Ashley Chandler
For the Record
The Nassau County Commission chambers were overflowing Aug. 25 with residents fired up about animal care.
The discussion at Monday’s meeting already was underway in the weeks prior on social media. Recently, a former volunteer of Nassau County Animal Services went there to share her story. She and other volunteers claimed they were “fired” after speaking up about shelter conditions.
The conversation spread in the comments, empowering a number of people to attend Monday’s meeting to give public comment. Those who attended included current and former NCAS volunteers, some family members of said volunteers, and other concerned citizens.
County commissioners and staff disagreed with much of what the public commenters.
Comments ranged from outrage over claims of mismanagement by higher-ups, lack of training, sick and escaped dogs, improper disposal of euthanized animals and complaints of heat and shelter conditions. Some commenters brought up the recent arrest of an NCAS employee accused of sexual battery on a minor who was a shelter volunteer.
Commenters said “conditions are alarming” and “deplorable.”
One commenter listed the tasks volunteers do for NCAS, including tasks she said the shelter disregarded or trashed without using.
“We don’t do it for money or recognition because there certainly isn’t any,” Kylie Champa said. “We simply do it for our pure love of these animals and the joy they bring us.”
She said many volunteers don’t speak out because they fear the fallout. “Trust me, I would have many, many more volunteers standing beside me tonight if they were not afraid of being terminated, retaliation or their foster animals being taken away by the shelter.”
Another commenter compared shelter operations and marketing with shelters from other counties such as Broward County.
Alexis Harrison is the volunteer who was let go.
“I am here tonight to report systemic failures that endanger animals, staff and volunteers alike. Failures that have been ignored despite repeated warnings,” Harrison said.
She had “documented multiple instances of neglect that are not isolated mistakes but a consistent pattern.” She noted instances of kittens without litter boxes, bleeding kittens left in cages without proper care, a dead kitten left out during public adoption hours and animals being fed expired food.
“These failures are not due to lack of care by staff, on the contrary, staff are deeply committed,” Harrison said. “They are overworked, underpaid and unsupported.”
She said leadership failed to provide them with proper tools and support. She also claimed she has been terminated for speaking out.
“By terminating me for raising concerns about shelter conditions, my First Amendment right to speak out on matters of public concern has been violated,” Harrison said. “Silencing a volunteer who reports neglect is a direct attack on public accountability, and it sets a dangerous precedent for anyone witnessing wrongdoing in this county.”
Harrison and other speakers “demanded” she be reinstated as a volunteer.
Not everyone hounded the county’s animal shelter and leadership.
Jacque Osborn is a three-year volunteer for NCAS and a regular at county meetings. Osborn attends meetings to provide updates on shelter numbers and happenings.
Osborn shared a before-and-after images of a dog named Amber. The before image showed the dog when she came to the shelter, red skin, thinning fur and ribs showing. The after one showed her condition as of Sunday, with fur back to its normal color white and black.
“I can tell you there’s not one dead cat in any of those shelters, period, end of story. Not one dog died from the heat this summer, period, end of story,” Osborn said.
As of Monday, Osborn reported 94 dogs in the kennel, 76 in foster homes, 100 cats in the cattery and 56 in foster homes.
“I don’t know what to say; as far as I’m concerned, this group here just wants you to close the darn thing down and be done with it,” Osborn said.
“You have got some very dedicated people working at that shelter,” Osborn said. “I’ve seen them hold animals in their hands while they died. I’ve seen them take home animals they knew was going to die over the weekend.”
Osborn said the idea the animals aren’t cared for is “absurd,” and said the county is working diligently on the new shelter.
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All five commissioners also had something to say in response to Monday’s public speakers.
Commissioner A.M. “Hupp” Huppmann, chairman of the board, said he has been to the kennel many times.
“What I saw was a building that’s over 35 years old, what I saw is a building that has been turned into a facility it was never designed to be, and that’s a no-kill shelter,” Huppmann said. “And I’ve seen a professional staff and a lot of loving volunteers who have tried to make that facility be the best that it can be, until we get that new facility built.”
Huppmann also addressed the allegations that dogs that died over the summer could have been heat-related deaths. “The facility hasn’t had air conditioning for 35 years,” he said.
Huppmann said teamwork is the way to go. “We’ve all got to work together. The only way we’re gonna improve anything is to work together on the issues.”
“We can’t create a facility overnight; I wish we could,” Huppmann said. “It takes years of programming and tens of millions of dollars to get a new facility up and running. In the meantime, I’m gonna ask your volunteers to continue to help us to reach those goals and help us make the improvements by working with the staff and working with the folks to get there.”
Commissioner John Martin read an email he received from a member of the public who said they have been actively involved with the shelter for 12 years.
The letter, Martin said, had the most “impact” out of the many emails he received.
“It has been suggested that animals frequently fall ill in the shelter. While it is true that illness can spread quickly among kittens, much like children in a classroom, staff and volunteers work tirelessly to separate sick animals and reduce risks as much as possible.”
The person also pointed to how messy dogs can be. “I know first-hand that dogs create messes immediately after being cleaned up. This is a reality of animal care, not necessarily a reflection of neglect. Rather than focusing solely on complaints, I encourage those with concerns to come see the shelter firsthand, walk a dog, sign up as a volunteer, foster an animal or help spread the word to encourage adoption,” Martin read from the letter.
Commissioner Klynt Farmer said it isn’t fair to compare Nassau County to Broward County and Fulton County, Ga., as commenters mentioned.
“Broward County possesses 2.037 millions residents and Fulton county, Georgia, possesses 1.09 millions residents as of the last (2024) census data,” said Farmer. “We have 105,000 people here in Nassau County. So, for those out there who know how to run a calculator, you can imagine their budgets are very large in comparison.”
“Are there things that we can approve upon, yes. At the end of the day, every team has a weak link somewhere that they can tighten up – but what we saw tonight, in my opinion, is not the way to do it.”
“Some people just aren’t fit in certain positions,” Farmer said.
Commissioner Jeff Gray touted many of the NCAS recent recognitions including its recent announcement it remains a no-kill shelter. He said during 2023-24, “they successfully adopted 1,698 animals out … they transferred 109 animals to rescue partners, reunited 478 pets with their owners and fostered another 952,” Gray said. “So, staff’s gotta be doing something right to get those type of numbers.”
Commissioner Alyson McCullough, who called herself an animal lover, said “we hear the concerns from our community about the conditions at NCAS. We want you to know that our dedicated staff is working around the clock. Their efforts are tireless, they can’t do it alone.”
“Negativity is hard to combat,” McCullough said. “There are some conditions we’ve got to work on, but there are effective communication ways to get to those solutions.”
“The only way that we can make the shelter better is to clear the shelter,” McCullough said. “An hour at home to see you is better than 24 hours in the shelter.”