The action is being taken based on a report by a team from the University of Florida Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program, which assessed the shelter s procedures.
“This assessment was previously done in 2018, but few recommendations were implemented,” PAWS Executive Director Tracey Williams said in the press release.
“In 2021, these are no longer recommendations. They are critically necessary and long overdue changes. We can no longer continue operating this way. It’s not healthy or safe,” she said.
For the “Empty the Shelter” event, all adoption fees are waived and formal applications no longer are required. Extended adoption hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Adopters need only show up to meet the animals. The goal is to have the shelter “emptied” by March 15, according to the release.
Moore was the PAWS community development coordinator until her termination in September 2019. Thompson left the agency in February 2020 and Tracey Williams was hired as the new executive director four months later.
Williams has launched an ambitious program to change the way Okaloosa County s animal control agency and shelter is run. The University of Florida Maddie s Shelter Medicine Program is very excited and hopeful that the time is right for positive change within PAWS, a report filed in January by Shelter Medicine Program Manager Cameron Moore (no relation) said. Industry standards have evolved but practices at PAWS have not.
The lawsuit states Thompson misused and misapplied PAWS funds and made false statements in order to obtain or retain grant money. Manda Moore claims Thompson falsified the amounts of grant funds being spent for spaying and neutering.