Emily Wood, director of Broward County’s animal shelter, is quitting her $165,000-a-year job three years after assuming leadership of a shelter that takes in around 8,600 dogs and cats a year.
Wood, who was hired in January 2021, submitted her resignation on Wednesday.
“I will be taking another offer of employment,” she wrote. “I have enjoyed serving Broward County and hope that I have lifted up the reputation of the organization.”
Wood’s last day as director of the county’s Animal Care and Adoption Center will be March 22, said Leonard “Lenny” Vialpando, who oversees the Animal Care Division.
The county plans to conduct a nationwide search to find a new director for the shelter, Vialpando said.
Wood, who could not be reached for comment, was expected to bring long-awaited change to a shelter mired in controversy .
But within months of taking the reins, Wood outraged critics with a three-day wait policy on stray dogs that forced police departments and good Samaritans to either find homes for the animals or leave them on the streets. The only dogs granted immediate entry to the shelter were the sick, injured or dangerous.