The former director of a Fayette County animal shelter was arrested Monday for allegedly overpaying herself for the work she performed and for mistreatment of animals under her watch.
Carrie Lynn Carr, 55, of Oak Hill, was charged with one count of felony obtaining money under false pretenses, three felony counts of falsifying accounts and three misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.
Carr was arraigned Monday and released on $20,000 bail.
Carr's arrest, according to a news release from the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, follows a year-long investigation into the former director's work at the Fayette County Animal Control Center, located just off Dempsey Road north west of Fayetteville.
Carr allegedly inflated her pay by recording 35 hours of work per week, but the investigation showed that she often worked around three hours a day, according to the sheriff department's release.
The release also states that Carr wrongly gave herself a raise, increasing her hourly pay from $12.75 per hour to $13.50 per hour, even though the pay raise was only meant for the shelter's minimum wage employees.
The sheriff's department also alleges that Carr mistreated animals at the shelter by keeping them in over-cramped crates, not providing them with sanitary food or drinking water and allegedly leaving sick or injured animals in one of the shelter's back rooms to die.
On one occasion, according to the release, Carr allegedly left two cats that were in need of urgent medical care in crates in the back of the building so they would be out of public view until they died.
In another case, the sheriff's department investigation allegedly found that Carr allowed a dog with part of its uterus hanging out of its body to wait in the back of the building without veterinary treatment. A member of the shelter's board of directors later took the animal to a local veterinarian.
"As the Director of the Fayette County Animal Control Center, it was Carrie Carr's duty and responsibility to insure that the animals entrusted to her care were treated and cared for in a humane manner," said Sheriff Steve Kessler. "According to the investigation into the general operation of this Animal Control Center, there was very little that was 'humane' about the operation of this shelter."
While Carr resigned from this position earlier this month, according to the release, she is employed full-time at local veterinarian's office.
The sheriff's office also alleged in their release that a donation drive organized by the shelter during the winter of 2014 and 2015 in order to fix the shelter's heating system was a fraud. According to the release, the only reason the heat went out at the shelter that winter was because the staff at the shelter didn't pay to have the building's propane tank refilled.
The sheriff department's release also questions the oversight of the shelter's board of directors, which allegedly included members of Carr's family.
"Members of the New River Humane Society who question how this animal shelter was permitted to house animals in such deplorable conditions need look no further than the former members of their own Board of Directors," Kessler said.
But the sheriff's office emphasized that not all of the shelter's staff or board members should be considered guilty. The release states that there are efforts underway to fix the problems at the shelter.
"Newly-elected members of the Board of Directors for the New River Humane Society have pledged to take a more 'hands-on' approach in overseeing the operations of the Fayette County Animal Control Center," the release states.
Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Harrah stated in the release that more criminal liability could result from the sheriff department's investigation.
"The myriad problems at the Fayette County Animal Control Center did not develop overnight and they certainly won't be fixed overnight," Harrah said. "My office is still reviewing the extensive file of the investigation into the operations of the Fayette County Animal Control Center to determine if any other individuals should be subject to criminal liability in connection with the neglect of the animals housed at this shelter."
The case remains under investigation by the sheriff's office detective bureau.
Reach Andrew Brown at andrew.brown@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4814 or follow @Andy_Ed_Brown on Twitter.