BRISTOL — A war of words and accusations broke out Sunday morning between a small group of protestors and the operators of the St. Francis Animal Shelter during the organization’s annual pet walk to raise money for the facility.

More than 100 volunteers showed up to walk dogs, drop off donations and raise money that organizers hoped would bring in nearly $10,000 for the “no kill” animal shelter that currently has 88 dogs, 300 cats, 14 goats, six horses and a cow.

Ten protestors were on hand, occasionally shouting at passers-by, accusing the animal shelter of stealing animals and refusing to return them to their owners. Both sides handed out competing flyers that traded accusations.

The protest was organized by the group Citizens Against Cindy, which accuses shelter director Cindy Schultz of refusing to return a yellow Lab that was turned in as a stray, among other charges. The dog belonged to Barbara Godlewski, who held up a bed sheet with her husband, George, that read, “We want our dog back.”

Schultz said the Godlewskis run an inhumane puppy mill and the female dog was elderly and overbred. She said her shelter had taken in numerous strays from the woman’s home, and refused to give the animal back until the woman paid fees and fines for the dog.

“Here’s the deal,” Schultz said. “She is a backyard breeder of dogs, and seven of her dogs have escaped over the last three years. A couple of them end up in the Humane Society and she says she doesn’t want them. This last time, we said she was going to have to pay the fines and have the dog spayed, and she refused.”

Godlewski said the strays were from another family with the same name.

“What they say is not true,” Barbara Godlewski said. “We just want our dog back. My husband let the gate open once and the dog got out. They are rude and mean and won’t talk to us.”

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the pet walk to remove Nicholas Haas. Schultz obtained a restraining order against Haas after she said he made repeated phone calls and e-mails harassing her about the Godlewski dog.

Many volunteers on hand said they’ve worked regularly with the shelter, and were happy to help and donate, despite the protests.

“I’ve been supporting this shelter for 25 years, and they will take care of animals for years. I don’t know if the protestors have a hidden agenda. I wouldn’t help here if it wasn’t a good shelter,” said Nancy Carollo from Wheeling, Ill. “It’s clean, and they work hard to find homes for the animals.”

Laura Anderson said she has volunteered at the shelter since 2001, and helped adopt out hundreds of animals during that time.

“We do it solely for the animals,” she said. “Sometimes I take the animals home to give them their medication.”

Kristin Brown, another volunteer, said she has never seen any problems at the shelter, and those who run it have always gone out of their way to adopt out animals.

“Absolutely no problems,” she said. “They love the animals here. I’d much rather the animals be here instead of running the street, abused or exposed to diseases.”

Schultz said, if it were possible, she’d like to bring in $600,000 a year to run the shelter, but she and a staff of volunteers usually make due with about $100,000, plus donations of dog and cat food.

“The cute puppies the Humane Society can have, because they’ll get adopted out,” Schultz said. “We take the old dogs that are broken, that are harder to find families for. We take in the worst of the worse and give them a better life. It’s not fair that some of these dogs would go to the Humane Society with an injury and just get the needle. We spend a lot of time, taking care of them and nursing them back to health.

“We don’t do this to make money,” she added. “There are other jobs that wouldn’t be a huge, gigantic headache with no worries. People can say what they want about me. I might not be the most pleasant person, but I do right by these dogs and the other animals.”