- Alachua County launched a 90-day whistleblower investigation into its animal shelter after a 15-page complaint by former staff detailed poor conditions and management issues.
- The Board of County Commissioners directed resources to support shelter staff, plan a new shelter design, and explore temporary alternative management.
- The shelter has had three directors in five years and faces ongoing challenges with its outdated facility and leadership changes, with a new director candidate under review.
Alachua County launched an outside investigation into the operations at the county animal shelter following a 15-page complaint by former staff.
County Manager Michele Lieberman told the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that the complaint triggered its whistleblower ordinance adopted in 2020. She said the investigation was being handled under the county attorney’s office.
County Attorney Sylvia Torres said the investigation will last no longer than 90 days, making June 1 the final day for the report to be filed. Torres said this is the third investigation to fall under the whistleblower ordinance.
The discussion at Tuesday’s meeting followed a lengthy public comment section concerning the animal shelter and top staff. The comments touched on two employees mentioned in the complaint: Gina Peebles, county chief of staff and interim director of animal resources, and Brittany D’Azzo, animal resources shelter supervisor.
The BOCC directed Lieberman to provide resources and temporary help needed by animal resources staff, schedule an Animal Welfare Advisory Committee meeting, have the committee weigh in on a design plan for the new shelter and investigate alternative temporary management at the animal shelter.
The animal shelter has been an ongoing issue for years, and commissioners said it’s been a combination of an old facility built as a no-kill shelter and changes in the director position. The county has had three directors over the last five years.
Lieberman said she’ll review three finalists for the director position on Wednesday. One of those finalists is D’Azzo.
Melissa Jenkins, operations director at Operation Catnip and vice chair on the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, emailed the BOCC to add an asterisk to her previous recommendation of D’Azzo.
“If the conditions described in the letter are an example of the shelter under the leadership of Ms. Peebles and Ms. D’Azzo, I am vehemently opposed to any course of action that allows Ms. Peebles to continue as interim director and Ms. D’Azzo to elevate to shelter director,” Jenkin’s email said.
The complaint said dogs were left in cages all day and often not cleaned up, leaving feces or urine in the cages. The building also has a rat infestation, the complaint said.
Anthony, the former outreach coordinator, wrote the complaint. He said he left because of the conditions, along with a lot of other staff. The letter said the attached evidence (photos and specific animal cases) came from eight former and current staff members.
The letter said concerns were raised with Peebles, but not addressed. One big issue was euthanizing dogs outside the proper channels, the letter said.
“We gain nothing by coming forward now, only the hope that our testimony may finally drive needed reform, and animals will no longer continue to suffer due to the actions of Gina Peebles and those who blindly support her for personal gain,” the letter said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Chair Ken Cornell said Peebles was asked to take the position after the former director left. He said she’d probably want to give it up.
Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler pushed back against the idea from public commenters that the BOCC doesn’t care about what happens at the shelter.
“To say that I’ve got nobody from this board that has been involved out there is wrong,” Wheeler said. “It’s wrong. It means you’re not paying attention.”
Wheeler said she’s been at the shelter and knows the volunteers. Once she leaves the board, she said she’ll still be at the shelter and the new shelter planned near UF.
Cornell said the investigation isn’t a “gotcha.” Instead, he said the board will get a full report to decide how to move forward.
“We’re always going to have [these issues] until we have a good director that’s leading the organization, and we have a good facility, and until then, we’re going to muddle through this,” Cornell said. “And we need to welcome the muddling because we got to take care of the welfare of the animals that are in there until they have a better home.”
Torres said the county also received a pre-suit letter because of a public records request connected with the animal shelter. She said the requested information should be released with some redaction for personal information.
Suggested Articles
No related articles found.
The announcement that Alachua County will conduct a formal investigation into allegations of animal abuse at Alachua County Animal Resources might sound reassuring on paper but many residents have a simple question: if the county is paying for the investigation, will the public ever really get the full truth?
For years, warning signs have been piling up. High turnover. Employee complaints. Declining conditions. Now there are reports that rats are literally falling from the ceilings of the animal shelter. That’s not just embarrassing it’s a glaring sign of systemic neglect. Yet somehow, despite one of the heavier tax burdens in the state of Florida, basic standards inside a taxpayer-funded facility appear to have collapsed.
Now the county says it will investigate itself.
That’s where public skepticism comes in. When the same government being accused of mismanagement is also the one commissioning and controlling the investigation, people naturally question whether the outcome will be transparency or damage control. Too often, these types of “internal reviews” produce carefully worded reports, vague conclusions, and ultimately very little accountability.
Meanwhile, the pattern that residents have watched for years continues: constant turnover, employees cycling in and out, and problems that never seem to get permanently fixed. High turnover doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It usually signals poor leadership, poor workplace culture, or both.
Ultimately, the responsibility for these failures leads back to leadership under the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners and the county manager’s office. If the same issues have persisted for years through multiple complaints, staff departures, and now a public investigation it raises a difficult but necessary question: is the problem individual incidents, or is it the leadership itself?
Because when rats are falling from ceilings and animals are allegedly being mistreated, the issue isn’t just optics. It’s competence.
And if this investigation turns out to be another carefully managed report that protects the institution instead of exposing the truth, the public will know exactly what it was: not accountability, but narrative control.
“And if this investigation turns out to be another carefully managed report that protects the institution instead of exposing the truth, the public will know exactly what it was: not accountability, but narrative control.”
This is exactly what I worry about. The County and City governments have a horrible track record of not taking warnings and reports of this kind seriously. From many areas, not just for the shelter. They swept employee and former staff members concern of mismanagement at the County library under the rug, and I worry that they will do the same here. The ramifications will be far higher in this case for the animals in their care. It’s inexcusable.
They need to stop getting so defensive when these kinds of reports come to light and actually take them seriously from the beginning and effect real change. These situations where people have been trying to sound an alarm for years should not have to reach such a boiling point before being course corrected. It makes it much harder to fix these institutional problems when they wait until it has reached a critical mass. And they destroy the credibility of themselves and the institutions.
“Given the serious allegations outlined in the 15-page whistleblower complaint, this investigation should not be handled internally. The public deserves a truly independent review conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. At this point, there is very little public trust in the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners to investigate its own department and hold anyone accountable.
The fact that the animal shelter has gone through three directors in just five years, combined with ongoing complaints about poor conditions and management failures, clearly shows there are deeper systemic problems. Instead of attempting to manage the narrative or conduct another internal review, county leadership should welcome an outside investigation to restore credibility and transparency.
The community, the shelter staff, and the animals themselves deserve accountability. Bringing in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would ensure that this investigation is conducted professionally, independently, and without political influence. If county leadership truly believes nothing improper occurred, they should have no problem allowing an outside agency to verify that.”
Oh ok. That explains the $30,000,000 taxpayer expenditure for new shelter.
Not really. Our debt ridden city/county pissed away much money .
Florida’s animal cruelty laws are not optional, and they do not stop at the doors of a government shelter.
Under Florida Statute 828.12, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal whether through abuse or neglect is a criminal offense. Failing to provide proper care, sanitation, or medical attention can carry serious penalties under state law.
That law applies to everyone, including government agencies responsible for animals in their custody.
That’s why the allegations surrounding conditions at Alachua County Animal Resources must be treated with absolute seriousness. When a taxpayer-funded shelter faces claims of poor conditions or neglect, the response cannot be slow, defensive, or dismissive.
The animals in that shelter cannot advocate for themselves. The responsibility falls squarely on the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners to ensure those animals are treated humanely and in full compliance with the law.
If the investigation finds failures in care, accountability must follow period. Animal cruelty laws exist to protect the most vulnerable. Government agencies should be held to the highest standard, not the lowest.
If the county truly wants transparency, outside oversight should be welcomed. Agencies such as the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office all have the authority to review the facts and determine whether animal cruelty laws have been violated.