The Erie Humane Society Board confirms that they made the decision to layoff two employees.

While the layoffs come after the recent the dismissal of executive director Nicole Leone who is now facing trial on charges she stole more than $32,000 from the organization, board president Jennifer Gornall said there is no direct connection to the job cuts.  She said the board is "just taking a good hard look at the non-profit's operation and streamlining to focus on their primary mission.

Inside the shelter, acting co-interim executive director and marketing manager Emily McCullor said that mission is all about the animals, and the Erie Humane Society's work to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome them.  "The board of directors has taken a real close look at the organization overall and they have had to make some restructuring decisions based on the fact that we are really working to refocus our mission on our core mission, which is rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming the homeless pets in our community."

As they double down on that core mission, the board decided to lay off the two employees, one focused on youth outreach, the other on coordinating volunteers.  Board leadership has reevaluated or reassigned those duties.

At any given time, there may be as many as 200 cats and 80 dogs under care at the Erie Humane Society shelter, with numbers up this time of year as more stray animals are brought in from the winter cold.

And those animals may have longer stays as the Erie Humane Society aligns with national statistics showing shelter adoptions are down by about 4%.  McCullor said that means they need community support more than ever to care for the animals while they are in the shelter or to adopt them.  "The animals are not leaving the shelters as quickly, so you know the need for donations, supplies is so crucial to our mission because we are independent, so we rely on the community to help us fulfill this mission," McCullor said.

And how long it takes to match pet and person depends.  "Ultimately it just depends on how much rehabilitation an animal has to do until they get to the point where they meet their perfect match and sometimes it's just having the right person come in, meeting the right pet and making that ultimate connection," McCullor added.

And in spite of that recent bump in the road that has the Erie Humane Society in search of new leadership, McCullor said their longtime mission and commitment to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals, remains unchanged.  "We have been here for 132 years, and we intend on being here for the next 130 years."

You can help the Erie Humane Society now during the cold winter months by making donations of old blankets and towels.  You can stop during open hours or leave them on an after hours donation table outside. And you can always make monetary donations on the Erie Humane Society website by clicking here and pushing the DONATE button.

Humane Society Board chair Jennifer Gornall expects the non-profit to pursue the recovery of stolen funds through a combination of insurance and any restitution that may be ordered if there is a conviction on the criminal charges.