Mission severs ties with RGV Humane Society after cruelty complaints

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Mission city leaders have agreed to sever ties with the Rio Grande Valley Humane Society after hearing multiple concerns and complaints over the last several months.

The city will officially retake control of the shelter in about 60 days.

The unanimous decision came during a Mission City Council meeting on Monday during which officials heard alarming claims from local residents and animal advocates.

“This is part of an ongoing police investigation into the cruelty and abuse allegations of the Rio Grande Valley Humane Society,” Dendea Balli, executive director of Paws Fur Help, an animal welfare volunteer group, said during the meeting’s public comment period.

Balli said the shelter has descended into the “worst condition” she has seen in years, and that her group has been “removed as the eyes and ears” bearing witness to those conditions — but not before gathering copious evidence.

Over the course of several months, Paws Fur Help amassed photos, video footage and statements from shelter employees about alleged mistreatment at the shelter, including animals that had been starved and left in unsanitary conditions.

Another resident rose to the podium to detail her firsthand observations of the conditions.

“I saw them sitting in filth and feces,” Mandy Dye, a Mission resident and pet owner, said.

The conditions so shocked her that she immediately ordered food and nearly two dozen elevated pet beds to donate to the shelter.

“It was terrible. I took pictures of it. The animals had been sitting in feces for days or weeks,” Dye said.

Balli said her organization had also gathered proof that animals had lost weight after entering the shelter.

Still others suffered “open wounds, lacerations, urine burns from sitting in excrement, and some even died because they… were left in these conditions,” Balli said.

“This treatment became the norm for many animals that were kept in the warehouse and popups, and sometimes did not even see sunlight, never mind exercise or proper care,” she added.

Mission City Manager Mike Perez admitted that city officials have received numerous complaints about conditions at the shelter and concerns over the welfare of the animals being held there.

“Have there been complaints against the Rio Grande Valley Humane Society in the last few months? Yes. And we just felt it was a good opportunity for us to take it over again,” Perez said, referring to the council’s recent decision to terminate its relationship with the shelter operator.

But Perez also declined to “say anything negative” about the RGV Humane Society, citing how the group first came to Mission when the city ran the shelter itself and had similarly run into animal welfare concerns.

“They came in at a time that we needed help and they helped us. And it was just a time for a change,” Perez said.

City leaders approved of a three-year contract with the organization in January 2023, agreeing to pay $400,000 per year for RGV Humane Society to operate the city-owned shelter.

At the time, Paws Fur Help were supportive of the move, a fact Balli mentioned during her public comments.

But it wasn’t long before things took a turn.

“The executive director left and the same leadership that was kicked out (of) Harlingen continued to hoodwink Mission,” Balli said.

The animal rights advocate was referring to a similarly checkered history that the RGV Humane Society had with the city of Harlingen, which had previously contracted with the organization to run its shelter, as well.

Like Mission, Harlingen had been paying RGV Humane Society $400,000 per year to run its shelter.

But questions over murky finances and similar concerns over animal welfare — including overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and high euthanasia rates — ultimately led city leaders there to end their fraught relationship with the organization.

On Thursday, Perez admitted that overcrowding has plagued RGV Humane Society’s work in Mission, too.

The city’s shelter has a maximum capacity of just 100 animals, Perez said.

But double that number were being held there, he said.

“That’s a big problem and when you have overcrowding, it’s very hard to keep kennels clean and the place clean. That is an issue that we’re wrassling with right now,” Perez said.

Perez attributed the overcrowding to RGV’s low euthanasia rate, but Balli disputed that during her comments Monday.

The animal advocate accused the nonprofit of producing fraudulent statistics regarding its euthanasia rates.

Balli also claimed that RGV Humane Society workers transported nearly two dozen “heavily sedated” dogs to the Palm Valley Animal Society, another nonprofit animal shelter, for euthanization.

In response to the criticism and concern, the RGV Humane Society reached out to Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare group, for help.

The organization has a history of aiding shelter facilities in the Rio Grande Valley — and in calling out deplorable conditions and high kill rates.

Thus far, Best Friends has done well in beginning to address the myriad concerns at the Mission shelter, Perez said.

And the group is working on putting together a policy manual for the city to use once it regains control of the shelter within the next 60 days.

Perez said Mission will once again take responsibility for operating the shelter, but is not opposed to partnering with other local shelters or animal welfare groups.

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