And more ...

Russell has worked at the THS for three years, Davidson for two. They said they were risking their jobs to speak out because they seek change at an institution they cherish.

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"Bob Hambley [who rperesents the old THS board] is saying the same thing over and over, that it's all politically motivated. And it's not. The facts don't lie," said Russell, 24. "I'm in there every day. I'm working with those animals hands on. I see what goes on. ... I know that the accusation that animals are suffering is 100 per cent true."

***

"One night a raccoon started having a seizure, and he was screaming and shaking and his eyes were rolling back. I had no idea what to do," she said. "I felt so helpless, and there was no one to help me. So I just tried to keep him warm and comfort him. But he died."

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Russell said she witnessed Trow shouting at a primary school teacher who took a picture of an animal with a flash camera during a tour in 2006. Several of her pupils began to cry, she said, and the group rescinded the donation it had come to the shelter to make.

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Russell said she is generally opposed to liberal euthanasia practices. She said, however, the THS refused to euthanize even animals in dire need, such as a parvovirus-infected chihuahua that was vomiting and choking.

"It couldn't breathe. So I ran to a supervisor and I told her. She said, `I'll go tell the vet.' And then 15 minutes later nothing happened, so I went and found her again. I was like, `You guys need to do something. It's suffering in the cage.' And she's like, `I don't really think we're going to euthanize it. Don't worry about it. Go on your break.'

"So I go. I come back 15 minutes later, and the dog was dead in its cage. It suffered, and it choked on its own vomit until it died because they wouldn't euthanize it."


Exerpted from the The Star article, Animals suffering, Society workers say.