On Oct. 24, the Valley Shore Animal Welfare League (VSAWL) shelter was emptied, and seven animals taken to a new location. The move comes in the midst of rumors and confusion about the shelter’s future.

On Oct. 23, The Harbor News released a story detailing conflicting rumors that have been swirling for weeks about the future and current well-being of the VSAWL.

In that story, Shelter Director Delilah Lord said she was told to waive animal adoption fees and temporarily stop the intake of new animals. Those moves, Lord said, made it seem like the VSAWL Board of Directors was looking to empty the shelters and potentially close them.

Dottie Wells, the interim president of the VSAWL Board of Directors, said that no decisions had been made about closing the shelter or contracting to sell it. Wells said the board had “ …temporarily paused the intake of new animals so that we can focus on providing for the animals currently in our care and on making decisions about how to best move the shelter forward.”

On the afternoon of Oct. 24, Lord contacted The Harbor News to say that animal control was at the site and emptying the shelter. Lord said that animal control took three dogs and four cats. Lord adopted one of the dogs that she said would not fare well in a kennel. An email sent from a VSAWL board member to Lord about an hour and a half before animal control showed up said “alternate shelter” had been found for the animals and told her to prepare necessary paperwork. Other than that, Lord claims there was no warning.

Lord said the animals are safe, and two adoptions that were being processed for two of the animals are still going forward.

Lord said she was told the reason for the shelter being emptied was a lack of staff members to take care of the animals. However, Lord said there are still three other staff members plus volunteers at the shelter, which she said is enough to take care of the animals.

“Typically, there’s one staff member present and then volunteers. The staff is confused because we have that now,” Lord said. Lord explained the shelter usually has between 15 to 18 cats and five to six dogs at once, but since the intake was paused, there were only seven animals at the shelter. That ratio of animals to people is easily enough for the staff and volunteers to handle Lord said.

Since the animals have been taken, Lord said she and the other staff members have not heard anything from the board about what is happening.

To demonstrate the support the VSAWL has locally, Lord has called for people to attend a protest in support of keeping the shelter as part of the community on Oct. 28. The protest starts at 6 p.m. at the shelter located at 647 Horse Hill Road in Westbrook.

Lord said that another staff member had submitted their two weeks’ notice but would still be working until Nov. 1. Lord said in a heated exchange with Wells early in October she said she would resign but had since changed her mind. Lord has since stated she has not submitted anything in writing and does not intend to.

Inquiries asking why the shelter was emptied that were sent to the VSAWL Board of Directors and to Wells have not been returned at press time. A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Agriculture also did not respond at press time.