Fur flies as public challenges Park County Animal Shelter decisions
CODY — The Park County Animal Shelter board of directors was joined by nearly 30 community members last Thursday for a sometimes raucous discussion following the sudden departure of former executive director Jona Harris.
Harris, who resigned in early April, said in a public statement posted to her Facebook that two issues had emerged to prompt her resignation: first, the implementation of a spay abortion policy, and second, a deteriorating relationship with the board, amid what Harris has called “governance challenges.”
She later cited both the aforementioned policy and the board’s decision to hire Ryan Johnson as shelter operations manager and elevate his post to a co-directorship as examples of what she perceived to be systemic challenges that prevented her from adequately conducting her work as executive director transparently.
On Thursday evening, following a maelstrom of social media attention and news articles, the members of the public who attended the board meeting were granted the floor to speak and ask questions, resulting in an, at times, contentious exchange between the public and the PCAS board, whose members said they stood behind their decision to hire Johnson as their director of operations as well as to implement the new spay policy.
Spay abortion policy
Harris issued a public statement on her personal Facebook on April 7, in which she said she had quit PCAS effective immediately following her objections to changes being made to the shelter’s spay policy with neither the public’s knowledge nor a written policy and plan being put into place.
A spay abortion, or ovariohysterectomy, is a surgical procedure in which a female animal is sterilized by removing both the uterus and ovaries, and the fetuses are humanely terminated. While the procedure is carried out for a variety of reasons by veterinarians, it is sometimes done to reduce overpopulation or crowding in shelter facilities, according to vvma.org.
At Thursday’s meeting, Johnson said that this – and veterinarian guidance – would be critical factors in whether to spay female cats and terminate fetuses at PCAS.
“When we house more animals here than we’re capable of housing, it becomes inhumane,” Johnson said. “Moving into kitten season, I have 53 cats in the building. I’m almost at capacity and I want to remain in a position where I have space to be able to receive incoming animals that need our help.”
Harris had said during interviews that she understood the necessity of the policy and desired to see it implemented “on a case-by-case basis.” Ultimately, she said, her primary objection emerged not from the change itself, but from what she characterized as a lack of transparency with the public.
Harris said when she and Johnson initially discussed the policy change, she encouraged board involvement and further discussion but was met with resistance after Johnson spoke to board president Joelyn Kelly.
“I had multiple conversations with Joelyn and Ryan regarding (spay abortions), and I made multiple requests to have the issue brought to the board as I felt this was a very important and sensitive topic that needed board input. (But) Joelyn informed me that this was Ryan’s decision and at his discretion.”
Harris said that she was unaware of any formal written policy outlining the shelter’s stance on the procedure, something echoed by past executive directors Megan McLean and Sabine Bonn. McLean, executive director from 2020-2022, said that it was a policy she had hoped to write during her tenure in order to formalize the shelter’s spay and neuter policies and procedures, but other projects – including the transition to the new facility – ultimately took precedence.
Nevertheless, all three of the past executive directors said the procedure was a necessary and sometimes harsh reality of working in animal welfare.
“This was about protecting (the shelter) by making sure policies are written,” Harris said, adding that her position was less about the morality of the procedure and more about the ethics of the organization she was fundraising for publicly. “Ethically and morally, I wasn’t willing to jeopardize transparency with the community. Policies are written as an umbrella of protection and without a policy, you don’t have a leg to stand on with the community.
“I was concerned (about what would happen) if we didn’t have a plan in place to answer difficult questions when the community found out we were doing spay abortions because (to them) the prior executive directors didn’t do spay abortions and we’re a no-kill shelter” she added. “We have to battle trust with the community on an ongoing basis and you’ve got to foresee that this topic is so delicate and debatable that it’s going to cause a ruckus.”
Had the policy been written, Harris continued, and had the leadership team and board worked collaboratively to develop a plan to make the public aware of the change and respond to potential criticisms, she would have fulfilled her role as executive director and publicly supported the policy.
“Even if there were times when it hurt my heart to do it, if a policy had been written and we had a plan, and I knew what I was going to say, I would have carried it out,” she said.
On Thursday evening, the public demanded answers from the board and Johnson about the new policy and many decried the lack of information shared with the community, donors and volunteers. Others said they would have liked to have had the chance to provide input on the change.
Shauna Roberts, a donor who said the shelter began in her home, said she was frustrated by the move.
“How in the world are these volunteers integrated to decision making?” she asked the board. “They ought to be integrated, as with donors.”
In response, Kelly said public input was welcome, but the board would reserve the right to modify policies. She further indicated three open board seats need to be filled and encouraged those in attendance to apply.
In a statement clarifying its spay and neuter policy, PCAS said: “We strive to ensure that all cats are spayed before they are made available for adoption, thus contributing to the overall health and well-being of the animals in our community. Each medical procedure, including spays and neuters, are conducted with utmost care and consideration, always in consultation with licensed veterinarians to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare (...) When the shelter is inundated with animals, we are forced to turn away animals that need our help (...) The PCAS board and staff are united in ensuring all [of] our policies align with our mission, follow best practice standards and are consistent with our contract with the city of Cody.”
Leadership restructure
Further complicating matters was a reorganization of the shelter’s leadership hierarchy in which Harris claims she was not involved.
When Johnson joined the shelter in January, his position as shelter operations manager was converted into a co-directorship, elevating his authority to be equivalent to Harris’.
Harris has said she was not involved in Johnson’s hiring and was unlikely to have advocated for him to assume his current role, based on a 2018 investigation by Cheyenne Police in which Johnson – then an animal control officer at the Cheyenne Animal Shelter – was alleged to have committed animal cruelty.
However, Harris continued, “I was more of an advocate of him being on the board because I do think that he could have contributed on the board to improve the culture and really educate them on what a healthy, productive board looks like.”
In the past, Harris said she had handled the hiring of all personnel and reported it to the board during its monthly meeting.
However, citing a subsection of the bylaws letting the board take swift action in times of urgent need and bypass the hiring and governance committees. Harris said these committees would oversee recruitment and any changes to the job descriptions and hierarchy. Instead, she said the board voted to install Johnson as the operations manager and then co-director without her input.
On Thursday, the board reaffirmed its support for Johnson and, citing the same subsection of the bylaws, said that contrary to these claims, no provisions had been violated in the creation of this new role.
“Ryan has done nothing but improve our operations,” said Kelly. “He has provided information about ways we can operate in a more fiscally responsible manner with better outcomes for our animals. Ryan has done more in three months than we could have hoped.”
Several times during the meeting, members of the public and volunteers interrupted, saying, “Jona did that,” in response to a claim made by the board or critiquing what they perceived to be a lack of support for Harris during her tenure.
Harris, who attended the meeting, occasionally objected to comments made by the board as well. At times, the discussion dissolved into a shouting match.
Meanwhile, Harris’s old role has been renamed “Development Director” and remains open.
This story was published on April 23, 2025.