UPDATE: On April 28, 2023, Westchester Supreme Court Justice David F. Everett dismissed all charges against Ellie Jill Doornick and her co-defendants. He also urged the parties to work out their differences. “Everybody’s going to get hurt in this kind of thing,” he said. “And, the animals that you’re trying to help, okay, they’re going to suffer too, because the people who are supposed to be smarter than the animals can’t get along.” Animal Nation appealed the decision.
The founder of Animal Nation has been blocked from using the animal rescue group”s checking account in a dispute over control of the Rye organization.
Westchester Supreme Court Justice Mary H. Smith issued a temporary restraining order Jan. 26 instructing Wells Fargo Bank to permit access to the account only to the three members of the board of directors.
Animal Nation sued founder Elle Jill Doornick and her associates Dec. 30 claiming that she had tried to form a new board of directors, had seized control of its post office box and had tried to make herself the sole signatory on the bank account.
The Wells Fargo branch in Port Chester placed a hold on the account to prevent unauthorized withdrawals. Animal Nation President Patrick Moore has had to use his personal credit card to pay for essential supplies such as animal feed, according to the lawsuit.
Smith ruled that board members Moore, Kim Foley and Laurie Gandal are the only authorized signatories on the bank account.
She also restrained Doornick, Joi Muratore, Lynda Boles and Andrea Raynor from interfering with the management of Animal Nation.
Doornick was removed from the board at the Dec. 18 annual meeting, five days after she allegedly declared her associates as board members.
Animal Nation claims that Doornick and her associates were trying to stage a coup. Muratore issued a response on behalf of her cohort stating that it was the three board members who were trying to seize control.
“Their behavior is the antithesis of everything Animal Nation stands for,” Muratore said in a prepared statement. “We are shocked and saddened by their actions.”
Doornick founded Animal Nation as a wildlife rescue organization in 2001. It has since expanded to the adoption and care of domestic farm animals, with more than 100 volunteers overseeing 500 animals.
It”™s mission, according to Moore, “is to end cruelty to animals and to promote the health and well-being of all animals.”
