Yerington mayor issues statement on closure of animal shelter volunteer program

Yerington Mayor John Garry issued a statement about the reason for closing the volunteer program at the city's animal shelter.

In the statement, he says that internal strife among volunteers involving personal issues distracted from the operation of the shelter.

That led to the city deciding to temporarily suspend the volunteer program and only use city personnel for now.

"The City will maintain the shelter to render a safe place for displaced canines and to impound dangerous animals that might endanger the public wellbeing as required by law," said the mayor's statement in part.

The city intends to bring back fully qualified volunteers when mandatory training is completed on governing state laws and animal shelter matters, mandatory training is completed on city policies governing workplace conduct, and safety training for volunteers meets required standards.