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Animal charity in disarray after internal disputes

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 3 Sep 2008

The governance and management at Cheltenham Animal Shelter appears to be in disarray following a series of key departures.

General manager Tony Bell has been suspended from the charity and three trustees, including chair of the board Jenny Jackson, have quit in support of him. The charity’s sole fundraiser, Lynn Godsall, is also leaving.

Alex Rose, a full member of the charity, has told Charity News Alert that “something is clearly wrong at the organisation”.

“I’d like the board to be answerable to its members,” he said. “No one has told the members about anything, all the information I’ve got is hearsay.”

The Charity Commission has also addressed concerns about the governance of the animal shelter and has been approached for advice on staffing issues in the last month.

A Commission spokeswoman said: “We have given general advice in relation to trusteeship. We have also been contacted for advice in relation to a staffing issue. We have advised all parties that have contacted us that this is an internal matter, and that the Charity Commission is barred by law from becoming involved in any dispute relating to the employment issue.”

Cheltenham Animal Shelter has been running for over 70 years. It provides kennelling for stray dogs in Gloucester City, Tewkesbury Borough and Cheltenham Borough, as well as re-homing animals from owners who can no longer look after them for a variety of reasons.

Vice-chairman of trustees at the charity, Garth Barnes, confirmed there had been employment issues relating to some staff and said the charity had "followed proper procedures" and taken advice from solicitors.

He said the chair, Jenny Jackson, had resigned her post voluntarily "as she did not agree with certain actions decided upon by a majority of the trustees. She has subsequently made some inaccurate and potentially defamatory statements which we completely refute." A solicitor's letter is going out to Jackson that "could give rise to an injunction and possible action for damages”.

Barnes added:  “The trustees’ main concern is that these issues should not get in the way of ‘business as usual’ at the Animal Shelter. The charity has been in existence since the 1930s and we continue to take in around 1,000 homeless animals every year.

“We believe that there is an ‘orchestrated campaign’ of troublemaking going on, directed at the Animal Shelter.

“While none of the allegations is true, the effects of all this disinformation and rumourmongering are intimidating, distressing and confusing for staff, trustees and supporters of the charity.

 “At the moment, we have around 30 dogs and five pups in residence and 40 cats and kittens, including 15 kittens that were dumped on our doorstep last night.  As well as taking care of all these homeless creatures, our staff are working hard to find good homes for them."

A spokeswoman for the charity said the remaining trustees were very hands-on and were continuing to run the shelter along with an accountant and a vet.

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