What qualities should the city demand of its next Memphis Animal Services director?

Depending on who you ask in the animal community, a group that includes veterinarians, animal rescue folks and those with experience in a shelter environment, the answers will vary.

Memphis Animal Services director removed, city officials confirm

But one thing most agree on is that the next MAS director must be competent, efficient, compassionate and, perhaps above all, well aware of the situation he or she will be walking into.

“The shelter director is always going to come under scrutiny. I don’t care which direction they go for euthanizing or not euthanizing. You’re going to come under scrutiny and whoever does take that position needs to understand that and be able to handle it,” said Suzy Hollenbach, who leads the All 4s Animal Rescue League and has extensive experience with MAS. “No matter what you do in that position, you are going to get criticized, and you have to be able to handle that.”

MAS has had its share of issues. In 2009, after years of complaints about animal cruelty and other problems, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office conducted a raid. What they found eventually led to the indictments of three MAS employees on charges that included animal cruelty. One of those was director Ernest Alexander, who was finally arrested in New Mexico months after the October 2009 raid.

Although things improved after that raid with the hiring of better directors, the situation, in the eyes of many, has fallen apart again after the tumultuous 14-month tenure of Ty Coleman, who faced both city and state investigations over his leadership of MAS.

After placing Coleman on paid leave for five months during the city investigation, Mayor Paul Young fired him Tuesday, Dec. 3.

MAS director fired from previous job for alleged misconduct, lying

City officials said they would be advertising for a new director on their human resources portal beginning next week. However, some cautioned Wednesday that efforts beyond just a job posting will be necessary to find the right person to head MAS.