BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alachua County has opened formal investigations into allegations of animal abuse at the Alachua County Animal Resources (ACAR) shelter.
A lengthy email was sent to Alachua County Commissioners on March 2 by Anthony, a former Shelter Outreach Coordinator for ACAR, with a list of allegations that included:
- Staff members are “meticulously targeted” for having genuine concerns about animal welfare;
- The shelter has not had a veterinarian or director since August;
- The current Shelter Supervisor Brittany D’Azzo, who has applied for the Director position, came from Polk County’s shelter, where news reports documented “alarming allegations”;
- Dogs are not taken out of their kennels every day, as recommended by the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AWAC);
- There are numerous failures to clean dog kennels, play yards, the puppy yard, and cat kennels;
- Water bowls are “riddled with algae,” and there is an ongoing rat infestation;
- Illnesses have spread through the shelter multiple times over the past 6 months, and “parvovirus has become common in the kennels”;
- Animals often do not have water;
- Animals are “held behind or accepted to buffer statistics” instead of moving them out as quickly as possible;
- Several animals are “missing in foster care,” and Anthony alleged that Interim Shelter Director Gina Peebles “instructed staff to process all missing animals out as adoptions to boost the live release rate”;
- Two ferrets were blocked from rescue transfer so “select staff could have ’emotional support pets’”;
- A puppy was euthanized after it tested positive for parvovirus after being left in a freezing kennel following surgery, and a littermate was sent back to a homeless owner without notifying the owner of the parvovirus exposure;
- A German Shepherd was “suffering for days before ultimately collapsing” at an unknown time before she was found;
- Medical staff leave medication in bowls and are not required to ensure the animals receive their medication;
- Many kittens unnecessarily die within days of entering the shelter;
- Animals that are known to be sick are placed on the adoption floor;
- Following an increase in dog euthanasia, D’Azzo and Peebles pulled cats from Marion County Animal Services, knowing they could be adopted quickly, to “quickly and quietly buffer the live release rate”;
- The overall live release rate for 2025 fell below 90%, but leadership “quickly ‘fixed’ the reports”;
- An unusual number of dogs were euthanized in December after Peebles learned that “dogs were coming in from a case, 7 to 10 kennels were needed, so dogs were selected to be euthanized”;
- After staff and volunteers emailed County Commissioners, objecting to the euthanasia, “retaliation began,” with instruction to ban some volunteers;
- Euthanasia logs were falsified to make it appear that more supervisors signed off on the euthanasia;
- “Numerous” long-term dogs were sent to a “mysterious non-profit (operated by a person who conducts euthanasia trainings,” and the County will not release the name of the rescue organization, citing public records laws.
After this letter was posted on social media, members of the public began flooding County Commissioners with emails, most of which requested three things:
- A full and independent investigation into:
- All euthanasia records
- Animal welfare protocols
- Any breaches or deviations from required standards
- The suspension of Gina Peebles (Interim Director) and Brittany D’Azzo (Shelter Supervisor).
- The immediate removal of Brittany D’Azzo from consideration for the permanent Director position, and the resumption of a comprehensive search to ensure qualified, humane, and accountable leadership is appointed.
The owner of a local animal rescue organization sent an email to County Commissioners, asking that D’Azzo not be considered for the Shelter Director position. She wrote, “The last 6 months have proved to be the worst I have witnessed when it comes to transparency, respect, and care the current (interim) leadership has shown the animals along with staff and volunteers… The current leadership has shown to be inept when it comes to elevating or even maintaining animal welfare standards and in creating an environment where people and animals are valued… I hope you will reconsider Brittany D’Azzo as a candidate for the Director position as you further investigate the allegations brought forth.”…