On Aug. 5 and 6, numerous current and former volunteers for the Flagler Humane Society, along with others, appeared before the Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council to criticize the society with allegations of lax standards, too-easy euthanasias, a seriously overcrowded shelter, lacking accountability and some retribution against volunteers who raise issues. Amy Carotenuto, the director of the shelter, responds.
By Amy Carotenuto
Thank you for the invitation to respond to the misinformed who are attacking the shelter. I believe this gives me the opportunity to educate the community and hope that you will see the good work we do every day at Flagler Humane Society to give voices to the animals in need.
These accusations are not true. Those who are speaking so negatively about our established organization have their motivations and opinions. However, their opinions are not based on facts.
I could respond to each and every one of their accusations, but it would be more effective to stick to the documented facts, starting with statistics that show the data on the animals that have come in last year and so far this year. Those figures include their outcomes, our euthanasia data (see 2023 here, 2024 here), and reason for those decisions.
Euthanasia is not determined by one person, as we are accused of. Euthanasia decisions are complex and heartbreaking. They are based on the practice outlined in our Standard Operating Procedure manual. (See the complete SOP manual here.) You can also see here our statistics compared to statewide and national statistics from our PetPoint software company. As you will see, our numbers are good, with euthanasia ratios well below state and national ratios, despite our limited resources.
See as well these reports from January 20223 to today of animals adopted, returned to their owners and transferred to adoption partners or rehabbers.
As to my credentials, I have been a Florida Animal Control Association certified euthanasia instructor since 1992. It has always been my personal mission that euthanasia is performed with skill and compassion. (I am the president of Florida Animal Protection and Advocacy Association and I am on the board of Florida Association of Animal Welfare Organizations. I’ve helped write the Best Practices for Humane Care and High Live Release Programming manual. I’ve worked to strengthen animal protection laws both locally and statewide.)
I would like to address the reference to the “No Kill” shelter label. The “No Kill” label is an industry benchmark. We, at Flagler Humane Society, qualify to use that label because we have over a 93 percent Live Release rate. There are no true “No Kill Shelters.” There are other shelters that turn animals away or keep them in cages forever in order to maintain that status. That is not our practice, and we look for ways to maintain the mental and physical health of the animals we take in. True shelters face the decision of being merciful and euthanizing a pet with a painful, incurable disease. We believe if we cannot manage an animal’s pain or determine an animal is too dangerous to be adopted, then we do what is best for the animal and the community.
Kyndra Mott, our animal care and placement manager, follows guidelines offered by ASPCA, Maddie’s Fund, Fear Free and others. Currently, these national organizations have stepped back from recommending strict battery testing for behavior. This type of testing has been found to be unreliable and has resulted in more euthanasia. It is recommended to observe behavior just like we do here at FHS. The animals are treated like we treat our own pets. Their behavior is watched during their time inside, during walks, medical treatment, feeding and play group. We have recently incorporated organized play groups under the safety guidelines of national organization “Dogs Playing for Life.”
As for the euthanizing of Guapo, the volunteers that are furious with us are referring to a very large, very powerful pit who nearly killed another dog and had on more than one occasion showed offensive aggression with children. Most of the volunteer dog walkers never walked him because he was just too much to handle. Policies and procedures were taken to evaluate the animal and a very sad decision was made.
As the director of the humane society, I take full responsibility for the decision and believe that the dog was a risk if sent out into the community. I would rather have these people upset with me than have a child or anyone else hurt. As for volunteer Cathy Saris, her dismissal was not because she spoke about euthanasia. She was released because she would not follow FHS rules. She was demeaning to the staff and she posted such comments on social media as the following:
Why don’t they tell us the real facts? The animals have no voice, we need to speak up for them. It’s always human error but unfortunately the dog gets euthanized, again and again. Children anywhere are a liability. Liability, liability, liability. It’s time to get another reason. I couldn’t be the person to walk them to their death or participate in this horrid ordeal. How do you sleep at night?
I absolutely cannot have the staff talked to or or referred to in that manner, nor would it be permissible in any organization. Our dedicated staff works too hard to be subjected to that sort of accusations and language, especially considering the difficult and stressful environment. We already have difficulty finding employees that will stay long term (and there are potentially alarming numbers regarding the safety of animal care workers.)
Our work is hard physically and emotionally as the animals come in and out of the facility. We ache for them when they come in battered and discarded. And we celebrate when they go to a new adopted home, praying that it will be their forever home. I believe we need to be humane not only toward the animals we care for but toward each other as well.
Another recent critic claimed to be a dog trainer that we turned away. Quite the opposite. She wanted us to pass out her business cards with adoptions. We agreed, but asked that she come in and work with a couple of shelter dogs, so that we could observe her training methods (We don’t want to recommend someone unless we know they have humane methods that include positive reinforcement.) She did not. We never turned away her help.
I hope that this perspective gives you a window into the life of a non-profit humane society. I’ve been devoted to the humane movement since 1984. Several of our staff have many, many years of experience. What we do may not always be popular because we investigate animal abuse cases, and we enforce local and state laws to protect the animals that do not have a voice. I live and breathe what I preach to the best of my abilities and I run an organization with these values.
Amy Carotenuto is the director of Flagler Humane Society.
