Barry Co. investigating animal shelter

HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) - Barry County commissioners voted Tuesday to start looking into the county's animal shelter to see if animal shelter advisory board member Marcie Tepper took animals or euthanasia drugs from the shelter.

In a November 24 Hour News 8 story, Tepper admitted she euthanized dogs at her Thornapple Township home, which was later foreclosed.

Last month, the house's new owner showed 24 Hour News 8 11 bags of dead dogs he found outside the home. Inside the home, dog feces covered most of the floor.
 
"Today the board voted to illicit a forensic auditor to look deeper at the animal shelter," Barry County Commission Chair Craig Stolsonburg told 24 Hour News 8 Tuesday.

Stolsonburg said the forensic auditor would do a preliminary check of the animal shelter in Hastings, and then it would be up to commissioners to determine the next step in the process.

"To me, it sounds more like a fishing expedition," Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf said, dismissing the thought Tepper stole animals or drugs.

Leaf appointed Tepper to the advisory board as his representative.

The sheriff said controlled substances -- like the drugs used to euthanize dogs -- are kept under lock and key, and the state keeps track of them.

"We have to keep track of every ounce that we use and every ounce that we buy. So there is some documentation right there," Leaf said.