POCATELLO — Until recently, local animal advocate Mary Weaver believes the Pocatello Animal Shelter was making significant strides and laying the groundwork for promising new programs to spur adoptions.

Weaver, who runs an animal-welfare nonprofit called Paws, Claws and Hooves, believes conditions at the shelter, however, have rapidly deteriorated during the past month. She believes the animals are no longer getting the socialization and attention they demand based on recent changes, which have been described as temporary by the city.

Weaver said there’s been a lack of leadership and inadequate staffing at the shelter since early March, when Animal Services Director Danielle Garcia was forced to resign regarding a personnel decision. But even before Garcia left, Weaver believes city leaders were treating the shelter as an “afterthought,” at the expense of the welfare of animals housed within the facility.

Weaver and other concerned citizens have initiated a dialogue on the shelter’s Facebook page about their observations. The city posted a lengthy response addressing those concerns.

“We’d like to clarify some concerns raised on social media today about Pocatello Animal Services. First and foremost, the well-being of animals at the animal shelter will always be the staff’s No. 1 priority,” the shelter wrote in its Facebook response. “In order to take care of our four-legged friends, we have shuffled duties and temporarily suspended non-essential duties.”

Those who have taken the shelter operations to task believe the city has dragged its feet on filling vacant staffing positions at the shelter, resulting in insufficient leadership and employees doing the work of two or three people. They’re also worried dogs may become “kennel crazy” because the city temporarily discontinued allowing a network of volunteers to take animals on walks and to socialize them.

“This needs attention immediately. Let’s get people activated to insure the shelter is run in the best interests of the animals,” Gail Berndt Kern posted. “Money should not be a factor at the shelter. Why is this happening?”

Weaver said the city restored a few of the most experienced volunteers but still hasn’t fully reinstated the program — though volunteers were offered the chance to help out by cleaning stalls, she said.

The city wrote in its post that Pocatello is continuing to use volunteers at the shelter and has 45 active volunteers who have training.

“At this time, however, employees are unable to screen new volunteers and provide the required volunteer training,” the post reads. “The department will begin accepting new volunteers to the program in early June and welcome all those who are interested to apply.”

Weaver said “good programs” that were in the planning stages, such as a program to place animals in foster homes to reduce the number of animals that must be euthanized, have been abandoned. Furthermore, she said the shelter has lapsed in its duties to update internet postings and photographs about healthy animals awaiting adoption.

Weaver fears the city’s “beautiful” new animal shelter is being allowed to deteriorate.

“The paid employees, they’re exhausted, they’re depressed and they have nobody to talk to about it,” Weaver, who is a former animal shelter director in Salmon, told the Journal. “The city is not listening to the people who work at the shelter about the shelter’s needs and how the city could make a few little changes that would not cost a thing.”

According to the city, animal shelter staff closely monitor the Bannock County Pet Lost and Found Facebook page, and alert owners when a pet closely matches a description.

“When an animal is either turned over to Animal Services or has not been claimed, adoptable animals may be listed at https://www.petfinder.com/search/pets-for-adoption/,” the city’s post reads. “As mentioned above, due to temporary duty changes, posting on social media has not been as frequent recently. Once staffing levels return to normal, our social media posts will become more regular.”