There were some very serious animal cruelty allegations made against the Spencer County Animal Shelter, and today investigators say the case will be taken on by the state citing a conflict of interest.

Sad eyed kitten in a cage
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A former employee of the Spencer County Animal Shelter made a post on Facebook that went viral. She claims that the shelter asked her to "euthanize" cats on two occasions, by putting them in the freezer while they were still alive.  The employee declined to do so, and after stepping away from her position at the shelter, she made a post about the two incidents, and it's now prompted an investigation. You can see her full post, and read about her experience here.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals, euthanasia is to be performed by a trained technician or veterinarian They also state in their guidelines that freezing is considered an unacceptable form of euthanasia.

Today Ashlyn Irons with our media partners Eyewitness News spoke with the lead investigators on the case, and learned that the case has now been transferred to the state for investigation, as the county is considered a conflict of interest to have one county entity investigating another.

Her post states:

UPDATE: Lead investigator on Spencer Co. Animal Shelter case tells me a handful of witnesses have confirmed the shelter euthanized animals on two different occasions by freezing them alive. He says four kittens were frozen during one of those instances. Unsure of total number of animals euthanized in this manner.
Spencer County Sheriff’s Office lead investigator Detective Chris King and Spencer County Deputy Prosecutor Tom Pulley tell me the investigation will now be taken on by state, citing conflict of interest in one county entity investigating other.

Ashlyn has been following this case very closely, you can follow her Facebook page here for updates. You can see Eyewitness News full coverage of this story, and their interview with the former employee here.

When I went to Facebook to see if the Spencer County Animal Shelter had made any statements, I couldn't find their page, it seems to have been taken down for the time being.  However I did find a Spencer County Animal Shelter in Kentucky, that has been bombarded with angry messages and comments. They want to make sure people know that they are not the same shelter in Indiana. So if you come across this page on Facebook, it is NOT the shelter under investigation, maybe send them a kind word or two on their page, it seems like they could use it after all the confusion!

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