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Residents press council for improved shelter data, allege staffing problems at Hamilton animal shelter
Summary
Residents criticized the shelter's delayed statistics and licensing backlog and one public speaker alleged past misconduct and excessive pay for a shelter employee; council pledged to check processes and follow up but no formal findings were recorded at the meeting.
Residents used the public-comment period to press the council on animal-shelter operations, data transparency and staffing.
Lisa Williams said the shelter's publicly posted statistics lagged and asked for monthly PDF reports to be updated through January and February. "The shelter stats on the website are updated as of February 28," one council official said during the exchange; Williams urged the shelter to post monthly breakdowns so the public can track intake, origins and outcomes.
Williams also complained about workflow inefficiencies at licensing (single printer setup) and urged more consistent social-media posts to promote adoptable animals.
Later in public comment, resident Steve Clay made a string of allegations about shelter staffing and pay. He said the township pays a shelter employee roughly $47 an hour while vet‑tech market rates run "between $17 and $25 an hour," and alleged the same employee "happily killed 50 cats in a day" and was cited in past inspection reports and council inquiries. Those charges were strongly worded and were made from the speaker's perspective; council did not present any on-the-record inspector findings or conclusions during this meeting.
Council members said they would review processes, check assignments and follow up with the shelter and relevant directors. One council member said the council would examine whether responsibilities or assignments need to change and would check the process for generating and posting shelter statistics. No formal disciplinary or investigative action was announced on the floor at the meeting.
The council's next steps, as described in the meeting, are process checks with shelter managers and relevant departments and follow-up reports to council.
