To the Editor:
I am writing in response to the July 22 article “Midcoast animal shelters enter into management agreement.”
Splitting my time between homes on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire line and Harpswell, I have visited many animal shelters in several states, including the Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick.
None is comparable to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter under the quiet and dedicated competency of manager Betsy Pratt, Melinda Reed, and the entire shelter staff. Over the years my family has adopted five dogs and two cats from this facility, all of which had received quality medical care and were well adjusted emotionally and socially.
Betsy and Melinda are pillars of this community in their success and dedication in securing medical care, shelter, and homes for animals of all kinds in need.
The aspersions and innuendo permeating this article was insulting.
Interim Executive Director Mary Fifield cited a “severe absence of management and fiscal controls” at the Lincoln County Shelter effectively resulting in its being put under receivership of the Brunswick Humane Society, which currently serves 14 townships versus the 30 municipalities served by LCAS.
Despite this damning assessment, the forensic audit cited uncovered a whopping $8700 in “financial irregularities” over a seven-year period.
It would be wonderful if the Brunswick Coastal Humane Society can lend expertise in financial control improvements, grant writing, and marketing, but fulfillment of the shelter’s primary mission and operations are already in competent hands.
In response to this article, I doubled my usual annual contribution to this wonderful facility yesterday, with the assurance that the proceeds would be applied exclusively to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter.
