Crying in the parking lot

Editor’s Note: Numerous attempts were made to interview the executive director of the Humane Society of Portage County. Interview requests were made and a reporter visited the Humane Society of Portage County during open hours to request an interview. Ultimately, the executive director provided a statement. 

STEVENS POINT—Former volunteers and employees of the Humane Society of Portage County (HSPC) have come forward to share their experiences from 1993 to 2025. Their stories speak of alleged abuse, unnecessary confinement, unclean conditions, low morale among volunteers and the use of non-disclosure agreements to prevent “private cases becoming public.”

Dolores Glytas has volunteered at HSPC for 32 years, although her roles for the shelter expand to former board president, former interim executive director, and media personality both on radio and screen. Glytas has seen HSPC grow from its shelter in Bukolt Park to its current building built in 2007 following a campaign she spearheaded to raise funds.
When discussing her own time on the board, Glytas said, “My board and I raised 1.2 million dollars to build that new building, we knocked on practically every door in the county.” Glytas said in recent years the building has faced maintenance issues and rust, something that she claimed is regularly not addressed.

Her media appearances have made her a local figure in the community. Glytas made weekly appearances on News Channel 9 with Melissa Langbehn to promote cats and dogs for adoption at HSPC.

“When appearing on Channel 9, I’d say 90% of every pet that I brought on got adopted that week. It was such an asset for adoptions, and just inquiries and donations.” Glytas said.

Glytas works mostly with shelter cats and has fostered an estimated 500 kittens. A passion and devotion for animals is something not only Glytas shares with the community, but something she says is abundant in HSPC staff and volunteers that care for the animals, as well.

Around 2012, Glytas said she noticed a change in management and day-to-day operations at HSPC which followed a change in the board, she claimed.

No more walks
Alyssa Bupp started as a volunteer with HSPC in 2014 and worked her way to a management position in shelter care and behavior and enrichment. “My whole heart is in animal welfare and dog behavior. I had the best job I could have ever hoped for, so I was devastated when I morally couldn’t stay there anymore,” Bupp said.

While she was a manager, trained volunteers would take adoptable dogs home with them to decompress for the night as the kennel setting can put stress on a dog. Also, employees and staff could take home dogs with behavioral issues or dogs not yet deemed adoptable.

“That was great for the dogs, to get the chance to get out of the kennel environment which can make a dog really tense and just get to wind down. Volunteers used to send me pictures of the dogs at home with them, just relaxing and getting to be in a home environment,” Bupp said.

According to Bupp, changes within the board of directors around 2018 led to a decline in interpersonal relationships between departments. Bupp described this new change as “militarized,” and no longer allowed for volunteers and employees to take dogs home for a night, something Bupp said greatly benefited the mental health of the animals. Bupp also explained other activities such as walking dogs to Lake Pacawa a quarter mile away from HSPC so the dogs weren’t “inundated with the shelter all time,” and car rides were beneficial for her shelter dogs, but were reportedly no longer allowed under the new leadership at this time.

Bupp said she went to management and leadership for support that she had previously received from the employee formerly in the role, and said she was told “it wasn’t their job” to provide her support.

Bupp then cut herself as shelter care manager and came into HSPC two days a week as the behavior and enrichment coordinator. Self described as “running a tight ship,” Bupp said cleanliness and the well being of the animals were high priorities for herself and her staff during her time as shelter care manager.

According to Bupp, what was once a scent-free and cleanliness first facility during her time as shelter care manager had reportedly “exponentially declined” under new management.

“I would get there around 8 a.m., which is when cleaning is kind of getting underway. And the dog kennels—I could just smell the stray kennels from where I was parked, which was out by the garage. And there’s just no reason for that unless an animal is just sick. But it was just overwhelming and it emanated through the parking lot,” she said.

In 2021, Bupp created behavior plans for dogs that contained basic information for other staff members to utilize to help the dog succeed behaviorally. When coming in on one of her two work days, Bupp went to see one of the dogs she had been working with. She was surprised as the dog had not been signed out of her kennel for three days. “It was a situation where I thought maybe they just hadn’t written it down, but what we were always told when I first started, was that if it’s not written down, the dog didn’t get out,” Bupp said. She claimed when she did get the dog out of her kennel, the dog’s behavior had substantially declined.

After confronting the new shelter care manager, Bupp said she was told the staff was nervous the dog would get loose because she could be difficult to walk. In an effort to provide more training to the new shelter care manager, Bupp said she pulled aside a member from the board and an individual from the veterinary team. She reported that she expressed a need for someone to support the new manager or find someone more qualified for the role, to which she said the board member reportedly replied, “We can’t just fire everybody, Alyssa.”

Following this incident, Alyssa Bupp turned her keys in and parted ways with the Humane Society of Portage County. “I got this dog outside and just cried in the parking lot. Told her I had to leave, that I couldn’t do it anymore,” Bupp said.

Volunteers speak out

The volunteer program is a large component of the operations at HSPC, something Bupp noted was halted in 2020 due to the pandemic. According to Board Reports on HSPC’s website, pre-pandemic volunteer staff contained 186 active and trained volunteers in June of 2019. In April of 2025, there was a recorded 112 active volunteer and fosters combined. In June 2019, there were 85 volunteers in application status, compared to April 2025 with 79 volunteer applications active following the archival of 179 volunteer applications due to being “applicants for more than six months.”

After Bupp’s departure with the HSPC in 2021, an employee who wishes to be referred to as Jane Doe, reported that around February or March of 2022 a person serving as a board member at the time allegedly choked a dog with a slip leash to the point of the animal needing to be revived. Jane Doe stated that a beagle was brought in after biting someone, which they believe made the former board member fearful of the dog. Jane Doe said the beagle was reportedly suspended in the air with all four feet off the ground, turned blue, and required revival in the form of CPR. The beagle was reported to have recovered and Jane Doe states the executive director allegedly instructed the former board member to “watch a video” following the incident.  An additional individual who volunteered at the time confirmed the incident, but wished to stay anonymous.

Another former employee, Jim, who worked at the Humane Society for four years in the kitchen and laundry room, expressed feeling “pushed out” out of his position in April of 2025. He reported that when he would come in during his scheduled shift, the dishes and laundry were already completed by a long-term volunteer who previously held a board position. Jim claims this long-term volunteer would get frustrated and become rude.

Jim said of the shelter care staff, “They are excellent, there are no problems there.” Then when asked about staff morale at HSPC, Jim replied, “The lowest of the low, the bottom of the barrel.”

Dolores Glytas shared similar sentiments of staff morale, saying, “Things used to be great, this used to be a happy place. It’s not anymore. You can feel it in the air.”

According to Jim, when employees or volunteers would raise concerns with the executive director over care of animals, he witnessed that they would then allegedly be let go within days.

Jim also reports that dogs can sit up to a year in the shelter and get returned frequently, a rate that he estimates is near 50% during his four years at the shelter, compared to his estimation of a near 0% return rate for cats. In addition to Jim’s estimations of return rates on dogs, he stated that community members are applying for dogs at a consistent rate but applications are regularly refused or denied.

Adoption and return rates of dogs is something Glytas has witnessed, as well. Glytas reported that more effort is allegedly put into adopting smaller dogs than larger dogs. Glytas estimated that for every one smaller breed dog that will be adopted, there can reportedly be up to 10 larger breed dogs waiting to be adopted for what she estimated to take months to over a year. The cause of this, Glytas claimed, is supposedly due to bias against larger breed dogs from management.

Non-disclosure agreements
A volunteer named Morgan began her work at HSPC on April 19, 2024. She described her experience as beginning with an introductory tour from the executive director. One year later, on April 25, 2025, Morgan was reportedly “let go” by the executive director. Morgan stated that Glytas asked her to come help at the shelter on April 25, but the executive director allegedly met Morgan at the door and told her that her “services were no longer needed.” Morgan stated the executive director claimed to have said they let her go because they reportedly hadn’t heard from Morgan in months.

Glytas was standing beside Morgan as the incident occurred. Glytas said, “Morgan could have been brought into an office and told that, not in front of people. This is a young lady who really helped out so much with the cats. She even made cat toys that day and brought them in. You know, you just don’t treat people that way. I was just appalled.” Glytas said the executive director allegedly told Morgan she was not welcome due to her refusal to sign the NDA.
During the January 27, 2025 volunteer meeting, Morgan said volunteers were all asked to sign a NDA. Morgan reported that she asked about the reason for needing an NDA during the volunteer meeting and said she was told they did not want “private cases becoming public.”

Morgan and Glytas both expressed confusion over the introduction of the NDA’s, Glytas said, “It’s not a high security place, a lot of us felt extremely uncomfortable.”

Morgan did not sign the NDA, claiming she was not comfortable doing so with current state and issues in the shelter at the time. Morgan reported that following her refusal to sign the NDA, the executive director would supposedly avoid talking to her or passing by her after allegedly telling Morgan they could discuss the NDA further.

Euthanasia rates
The January NDA was presented on the heels of an email posted anonymously to a local Facebook group from an alleged shelter employee in December. The email that was posted stated that five dogs were going to be euthanized if not adopted or transferred by certain dates.

The Humane Society of Portage County released a statement via their Facebook page on December 16, 2024 regarding the euthanasia email, stating “An email was sent out by a staff member without the executive director’s or the board’s knowledge or approval. It contains a lot of inaccuracies. We are still at a 99.5% live release rate today.” According to the 2024 Dog and Cat Report from the December 2024 board report, nine cats and one dog were euthanized in 2024.

Morgan stated that when the dogs were allegedly going to be scheduled for euthanasia, an employee who didn’t work in dog adoptions reportedly took over coordinating transfers and adoptions to ensure each dog landed somewhere safe.

The December email regarding the euthanasia stated that it was due to shelter overflow and financial stress, something Morgan claimed she saw also affecting the cats. On January 17, 2025, Morgan said she was working with the cats when she saw less than a centimeter of cat litter in litter boxes, something she said was done to “cut costs” despite her knowledge of an allegedly sizable inventory of donated cat litter. Due to the lack of litter in boxes, Morgan said the cats were using their blankets in their cages to defecate and trying to attempt to bury their feces and urine in the fabric.

Alyssa, Morgan, Dolores, and Jim all reported similar sentiments that at the end of the day, the animals and their care are the main concerns of every volunteer and shelter care employee. When asked how HSPC could improve, Alyssa replied, “I think it would be really beneficial if they start sharing some true transparency with the community.”

When asked how HSPC can make improvements, Dolores stated, “I think there could be a lot done to get more informed. When I was on the board, I visited twenty other shelters in one year to just see the political structure, dealing with people, how to handle animals. It was all to become better informed.” She continued, “If you want to make a change, get on the board. More people should get on the board. I think it’s been a good start so far with volunteers and employees speaking out about their experiences.”

During her time on the board, Dolores said that HSPC and other shelters and humane societies in Wisconsin worked together to transfer dogs in instances of overflow and financial stress. Dolores also took professional courses and worked with FEMA to understand how to handle disaster management in order to be best prepared to serve the board.

“It doesn’t matter if you run a business, are a doctor, a lawyer—running a shelter is whole different ballgame. I think that’s what’s lacking on the board, an understanding of how to run an animal shelter.” Dolores said.
Morgan and Jim both expressed that for HSPC to improve, in their opinion, a change in leadership is needed.

Director’s statement
While reporting this story, HSPC Executive Director Sherri Galle-Teske provided the following statement: “At any given time, the Humane Society of Portage County is responsible for the health and well-being of over 200 companion animals. We provide these animals with food, comfort and veterinary care. Our education and outreach programs reach young people in our community with information regarding bite prevention, pet care and the humane, compassionate treatment of animals. We offer volunteer opportunities, including dog and cat socialization, housekeeping, educational programming and fundraising.

“In 2021 we were honored to receive the Portage County Charitable Community Award, and in 2022 The Best Friends No-Kill Shelter Award. We remain today, with a live-release rate between 98-99% of all of our animals. The Humane Society of Portage County is a not-for-profit 501(c)3. We are served by a volunteer board of directors, paid staff members and volunteers.
“Over the past 50 years we have saved the lives of many animals with our medical services and provided many homes for stray and surrendered animals in Portage County. Working with local law enforcement; our Humane Officers are available 24 hours a day rescuing local stray animals, investigating reports of abuse or neglect and enforcing animal welfare laws. As of January 2025; we have reopened the doors to our community on Tuesdays and Thursdays; are conducting immunization clinics, giving community tours of the shelter, and adopting out domesticated animals, we have also added multiple volunteers and added new board members to our board of directors.”

An earlier version of this article stated employees and volunteers were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement after witnessing a beagle lose consciousness while on a slip leash, which was incorrect and has since been amended.