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Volunteers from animal shelter dismissed from council meeting

By Trang Do
WAFF 48 News Reporter

A misunderstanding over a Valley animal shelter has volunteers and city leaders scratching their heads. An Arab city employee dismissed the volunteers at a meeting Monday night, that's what witnesses who were at the meeting tell WAFF 48 News.

The announcement surprised both volunteers and Mayor Frank Lee Cox. It's a story you'll only see on WAFF 48 News. Companion Animal Rescue of Arab, Alabama or CARAA is a dedicated group of volunteers who help clean and care for the animals at Arab's shelter.

"Over the past three months, we've become more organized and put hundreds of hours out here, thousands of dollars in helping to improve the facility along with the city," said Gregor Jackson, CARAA's president.

At the group's first official meeting Monday night, a city employee showed up and told the volunteers they would no longer be needed by order of the mayor and the assistant police chief, an order that Mayor Cox says is simply untrue.

"We're doing a little investigation right now and we're going to let that be handled internally by our police department," he said. "Most likely there'll be something resolved by Thursday."

With only one full-time paid employee, this animal shelter sorely needs its volunteers. So the city and CARAA are working together to expand that relationship. 

"They're going to come Monday night to our council meeting and present a proposal to the council which I hope the council receives warmly and embraces it," said Cox. 

Jackson says CARAA is satisfied with the city's response. The two sides will meet Thursday morning to discuss what action the city will take against that employee.

You can contact Trang at tdo@waff.com