Ed Elkins, a former Bradley County commissioner, addresses the Bradley County Commission in his new role as the president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Bradley County.CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A recently rebuilt board of directors for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Bradley County says efforts to overhaul its animal shelter operations are on track.
"I think everything is pretty good news and we're about to turn a corner," said Ed Elkins, SPCA board president.
The organization provides animal sheltering services to all county residents and pickup services to county emergency responders under an $80,000 contract with Bradley County.
In a recent meeting, the board discussed plans to reboot grant-writing efforts and to begin planning for public adoption and fundraising events between Halloween and Christmas.
These new measures build upon a number of others discussed in a series of recent meetings. Those initiatives included providing a minivan for animal transportation, changing bank accounts to lower fees and requesting bids for veterinary services such as spay/neuter surgeries, rabies vaccinations and microchip implants.
Efforts to reset operations began with the addition of three new members - Bradley County Commissioner Dan Rawls, county school board member Chris Turner and businessman Perk Evans - in mid-August.
The new board members - who Rawls said were brought in to provide some "backbone" to a board suffering from internal conflict - were joined by Elkins, a former county commissioner, on Sept. 2.
The board immediately elected Elkins president, following the resignation of Betti Gravelle, who had served as the organization's president since it was founded a year ago.
Gravelle said she wanted to concentrate on Dixie Day Spay, where she serves as executive director.
The rebuilt board followed months of infighting between a faction of shelter volunteers and members of Cleveland For a No-Kill City, an animal rescue network that Gravelle has described as her "army."
Divisions within the shelter spilled over publicly at board meetings in July and August.
The day they joined the SPCA board, Rawls, Turner and Evans supported Gravelle in dismissing then-shelter director Bobbi Anderson, citing allegations of insubordination.
An exodus of board members began immediately.
Commissioner Charlotte Peak, a county representative on the panel, walked out of the meeting after Anderson's firing.
Within a couple of weeks, board members Jack Burke and Sherry Brown also submitted their resignations.
"The board has been hijacked," said Burke.
In the midst of the September overhaul, the board lost Evans, who died.
Elkins said another person, whom he would not name, has since expressed interest in joining the SCPA board, which now numbers six members, said Elkins.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Contact him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.