Humane Society Ousts Duo

Spokane Humane Society members voted overwhelmingly to remove two board members in a recent special election.

Sally Rux and Dona Van Gelder had become the target of irate society members who blamed the pair for firing executive director Susan Canterbury last year.

Canterbury, who moved from South Carolina for the director’s job, kept the position for just five months.

About 288 society members cast ballots either by mail or at a special meeting last weekend. The votes to remove Van Gelder and Rux from their volunteer jobs were nearly identical, said society member Cheryl Mitchell.

About 75 percent of voters supported ousting the board members, she said. A two-thirds majority was required for removal.

Rux and Van Gelder had served on the eight-person board longer than anyone else.

Mitchell said Van Gelder and Rux angered supporters of the nonprofit organization when they refused to explain why they fired Canterbury.

“But that was just one factor in the feelings of members,” Mitchell said. Another was the perception that Van Gelder and Rux established a closed-door board meeting policy that discouraged participation, she said.

Van Gelder and Rux have retained an attorney and have said they may challenge the board’s decision to hold the election.