A Helena animal-rescue volunteer is suing the owner of Lassie’s Friends Animal Sanctuary in Athens, claiming the owner accepted $500 to socialize and care for three dogs from the rescue but instead had them killed.

The owner, Karen Morrow Johnson, a retired chiropractor, said her sanctuary does not euthanize dogs capriciously; it euthanizes only vicious or sick dogs.

Two former employees of Lassie’s Friends — who Johnson said were fired due to animal abuse — said Johnson had several dogs euthanized unnecessarily and that she shot three dogs in the neck herself rather than pay a veterinarian to euthanize them.

Johnson said their story is “a total lie” and that there were no dog shootings.

Deborah Ohm of Birmingham, a volunteer for Two by Two Animal Rescue, filed a small claim against Johnson, owner of Lassie’s Friends at 13813 Reid Road, on April 30. The parties are scheduled to appear before Limestone District Judge Jerry Batts at 9 a.m. Aug. 6.

Ohm claims Johnson had a Pulaski, Tenn., veterinarian euthanize three dogs Two By Two placed with her, claiming they were vicious. Ohm said Johnson took this action April 9 even though she informed Johnson on April 8 she would be in Athens on April 10 to retrieve the three dogs because Johnson had complained about their viciousness.

“These dogs were not vicious, they were feral dogs who needed to be socialized,” Ohm said. “They would bark and growl when approached but only because they were frightened. We had many volunteers in an out of the area to care for them and they never showed any signs of aggression to attack or be vicious.”

Johnson claims the dogs were euthanized because they were vicious.

“They attacked and bit several people,” she said.

Johnson contends she told Ohm on Tuesday (April 7) to call her before Friday morning (April 10) if she wanted to pick up the dogs. She said Ohm told her on the phone to go ahead and euthanize them and that she called in a panic about the dogs Friday morning.

Ohm said there is no way she told Johnson to euthanize the dogs. She said the goal of animal rescuers is to prevent dogs from being euthanized. She said rescuers retrieve a dog that is not working out rather than have it destroyed.

“When you are a rescuer, you want to find a good place for a dog,” Ohm said. “Rescuers support each other in this. We are all doing the same thing. When I realized what they were doing at Lassie’s Friends, it shocked me.”

Ohm plans to present telephone, veterinary records, notarized statements, other documentation as well as witnesses to try to prove her case.

She will also present evidence that Johnson’s employees dropped off a deaf, blue-eyed, white pit bull mix named Leila and another dog at The Dog Pound in Athens claiming they were strays and the dogs were euthanized.



Leila’s journey



Leila had been placed with Lassie’s Friends by an animal rescue in Orlando, Fla. The rescuer who arranged for Leila to be brought to Athens — Samantha Fagnant — sent a donation check to care for the dog and understood the dog would live out its life at Lassie’s Friends, according to Fagnant’s notarized statement.

A notarized statement from The Dog Pound shows Johnson’s employees dropped off Leila and the other dog on March 31 and told the director, Timberly Sands, the dogs were strays that had been fighting dogs at their own private home. The two dogs seemed to get along so they were kenneled together, Sands stated. Unaware that Leila had been placed at Lassie’s Friends by a rescue, the local pound euthanized both dogs April 6 because no one adopted them after the five-day stray hold.

Ohm also provided a copy of an e-mail Johnson allegedly wrote to Fagnant three days after dropping off Leila and the other dog at the pound that states: “Leila is doing great. We all love her and she is a very active girl.”

Leila had been returned to the rescue by a family but the rescue did not have the ability to screen for potential adopters and sought a sanctuary for her. Fagnant, a 10-year veterinary technician, says in a notarized statement that although she made it clear to the family who first adopted Leila she could not be placed with smaller animals, the family returned the dog after a few weeks because Leila “had gotten ahold of two of their rabbits.”

Fagnant thought she had found a home for Leila at Lassie’s Friends and arranged for her to be driven there from Orlando. Natalie Reeves of Birmingham, a rescuer who drove Leila on the second leg of her trip from Florida on Feb. 14, said in a notarized statement that she understood that Leila was supposed to live out her life at Lassie’s Friends when she dropper her off and toured the grounds.

But on April 7, Reeves stated that she received an e-mail from The Dog Pound featuring dogs that had to be adopted soon or else be euthanized, featuring Leila near the top of the list. When she called and questioned Johnson about it she was told the dog had climbed a fence at Lassie’s Friends and they couldn’t find her, she stated. Reeves stated that Johnson told her to put a hold on Leila so someone from Lassie’s Friends could pick her up. Reeves said she told Johnson it was her responsibility and that she better take care of it.

Former Lassie’s Friends employees Ray and Karen Burgett of Athens claim they saw Johnson shoot three dogs with a handgun at the sanctuary.

“We witnessed Karen Johnson of Lassie’s Friends Animal Sanctuary shoot three dogs on New Year’s Eve of 2008,” their notarized statement reads. “She shot the dogs because they were hyper and would get excited if you walked in their kennel area and would jump on your legs for you to pet them. They were just happy and excited to see people. The names of the dogs were Ruby, Vicky and Zeus ... We had to take Karen to the hospital because the .38 pistol sprung her wrist when she placed it too close to one of the dog’s necks. The two dogs did not die immediately and suffered before dying. They were shot back by the cedar tree ...”

Johnson denies the shooting took place.

The Burgetts also state that: “On Thursday, April 9, we took four dogs to Dr. Galbraith in Pulaski, Tenn., for him to euthanize. Karen told Dr. Galbraith that they were vicious. They were heavily sedated with three or four different things. We are not sure what she mixed for them to take. Karen Johnson had (another employee) feed them meat with this stuff in it to sedate them. Three of those dogs were Mimi, Ms. Mason and Jiggles that came to us from Two by Two Rescue. Three more dogs were taken to Dr. Galbraith to euthanize after that. The names of those dogs are Java, Spike and Prince Charles.”

The Burgetts further state that: “We took two dogs named Leila and Guy to The Dog Pound in Athens as instructed to do from Karen Johnson, They were sanctuary dogs I don’t know the reason she wanted them dumped. Other dogs were taken to Dr. Goodman in Athens to be euthanized.”

Johnson said only sick or vicious dogs were euthanized.

The Burgetts told The News Courier they left their jobs at the sanctuary because Johnson and her husband, Jeffrey R. Johnson, who also works for Raytheon, owe them at least $8,000 each for work they performed and for which they were never paid.

Johnson said they were fired for animal abuse for leaving dogs in the rain. She also said the Burgetts agreed to work for free until Jeffery, a rocket scientist, retires next month and could pay them in a lump sum as the Johnsons had agreed to do in their divorce proceeding. The Johnsons’ divorce is pending in Limestone County, according to court records.

Johnson said all of the allegations are ridiculous and spurred by “the green-eyed monster of jealousy” over what she has and some others don’t, such as property, money and the skills and vision to create the sanctuary.

“I want to do God’s work and what fills my soul, and taking care of animals does that,” Johnson said. “I could take my money and live very well doing something else but I choose to do this.”

Ohm, as well as the Burgetts, say although Lassie’s Friends states on its brochure it is a 501 (C) (3) tax-exempt organization, it is not registered as such with the IRS.

Johnson confirmed this and said she plans to file for the status next month.

She is not registered as a business with the state, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.