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Kewanee Animal Shelter closed temporarily, animals inside vanish

KEWANEE, Illinois– A handwritten sign on the front of the Kewanee Animal Shelter that reads ‘Sorry, temporarily closed’ is raising a lot of qu...

KEWANEE, Illinois-- A handwritten sign on the front of the Kewanee Animal Shelter that reads 'Sorry, temporarily closed' is raising a lot of questions.

Mary Bergren, a Henry County Humane Society board member says when the new board took over on May 1, 2018, all animals but one were taken to different shelters. But they still don't know for sure.

"My fear was there did they go and are they being taken care of properly, and that was my question I asked the former president of the board," says Bergren.

A new election brought in new leadership responsible for keeping the Kewanee Animal Shelter up and running.

Without the animals, and with a new board, they decided to use this as an opportunity to make improvements inside.

"General cleaning and painting, we don`t have a problem with. We're going to need a lot of help with these bigger projects," says Bergren.

The building was inspected. They found structural issues to the building itself. They also found issues with the alarm system, and safety concerns to where the animals were kept. Holes in the wall, outlets uncovered, and more.

"The rope itself is frayed you can see it on a lot of these. We certainly wouldn't want one of those ropes to come down and injure one of our animals," says Bergren.

And the cracks in the walls outside are patched with spray foam.

Right  now there are questions about basic maintenance needs and questions about past money management.

"I'm focused on the building but also financial issues. I want to get our records and make sure our audit is done and be accountable with the money that's coming into the shelter," says Bergren.

Bergren says she's tried to get the medical files for animals and financial files. She says the old leadership will not produce those documents.

A lot of questions but they do have one answer.

Four legged friends who come here in the future will have a safe place to go.

"We promise we will be open as soon as possible."

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