RANCHO CUCAMONGA--An animal advocacy group has begun a campaign to protest what it says is a direction away from an intended "no kill" policy for the city animal shelter.

The group includes dozens of supporters who attended a recent council meeting and five former Rancho Cucamonga Care and Adoption Center volunteers who say they were dismissed as part of retaliation for speaking out against shelter policy changes since the arrival of new director Veronica Fincher in 2011. Also in the group was animal shelter employee Jesse Kreider, and animal rights attorney Marla Tauscher.

At the meeting, the group raised allegations of dogs staying in crates longer than they should and described the practice as animal abuse. They also call into question adoption rates presented by the city as successful.

"The city needs to have a director who is supposed to be doing what the city said they would do in 2005," said Susan Keithly, a shelter volunteer who was dismissed in November. "We are saying they need a confident, committed director who can achieve "no kill" now."

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full story: http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_22460808