T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown Executive Director Austin Gillis, with his wife Jodi, holds a press conference to announce a lawsuit against Marshall County and the City of Laurel for a bill attributed to animals rescued in May. Gillis said the two governments have been arguing over who is responsible for paying it, and the ARL is caught in the middle of the dispute.

The Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown (ARL) is taking legal action against Marshall County and the City of Laurel.

During a press conference held Monday morning, ARL Executive Director Austin Gillis began his statement with an old African proverb – “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled.”

“In our situation, the ARL was the grass, and we were caught between two larger governmental entities locked in dispute over responsibility,” he said.

Gillis was referring to two incidents in May when the ARL traveled to Laurel when they responded to calls for help from law enforcement. The first incident occurred May 1 when the ARL took in six cats, seven kittens and two dogs. The second incident happened on May 5, and four cats were brought to the nonprofit. The resident of the Laurel home, Charleen Breckenridge, has been charged with a pets per household limit violation and six counts of animal neglect no injury/serious injury or death as a result of the investigation.

“Nineteen sick and neglected animals were seized from conditions no animal should ever have to endure,” he said. “There was no contract in place, but we were assured reimbursement would be addressed. We stepped in because compassion required it and because the law required immediate protection for those animals.”

One of the dogs has already been adopted, and the other is moving in the direction of getting a home. Gillis said two applications have been approved for the adoption of the latter.

“Hopefully, if it goes well, she’ll be going home before the end of the week,” he said. “All the cats that are still with us are scheduled to be fully vetted and ready for adoption by the end of this week. We’re fairly confident that by the end of this month, they will either be in foster homes or ‘furever’ homes. Now that we have the legal disposition of those animals settled to a certain extent, we are able to move forward with our pathway.”

Due to the litigation, Gillis could not provide exact details on the amount that either Marshall County or Laurel owes. However, the current bill for services related to the incident is more than $21,000.

“If the disposition hearing would have happened within the first 10 days, it would have been substantially less,” he said. “We actually offered to waive every single fee on that invoice, all medical bills, extras, transport and things like that as long as boarding was covered for those animals for that 61-day period. Unfortunately, there were not any good faith offers that came forward out of that.”

Beyond the financial burden, Gillis said that when a large number of animals are taken in by the ARL, it impacts their ability to board additional ones. During the past few weeks, he said they had to utilize pop-up kennels in other areas of the building and employ a triage situation with focus given to animals in most need of rescuing.

“You have to play musical kennels, make sure vulnerable animals are not put next to sick animals and sick animals aren’t put next to healthy animals,” he said. “. . . A lot of people think we are a large facility, but in the grand proximity of things, we’re a small shelter. When 19 animals are taking up those kennels, and a kennel can’t be used next to a vulnerable animal, it makes it difficult for us to help the community.”

Gillis said the ARL is not responsible for the dispute between Marshall County and the City of Laurel, but was rather placed in the middle of it. Then the “elephants” began fighting with one another over responsibility and paying the bill.

“Neither side disagreed that the ARL should be paid,” he said. “They just argued over who should do it. While they argued, animals sat in legal limbo for 61 days. The required timeline was ignored, and the ARL was left holding the bill.”

The petition filed by the nonprofit is representative of the “grass” standing up for itself, Gillis said, and outlines the legal basis for the claim, the timeline of events and the statutory obligations that were not met.

“We remain committed to serving the Marshall County community, caring for animals and supporting any governmental entity that wishes to establish a lawful, transparent and reliable process of animal control services,” Gillis said.

Following the press conference, which was streamed live on Facebook, he did answer questions from attending media members. When asked if the entire situation occurred because the longstanding agreement between the ARL and the county was not in place, Gillis said he was confused as to why there is a hangup in the legal system but hopes to get it figured out with the latest court case.

The last contract between the ARL and Marshall County expired at the end of March. Gillis said the ARL notified the county of their intent to terminate the contract last November because of concerns the county was not upholding their side of the bargain. He added that concerns included at-large and bite case details and differences in opinion on adequate animal welfare.

“Those concerns were overlooked, and during conversations over a 120-day period, we were not able to come to terms,” he said. “. . . We’re just trying to make sure we are doing the best for the community and the animals in the community. We don’t want to be the antagonist. We don’t want to be the opposition. We just want to help the animals who do not have voices of their own. The only way they can speak up when something is not right is for us to speak for them. So, that’s what we’re doing.”

Gillis acknowledged that a contract agreement with the county is stalled because of the new litigation brought forward by the ARL, but he hopes to continue negotiations.

“That way we can continue providing services for the people who have pets in the community,” he said.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.