SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Allegations of mistreatment and abuse at the Sangamon County Animal Control facility have led county leaders to ask state police to investigate.

A statement released by the county also called out Springfield city leadership for suggesting parting ways and finding a different option for animal control.

Mayor Jim Langfelder said parting ways was just brought up at council and their priority is making sure the animals are taken care of.

"Everybody wants to make sure pets are taken care of, stray animals are taken care of in a respectful manner, and I think everybody wants that," Langfelder said. "How do we best provide that service?"

The allegations have caused outrage among community members, causing them to reach out to Springfield city leaders. However, they currently have no say in county matters.

"The ones that get the calls about things happening - in this case, happening at the animal control shelter - are the city council members. The aldermen and alderwomen, they get calls all the time with relation to that. So that's how it kind of escalated to the point that it is but not having that representation on the board, we don't have a voice at the table," said Langfelder.

The city used to have two seats on the county board, but now have none. Langfelder said they should have a say, especially after providing over $300,000 for operations over the last year.

However, staff members like Kate Luthin, a veterinarian at the facility, say staffing is the biggest issue that needs to be solved.

"When I started working at the pound five years ago, we had four veterinarians, so we had everyday covered, all the shifts were covered. For the last year and a half, like I said, I've been the only vet there," she said. 

Luthin said in her time at the center, she has never seen any mistreatment or bad conditions for the animals.

"You walk through them, there's not a pungent urinary smell, there's no pungent fecal smell. You know the kennels are cleaned two to three times a day. The animals are well-fed. I've never seen any mistreatment of animals when I've been there or anything that's inconductive to that," she said. 

While she said they have made a recent hire and now have two vets on staff, they need more to keep the issues and diseases at bay.

"Every animal gets seen; every animal gets hands-on touched. The hard part is is that I may be there on a Tuesday, he's healthy on Tuesday, but it may have been the first couple days he came in, now he gets stressed out, upper respiratory disease sets in and maybe it's another few days before I'm back," she said. 

Luthin said the best way to prevent other cats from getting sick is to make sure they are spayed, neutered and vaccinated.