SALEM Judge rules in favor of new humane society

The losing side will seek to postpone the judge's ruling pending an appeal.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- A humane society is expected to appeal a judge's decision that strips the agency of funding and orders it to vacate an animal shelter.
Mary Lou Popa, president of the Salem Area Humane Society, said Tuesday she was shocked, disappointed and angered by the ruling handed down earlier in the day by Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.
Popa said the group will prepare to comply with the judge's ruling. But it also will also seek a stay pending appeal.
Judge Pike ruled in a legal dispute between two similarly named groups, each battling for control of annual funding from the Robert Atchison Trust, established in 1959 to benefit animals.
The judge chose as trust recipient a newly formed group called Salem Humane Society Inc., which is made up of some members of the older Salem Area Humane Society, of which Popa is president.
History: With annual funding from the Atchison Trust, the old group has for decades run an animal shelter along U.S. 62 in Perry Township, west of Salem.
But the trust fund money was suspended by Judge Pike in October 1999 after some members of the old group complained the agency was being fiscally mismanaged and that animals at the shelter were receiving substandard care.
In November 2000 the new humane society was formed, and it sought to be awarded the trust fund money, leading to Judge Pike's decision Tuesday.
Both groups say aid from the trust fund, now worth more than $1 million, is crucial to funding a shelter.
Concerns: In making his ruling, Judge Pike said he still finds the operation of the old group suspect. "There appears to be a lack of a stable organization ...," the judge stated.
Group members have insisted fiscal concerns have been addressed and the shelter is cleaned up.
The new group does not have a shelter but does operate animal welfare programs. It appears well-organized and financially stable, Judge Pike said.
On that basis he determined that the new group is the rightful recipient of the trust funds.
The judge also ordered that the animal population at the shelter be reduced to zero. He gave the old group until Dec. 27 to vacate the facility or face eviction.
The shelter, which has prompted noise complaints from neighbors, is to be sold, with proceeds going to the trust.
Atty. Robert Guehl of Salem, who represents the new group, said that it intends to create an animal shelter in a more suitable location in the county as soon as possible.