Humane Society Board names finalists for executive director position

CONWAY - The Horry County Humane Society Board of Directors has release the names of the three finalists for the group’s open executive director position.

Board President Kate Phillips tells News 13 the finalists include:

Michael Murphy, a former executive with Boy Scouts of America, who lives in a Elmira, New York.

Joseph Olsen of Quinby, S.C. Murphy is a former animal shelter director in Colorado and Hawaii.

Brian Rothenberger, a former software developer for non-profit organizations, who lives in Murrells Inlet.

Philips says the board hopes to name a new Executive Director next week.

The position became vacant in the wake of a deadly Canine Distemper Virus outbreak in December of last year.

A News13 report showed then-shelter executive director Renee Macklen knew about the virus because a Clemson University Laboratory in Columbia sent the shelter a confirmation notice on Nov. 24.

Between Nov. 24 and Dec. 8, shelter records showed 36 dogs were adopted to families and were later returned to the shelter and euthanized with distemper symptoms, but several more were euthanized by private veterinarians and at least one other pet was confirmed to have the deadly, incurable distemper virus.

The HCHS board fired Macklen at a special meeting on Dec. 17 citing her handling of the outbreak and what some shelter workers called a cover up.

Macklen was the HCHS treasurer before stepping down in January 2008 to become the shelter’s interim director, before the board later hired her as the shelter’s executive director.