Volunteers at Broward’s troubled Animal Care and Adoption Division (ACAD) are required to sign a county-approved agreement that seeks to muzzle them from posting “any criticism or disparaging comments” about the agency or its leaders on social media.
The agreement’s restrictive language was added after several controversial dismissals of volunteers who alleged mismanagement and abuse of shelter animals, including the 2019 firing of a trio of volunteers who posted photos and videos of dogs allegedly being mistreated at Broward’s animal shelter, built in 2017 at a cost of $16.5 million.
Such disclosures touched off a series of county audits in recent years that identified a host of problems at the division. The most recent audit, more than 200 pages long with more than 130 recommended fixes, was released in late December.
>
Volunteers at Broward’s troubled Animal Care and Adoption Division (ACAD) are required to sign a county-approved agreement that seeks to muzzle them from posting “any criticism or disparaging comments” about the agency or its leaders on social media.
>
The agreement’s restrictive language was added after several controversial dismissals of volunteers who alleged mismanagement and abuse of shelter animals, including the 2019 firing of a trio of volunteers who posted photos and videos of dogs allegedly being mistreated at Broward’s animal shelter, built in 2017 at a cost of $16.5 million.
>
Such disclosures touched off a series of county audits in recent years that identified a host of problems at the division. The most recent audit, more than 200 pages long with more than 130 recommended fixes, was released in late December.
(post is archived)