From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2013: (Actually published on October 8, 2013)
PORTSMOUTH––The Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services has fined the Portsmouth Humane Society $1,250 for releasing sterilized feral cats, who were recorded in the PHS shelter tracking records as having been adopted by executive director Jenn Austin and four other staff members. “I felt that these cats were not legitimately adopted and remained in the custody of the facility,” VDACS veterinarian Dan Kovich told Tim Eberly of the Virginian-Pilot. “State investigators, tipped off by a former employee, issued three violations last month to the Portsmouth shelter, which has the contract to serve as the city’s animal pound,” Eberly wrote. “Austin acknowledged that she and her staff have been personally adopting feral cats and releasing them for about a year and a half.” Read more