The Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) recently concluded its internal investigation into the transfer of hundreds of small animals from a San Diego animal shelter to a reptile breeding company. The investigation sought to understand the timeline of events and determine what HSSA employees knew about the transfer. The findings shed light on the fate of these animals and raise questions about accountability and organizational culture within the HSSA.<\/p>\n
In July, the San Diego Humane Society (SDHS) reached out to various animal rescues, including the HSSA, for assistance with an overload of smaller pets. Then-CEO of HSSA, Steve Farley, agreed to help, and the transfer was executed on August 7 by then-COO Christian Gonzales. However, it was later discovered that the bulk of the animals were delivered to Colten Jones, the owner of a reptile breeding company called The Fertile Turtle, which is not a licensed rescue organization.<\/p>\n
More than 250 of the 323 small animals transferred from the SDHS to the HSSA remain unaccounted for. The HSSA board learned about Jones and The Fertile Turtle on September 29. Earlier this month, the HSSA received new information suggesting that the animals were likely used as reptile feed. This revelation came to light after an investigative reporter was provided with a text message allegedly sent by Jones, seeking assistance in processing guinea pigs and rabbits for food.<\/p>\n
The independent investigation found that there was no evidence to suggest that Gonzales or the HSSA knew about Jones’ intentions to freeze and sell the animals. However, the text message raises doubts about Jones’ denial. The report highlights the HSSA’s organizational culture, including fear of job loss, poor record-keeping, training, and miscommunication, as contributing factors to the incident. The investigation recommends updating policies, improving staff literacy, enhancing data control, and implementing informed recruitment for the next CEO.<\/p>\n
The HSSA’s internal investigation into the transfer of small animals to a reptile breeding company has revealed troubling findings. The fate of over 250 animals remains unknown, and the report highlights organizational failures and a lack of due diligence. The HSSA is committed to implementing changes to prevent such incidents in the future, while the SDHS continues its investigation and explores legal actions. This case serves as a reminder of the importance of accountability and ethical practices in animal rescue organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Internal investigation uncovers the fate of hundreds of small animals transferred from a San Diego animal shelter to a reptile breeding company, raising concerns about accountability and organizational culture. The Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) recently concluded its internal investigation into the transfer of hundreds of small animals from a San Diego animal shelter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}