BY: Keith S. Shikowitz, Investigative Reporter
This is part 6 in the series of stories about the situation at the former Hi Tor Animal Shelter facility (now RG CARES run by Four Legs Good)
After being served with a lawsuit by Rockland Green back in May, Hi Tor Animal Care Inc. is fighting back with a counter suit claiming many things that Rockland Green was doing which violated the contract they had signed with Hi Tor on December 20, 2022. From that point on until September 21, 2023, the relationship was rocky at best.
Rockland Green maintained it was owed about $150,000 in unused salary expenses while Hi Tor said it was out more than $225,000 in unpaid reimbursement and much more in the value of its possessions retained by Rockland Green and later provided to Four Legs Good, the entity chosen by Rockland Green to replace Hi Tor.
Chairman of Rockland Green Howard Phillips explained how contentious the relationship was almost from the start of 2023. “First of all, we weren’t getting records. So, we went way overboard to make sure they would be successful. We gave them two months of budget up front the first week in January. We said, here’s two months of your budget but then beginning in March we would request that you submit a report to us with all of your accounts receivable, payable and what’s outstanding so then we would forward you March.”
Phillips also stated that they gave them this money, knowing that they still had many vacancies they had not filled. So, they had a surplus of money to start with. When they got to March, they demanded that Rockland Green give them the payment immediately. They got into a bit of a contentious relationship, really starting there.
“It’s not what the contract called for. It called for them to give a report to us. They threatened to close the shelter and leave with all of those animals. We didn’t have anyone else at the time to take care of them. We compromised with them. We told them we would give them half of the money on the first. Then we will give them the other half when they submit a report on their finances to us and the other reports that were supposed to be submitted.”
The reports they were supposed to get that were lagging behind were involving:
1. Adoption of pets
2. medical treatment of pets
3. foster care of the animals because we have that as well
One of the claims was that they were trying to be a part of the everyday operations of the shelter by any means they could think of. They also said that Rockland Green wanted to be taught by them how to run a shelter. They also claimed that they were able to run the shelter within the parameters of the contract even with interference by Rockland Green.
Next, Hi Tor claimed that on September 21, 2023, with no warning, Rockland Green threw Hi Tor off the premises it had leased from the county. Rockland Green bolted the door, caused more than 25 Hi Tor employees to lose their jobs (though none of Hi Tor’s workers were actually employed by Rockland Green), and commandeered all the nonprofit’s possessions, including animal cages and supplies, medical and veterinary equipment, food, medicine, buildings, trailers. They also claimed that this was done because it (Rockland Green) didn’t approve of how the shelter was being run.
Gary Kogut, President of Hi Tor Animal Care Inc. said, “The Hi Tor board received absolutely NO communications from Rockland Green in any official capacity that they had problems with what we were doing at that shelter. ZERO. There were no emails, no letters, no certified letters, no lawyer letters. There was no communication whatsoever that anything on that list troubled them. Period. What you just read to us. ZERO. Can’t cure anything if you are not aware that the other party is concerned about it. That’s why that clause in the contract was written. If there were any issues, we need 30 days’ official notice to address what it is are concerns. We have nothing. That list you just read was new to us when we read it as well as you.”
Hi Tor also claims that while Rockland Green raised $1.7 million for 2023 ($1.4 million was slated for Hi Tor operations) in taxpayer money to run the shelter, most of Hi Tor’s property pre-existed the contract between the two entities. Without notice or discussion, Rockland Green unilaterally decided the relationship was over because it didn’t approve of how the shelter was being run.
Story continued in part 2