Horry Humane Society Board fires shelter director

After meeting in public for more than three hours Wednesday, the Horry County Humane Society’s Board of Directors voted to fire the county shelter’s executive director, Renee Macklen, amid a distemper outbreak.

The HCHS closed the Horry County shelter Dec. 8 after a confirmed case of Canine Distemper Virus was found in a shelter dog there on November 24.

Macklen didn’t close the facility until Dec. 8, even though she admitted vets recommended she close the shelter and euthanize all dogs when the Nov. 24 Clemson Veterinary Diagnostic Center sent the shelter a confirmation notice of a case of distemper found in a shelter dog, “One vet suggested we euthanize all the canines in the facility at that point, however, I could not make that call, nor could I put my staff through that without knowing the results.”

Since the Nov. 24 notification, shelter records show 36 more dogs were adopted form the shelter and placed in homes within the county.

All 36 dogs were later returned to the facility and euthanized, according to shelter documents obtained by News13.

Macklen said the shelter had nowhere to quarantine animals when they’re coming in to the facility, but told News13 in an interview that the dog that tested positive for distemper in the Nov. 24 letter from Clemson was, “an isolated case.”

The second confirmed case of distemper came in Wednesday afternoon after Dennis Wallace of Longs put his dog “Maggie” down on Dec. 10 after she showed signs of distemper.

Wallace’s vet sent his dog’s remains to the Clemson lab in Columbia for testing on Dec. 10 and the results came back Wednesday showing that Wallace’s dog was suffering with the distemper virus when she was put down.

Wallace adopted his dog on Nov. 24, some 7 hours after the shelter received the Clemson confirmation letter of the confirmed case of distemper.

Several dog owners spoke at the meeting Wednesday night at the Chapin Memorial Library in Myrtle Beach.

In a unanimous vote, all 9 members of the HCHS voted to terminate Macklen, ending her employment as executive director of the Horry County animal shelter effective immediately.

“The executive review committee had been meeting for the past couple weeks before the distemper situation came up and in light of the distemper situation, that was just icing on the cake because we felt she did not handle the situation appropriately,” HCHS president Kate Philips told News13.

Several shelter workers showed up to tell the board that they could no longer work at the shelter with Macklen in charge.

“It definitely moves us forward. Now it gives us a chance to be those animal’s voice for them that we were not able to be before,” shelter employee Tina Mills told News13.

The board promoted the Horry County shelter’s director of operations, Rita Rhodes as interim director until the board can find someone to fill Macklen’s role.

President Philips told the gathering that she would meet with each shelter employee to further discuss the events leading up to the shelter’s closing to find out exactly what happened.

Philips said she would provide the staff with grief counseling to help the shelter’s employees deal with the situation.

The board planned a meeting Friday Dec. 19 at 5 p.m. to discuss the job hunt for a new executive director.

The meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held at the Chapin Memorial Library in Myrtle Beach, but the location could change, the board said.

You can count on News13 to continue to follow this story as details become available.