A Whitehorse brother and sister have each brought a civil lawsuit against the Humane Society Yukon.

Madeleine Girard is a former member of the society's board of directors.

She has brought the suit against the society for some of the costs she incurred for the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter, which the society manages, while serving on the board.

She was a director from August 2011 to April 2012.

Her claim is for $1,643.71 in what she says were approved expenses incurred on behalf of the shelter partly for a concession during the Arctic Winter Games (AWG), as well as for an accounting software program and various other items.

In a reply to the claim, the shelter agrees only that Girard is entitled to $636.99 of her claim.

The shelter also counter-claimed in the amount of $769.56 for food left over from the AWG concession that it claims Girard took home with her, preventing the shelter from returning it for a refund.

In Girard's response to the shelter's counter-claim, she denies having taken most of the food listed, saying a lot of it was donated to Kaushee's Place or the Salvation Army.

The rest was donated to shelter staff and directors who had volunteered at the AWG concession.

The food she herself took, she said, was perishable and therefore non-refundable.

Girard's brother, Paul, has also brought two suits against the shelter.

The first is for work his company, Ovation Construction, completed for the shelter.

Paul claims he has not been paid for $20,000 worth of work he completed, but that society president Shelley Cuthbert did cash the government grant for the work.

He said Cuthbert claimed breach of contract for extra work he completed as a donation to the shelter.

Interviewed late this morning, Cuthbert would not comment extensively on the suit because they are before the courts, saying only she doesn't agree with Paul's version of the situation.

"There was a contract in place, and from what we have identified there were breech in contracts so therefore payment was withheld until such time as we could sort this out,” she said.

Paul's second suit is against Cuthbert personally for a cell phone he claimed he lent her under the arrangement that it would be returned and the charges incurred would be paid.

Cuthbert's reply to the claim says she offered to pay for the charges and Paul refused.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, both Girards reiterated numerous times that they have no interest in causing any harm to the 14-year-old shelter.

They said they want to see it continue and develop into a strong, self-sustaining organization but they also want to be paid for their expenses and work completed.

Madeleine also noted there are other expenses she incurred personally and is not claiming for, including a failed fund-raiser worth approximately $2,600 and two veterinarian's manuals worth about $170.

The suits appear to be a culmination of infighting among the shelter leadership.

Madeleine said she left the board after various conflicts arose.

Those included one between her brother and Cuthbert over payment for shelter repair and renovation work, some of which had been required by the workers' compensation board.

Since that time, she said, she hasn't been able to renew her membership to the shelter, noting her cheque was sent back to her.

Cuthbert said she and the board of directors had a meeting and determined there were some membership applicants who should be denied membership or renewal based on "past behaviours.

"We do have our documentation if we were ever challenged on that.”

On Tuesday, the shelter sent out a media release which says since the inception of the board of directors in August 2011 it "has endured repeated attacks from disgruntled former staff, ex-board members, past board members, current members of the society and the public.”

Various letters of concern and the shelter's responses can be found on the shelter's board of directors' website at humanesocietyyukon.ca/bod-page.html.

The release goes on to list a number of ways in which the shelter has improved in that time, including the hiring of two animal health technicians, offering spay and neuter clinics in the communities, and professional training for staff among others.

"Through all the positives the board of directors, staff, and members have had to endure negative, slanderous, malicious and vexatious complaints, invasion of their privacy by receiving emails that are unwanted, which places the humane society at risk,” it says.

The release says the leadership wants to turn the shelter into a positive atmosphere.

The shelter is now "reviewing membership applications and denying individuals that appear to be unwilling to adopt fostering and compassionate care for the animals and staff etc.” and "banning individuals who have repeatedly slandered, defamed, and harassed the (board of directors), staff, members, volunteers, and patrons.”

"If we do not invest now, the toxicity will continue, and someday the shelter will close due to the fact nobody will want to be part of this society.

"We also cannot guarantee this will change the image but at least we are making every reasonable attempt to move things into a positive direction,” it says.

Madeleine suggested there are other aspects that have fallen by the wayside in recent times that also need to be improved.

She said she has been denied access to membership records which every member should be able to see, and noted that financial records have not be available since December 2011.

"There has been a complaint filed with the registrar; we are being investigated. However, we are actually looking forward to the investigation results so that we as a society know how to improve our system and the gaps in our system,” Cuthbert said.

"All we can say with regards to not showing the membership list is that this matter is before an investigator, so we need to allow them to proceed through the documentation and provide back any feedback.”

"There's been a whole gamut of things that have been going on with the humane society for years and it's time that the humane society changed its image to be a more positive environment where people want to come in,” she said.

Over the past month, there have also been concerns voiced in the Star's letters pages about a trainer who was invited to host a course for shelter staff.

Earlier this week, a shelter staff member responded to the original July 18 letter, defending the training practices.

By Ainslie Cruickshank

Star Reporter