United States-Animal welfare group killing animals to save money.

UNITED STATES-ANIMAL WELFARE GROUPS DOUBLE STANDARDS.

Employees at a Central Coast animal sanctuary say the nonprofit is killing healthy animals to cut costs.

The Dancing Star Foundation operates sanctuaries in Paso Robles and Cayucos. The Cayucos facility cares for rescued horses, cows and other animals. However, employees say those animals are being euthanized at an alarming rate.

But the foundation says that is not true.

"If I wanted to do this, I would have gone to work at a slaughterhouse or a cattle ranch," said former sanctuary employee Sheldon Rowley as he recalls seeing four euthanizations in 40 minutes.

One of them was Grace, an 8-year-old horse ironically treated, and eventually put down, for a leg deformity.

Jennifer Smith, another former employee, has a similar story.

"I felt like I was involved in a death camp," Smith said. "I was told if there were any animals on medication or needed to be in a stall, they were to be euthanized."

Rowley and Smith walked us through what happened to Apache, a horse living at the sanctuary because of his lame leg. He was the first of four put down that day. Rowley says he and other employees fought back tears as the horse struggled before succumbing to the lethal injection.

"This is a healthy animal getting put down at a sanctuary," Rowley said, "This isn’t supposed to happen."

According to the Dancing Star Foundation, it is not happening at all.

Roger Gillott, a spokesman for the organization, assured Action News it is unwavering in its commitment to compassion and conservation. He added, "It is simply untrue. The allegations are from disgruntled current or former employees and do not accurately reflect the foundation’s policies or practices."

Smith and Rowley were laid off, but insist they are not disgruntled - just concerned for the animals they left behind.

Current employees who wish to remain anonymous say 10 animals were scheduled to be put down next week. Those euthanizations have been canceled.

The foundation did confirm that economic troubles have forced significant reductions in operating expenditures. That includes reductions in staff and salaries..