SPANISH FORK — The director of the South Utah Valley Animal Shelter says accusations that she euthanized dogs because she was mad at an animal rescue group and didn't want it to have them are "completely untrue."
"I don't like to euthanize animals," said Shirley Bybee, director of the animal shelter at 582 W. 3000 North, Spanish Fork.
And to do so out of spite, she said, is unthinkable.
Bybee is accused of euthanizing dogs on Saturday as a way to get even with Melissa Zobell, who operates the Orem-based Australian Shepherd Rescue of Utah.
"That's what she's saying," Bybee said, "and it's false."
Zobell's complaints were reported Sunday by a local television news station. Zobell declined to comment Monday when contacted by the Deseret Morning News.
Rescue-group volunteers said Bybee and Zobell argued Friday about who was responsible for the treatment of four puppies picked up from the shelter for Zobell a day earlier.
On Saturday, 10 dogs were euthanized at the shelter, including animals that volunteers say Zobell had notified the shelter she wanted to take to save from that fate and attempt to find them a home.
Bybee said the dogs had been scheduled to be euthanized — including one that had been in the shelter since Jan. 6 — and that if any of the dogs had been requested by rescue groups, it was not documented.
"There was no notation on (the dogs') paperwork, and there was no communication to me about it," she said.
John Borget, a member of the South Utah Valley Animal Special Service District's board of directors, said the paperwork supports Bybee's actions.
"There's a ticket for each animal," Borget said. "When animals are being held for rescue groups, that's marked on the ticket. It was not marked on any of the tickets."
Borget said he does not believe that Bybee would euthanize any animal unnecessarily.
"When we hired her, one of my concerns was whether or not she would be able make those difficult decisions because she loves animals so much," he said. "I don't question her. I think she was just making some difficult decisions. She made them, and now people are questioning those decisions."
Bybee said there may have been a miscommunication about the dogs because the shelter is under new management and some policies and procedures are still being worked out.
The shelter has been open since May 2003 but began operating separately from Utah County on Jan. 2, the same day Bybee took over as director. The county government no longer subsidizes the shelter and instead participates along with Provo and cities to the south in the special service district.
This is the shelter's second run-in with rescue groups in as many months. Rescue-group volunteers attended the special service district's board meeting Jan. 19 to protest the shelter's decision to begin charging rescue groups $10 per dog and $5 per cat.
Previously, the nonprofit groups had been able to take the animals at no charge. The board agreed to temporarily waive the fees and discuss the possibility of eliminating the charges permanently.
Borget said a new policy for releasing animals to rescue groups will be presented to the board for approval on Thursday.
Terri Smith, a volunteer with Companion Golden Retriever, says having such a policy in place will help prevent future miscommunications between the shelter and rescue groups.
"I truly believe that (Bybee) is a very good person who does not want to be euthanizing animals every day," Smith said. "It's just a shame that animals were euthanized that a rescue group would've taken."
The controversy stems from what Bybee says was a one-sided argument on Zobell's part as to who was responsible for rabies testing of a puppy that Australian Shepherd Rescue of Utah received from the shelter.
One of the four puppies taken by the rescue group bit Zobell's husband, breaking the skin. The dog was dead the following morning, Smith said.
State law requires that any animal at risk for rabies that bites a human and breaks the skin be tested. Because the offending dog was dead, it needed to have its head removed and transported to the state lab for testing.
Rescue group volunteers say Bybee refused to have the test done, so Zobell called in the Utah County Health Department.
Bybee said she felt the dog became Zobell's responsibility when it was taken from the shelter but said she never refused to have the dog tested and agreed to take the three living pups back. Bybee said Zobell called the health department before she had a chance to deal with the dead animal.
"We weren't interested in getting into that dispute," said Joseph Miner, director of the county health department. "We just wanted to make sure the animal got tested."
A health department employee volunteered to remove the dog's head, and it was transported to the state lab by the sheriff's department for testing. The health department expects to have the results from that test today.
The other three puppies were returned to the shelter, where they are being treated for severe upper respiratory infections, said Bybee, who hopes the shelter can place the dogs with another group or adopt them out.
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com