Recently, my grandmother and aunt met Director Melinda McMillian to surrender “Minnie the Yorkie” to the Humane Society of Scotland County.

I was informed of Minnie being surrendered, went online to the Humane Society’s website and completed the adoption application with hopes of adopting Minnie.

I then called the Humane Society of Scotland County to inform that I would like to adopt Minnie. The representative that I spoke with informed that she did not receive a Yorkie at the facility and that she was there all day. After hearing this, I contacted my grandma to confirm who had Minnie. My grandmother confirmed that Minnie was left in the possession of Melinda McMillian.

I called back to the Humane Society to find out that they disabled their phone lines to go straight to voicemail. Me and my mother both left a voicemail.

After no success, I reached out to the local police department in Scotland County and was assisted by an officer who also made several attempts to contact the Humane Society with no success.

After about 30 minutes I received a phone call from McMillian who informed that she sent me an email, and that Minnie was unavailable. She informed that Minnie was not at the location and was being seen at a vet clinic. She also stated that the 72-hour hold had been waived due to COVID-19, and that Minnie had already been given to a foster family. I offered to pay the vet bill and the adoption fee and McMillian still refused to allow me to adopt Minnie. She stated that there are 11 other applications for a small breed, but again no one knew that Minnie was surrendered because she was not listed online.

I honestly believe that the director has not followed proper protocol and has given Minnie to someone that she personally knows, instead of allowing the public to adopt her.

After doing all of this, McMmillian called my grandmother and told her that she needs to have better communication with her family, and that we are trying to get Minnie back and have involved the local police department. This behavior is very unprofessional and unethical.

I am seeking help to be able to adopt Minnie and have read the Animal Welfare Act — Section 19A-32.1 is not being followed by the director of the Humane Society of Scotland County.

My family is devastated that Minnie is gone.

Camille Campbell

Laurinburg