked overtime without extra pay cleaning kennels and doing other tasks when staff had called in sick or were on vacation so that other staff members don’t have to work overtime,” Gillam said of Cowie. “She’s personally taken pet food to people in need. She has met people in the middle of the night with their dying animals. She has driven people to the vet in her own car on her time off. She’s taken pets home to foster. She’s met people at the shelter after hours so that they can pick up their dogs that had gotten loose and were picked up. She’s paid people’s vet bills with her own money. She has taken adoptable pets to Petco on her days off to try to find them a home.”

David Norlin, of Salina, said he offered an outsider’s point of view on the situation.

“What struck me was regardless of the infraction, the penalties sought to be exacted in this case seem extremely out of bounds, especially given the testimony we have here. I fail to understand how that matches,” Norlin said. “In my experience, I wonder then about the managers who are prepared to rain down this kind of hail fire and brimstone in this case. It makes me wonder about managerial skills and I don’t know, so I’m speaking out of ignorance here, but from outside observation and again without spreading gossip, I have heard from individuals who have worked in the department — park and recs — question how efficient and how well done that management was.”

Garnett Zamboni, who has volunteered at the shelter for more than six years, said she had seen many positive changes under Cowie’s leadership.

“Vanessa builds bridges within the community. She builds bridges with her volunteers. She builds bridges with her employees and we are all amazingly faithful to Vanessa. We need to have Vanessa at the front as our leader,” Zamboni said. “If Vanessa is gone, will everyone stay? We now have over 60 volunteers. Will these volunteers follow you? Will these volunteers vote for you? It’s obviously a political situation, but it doesn’t need to be.”

Zamboni noted that over the past few years, Cowie had been able to secure for the shelter $350,000 in grants from the Petco Foundation.

Dr. Brad Crauer, assistant clinical professor in shelter medicine in the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine also spoke in support of Cowie.

“I developed and oversee the shelter medicine program. We take students across central Kansas and Nebraska to shelters to provide free spay and neuter and medical triage. I also consult and visit shelters nationwide,” Crauer said. “When we look at the shelters that I have been associated with, I can tell you that Salina Animal Shelter is one of the highest performing shelters anywhere, and that’s because of Vanessa Cowie.”

Crauer said that the K-State mobile vet unit has been coming to Salina regularly since its inception.

“In that time, I’ve seen significant increases in live release rates and quality of care, in staff morale, and that’s Vanessa Cowie,” he said.

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I can envision a scenario where Vanessa Cowie might be a convenient fall guy. I don’t know exactly what’s going on that’s gotten us to this room, but what I do know is that the city of Salina will not be better off if Vanessa Cowie is fired,” Crauer continued. “I do know Salina Animal Shelter will not be better off if Vanessa Cowie is let go. I can tell you the animals and the people of this community are not better off if Vanessa Cowie is let go. I do know it would show a real significant change in direction as far as an emphasis on animal welfare, a change in direction in concern for public health and public safety. I don’t think that’s the direction you should want to go. So I don’t think it is in anyone’s best interest to let Vanessa Cowie go.”

A woman from the Clay Center animal shelter praised Cowie for her assistance in helping Clay Center get its shelter started.

“Everyone we talked to directed us to Vanessa. She met with us outside shelter hours. So many of our best practices were adopted from the Salina shelter,” she said.

Former Salina Mayor John Blanchard asked the commission to “provide trust, transparency, and confidence that this process is not a railroad. That this process is not a scapegoat process and a witchhunt.”

“I would ask that one of you step up and be a leader today. Step up and make motion while all these people are still in this room. Make a motion to add to your agenda today an item to ask the city manager to look into an independent, outside audit of this process, of the animal cruelty case to find out who knew what, when they knew it, and when payments were authorized and when you guys go into executive session, what was discussed in there for 85 minutes,” Blanchard asked the commission.

In April, the Saline County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of Salina Animal Services, seized 189 animals from property in the 5000 block of Country Club Road. Deputies arrested Beverly Fullen, 66, and Matthew Fullen, 40, both of Salina on numerous charges that included 165 misdemeanor counts and four felony counts of cruelty to animals. The Fullens have asked that the charges be dismissed, claiming in part that the deputies did not have the expertise to determine the condition of the animals, nor did they consult with a veterinarian or other livestock expert. The Fullens also cited what they called inaccurate and inflammatory remarks made about them by Salina City Commissioner Melissa Rose Hodges on her official Facebook page. The case is now working its way through the Saline County District Court system.

On June 26, District Judge Rene Young signed an adjudication for interim care of the animals until the court case is resolved. The Fullens and their attorney agreed to the interim care.

What may be affecting the Cowie situation is the amount of money that the city spent in caring for the animals prior to the interim care agreement.

“The community needs to have confidence in what you guys are doing. There’s very little confidence right now. We have confidence in Vanessa Cowie. We’d like to have confidence in our city manager and we’d like to have confidence in you. Give it to an outside independent auditor,” Blanchard concluded.

Commissioner Melissa Rose Hodges made a motion near the end of the meeting to include a discussion item on the next city commission agenda for the external auditor that Blanchard requested, however, the motion died for lack of a second.