EKY animal shelter fights online allegations as fundraising hangs in the balance
An Eastern Kentucky animal shelter has escalated its response to allegations made online by a former employee as leaders seek to contain a controversy they say threatens years of work they’ve put toward building the public’s trust.
The Floyd County Animal Shelter, which rescues strays and facilitates pet adoptions in the rural county, sent a cease and desist letter to Rhylee Prater in response to a viral Facebook post she made last week accusing shelter employees of animal mistreatment, workplace bullying and poor management.
Members of the independent, non-profit board and the shelter’s small staff say they are sensitive to the organization’s reputation among rescue groups that take in a majority of stray animals from Floyd County. Plus, the board is piloting an aggressive fundraising push to expand its capacity — a bid that has attracted the delicate support of a county government the shelter has feuded with in the past.
But in the week since Prater took to Facebook to call out “bullying, disrespect, unsanitary conditions, and treatment of animals that I could not morally support” attorney and founding board member Ned Pillersdorf said the shelter’s public image has suffered.
“Admittedly, she has done us harm,” Pillersdorf told the Herald-Leader this week. “We’re vulnerable. If people think we abuse animals, we’re not going to get donations. We’ll lose our rescues.”
Prater’s Facebook post, which was shared more than a thousand times, stirred an online debate about the no-kill shelter’s treatment of animals. It led Pillersdorf to call a special-called board meeting last week that devolved into shouting and name-calling. In attendance, Prater called the shelter “pure evil,” while several staff members became emotional as they tried to explain why the no-kill shelter was forced to euthanize an aggressive dog.
It was a central accusation in Prater’s post. She said the 8-year-old rescue with a “big personality” never seemed aggressive to her. But Kate Webb, a local veterinarian who volunteers at the shelter said it was put down on the recommendation of another vet after it bit one staff member and tried to bite another.
“When that decision gets made, it is made because we are worried about the public’s safety,” Webb said. “The oath that I took, public safety always comes first.”
Prater didn’t immediately agree to a Herald-Leader request for an interview. In her June 23 Facebook post, she said she “gave that job everything I had” and that she carried guilt “for leaving those animals behind.” She said she endured verbal abuse from members of the staff regarding her weight, but that she “kept my head down and continued doing my job because the animals mattered more to me than the way I was being treated.”
Pillersdorf said Prater was let go by the board because of excessive absences. The board investigated her allegations regarding workplace harassment and animal abuse and found them “totally baseless,” he said. The shelter shared a private exchange between Prater and a shelter manager in which Prater allegedly said she didn’t “have a bad thing to say about any of you.”
“You welcomed me, and made me feel valued,” the private Facebook message from an account matching Prater’s reads. “I know I made mistakes, and I take full responsibility for them. I’m not asking for my job back. I only hope that, in time, you can forgive me.”
Just four days later, the same Facebook account made the allegations against the shelter.
Shelter relies on public confidence to fundraise
The shelter, which is managed by an organization Pillersdorf and his wife founded called the Dewey Dam Dog and Cat Protection Society, has spent years trying to prove to the community and local governments why Floyd County needs a comprehensive animal shelter program.
Pillersdorf said maintaining public confidence is critical because private donations, rather than government appropriations, have historically carried much of the financial burden.
The local attorney took the Floyd County Fiscal Court to court more than 35 years ago and secured an order requiring the county to contribute to the shelter’s funding under a statute that requires counties to facilitate the enforcement of state animal control and protection laws.
Then, in 2023, Pillersdorf struck an unusual partnership with Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams in an effort to replace the shelter’s “dilapidated, old building.” The county pledged to support the shelter’s fundraising efforts, and the board’s restricted account for replacing the shelter has nearly doubled in just three years.
Last year, the shelter broke ground on the new facility that will more than double current capacity and add separate playrooms for cats and puppies while improving ventilation and safety features.
Pillersdorf said he hopes the “unfounded accusations” online won’t reverse the work he and others have done to protect animals in the county.
In an effort to restore confidence, the shelter has invited members of the public to tour the facility and observe operations firsthand, hoping transparency can counter what he called “misinformation” circulating online.
“This experience has taught us a lesson about the power of social media,” Pillersdorf told the Herald-Leader. “It can be helpful, and it can be extremely harmful.”
