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PHOENIX - Hundreds of animals are missing, and two leaders at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona are suspended.
According to officials with the San Diego Humane Society, they turned over 300 pets to find new homes. However, they now have no idea where most of them are, after the animals went to a private group in Maricopa County.
"250 pets are still unaccounted for," said Nina Thompson with the San Diego Humane Society.
The San Diego Humane Society was well over capacity, and in August, officials with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona said they could help.
Afterwards, 318 pets were transported from San Diego to Tucson.
"The agreement and promise from HSSA that our animals would be placed with the rescue community, that they would be working with multiple rescue partners," said Thompson.
However, officials with the San Diego Humane Society said that isn't what happened, small pets, including rabbits and guinea pigs, essentially ‘disappeared’ after transport.
"They had placed all of the pets with a small, private, family-run – they called it ‘rescue,' we've learned that it's not a rescue," said Thompson. "They wouldn't tell us the name of the rescue or the family, or show us proof of happy adoptions or successful placements. We've been essentially told to take them at their word that the animals were placed into homes."
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Small animals sent to Tucson went missing
Officials with a humane society in Southern California say they are devastated, after hundreds of animals sent to a humane society in the Tucson area, and then subsequently went to a private group in Maricopa County. FOX 10's Marissa Sarbak reports.
As mentioned above, two leaders at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona – CEO Steve Farley and Chief Operating Officer Christian Gonzalez – have been suspended. The organization has not responded to our request for comment, but they did release a statement on their website.
The statement reads:
"The board of directors for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona has issued a statement regarding the recent transfer of 318 small animals to a private group in Arizona:
Over the past several weeks, there has been a significant amount of concern expressed and questions raised regarding the transfer of 318 small animals to a family-run private group in Maricopa County facilitated by the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA).
Soon after learning about this transfer and the concerns raised, the HSSA board of directors started monitoring the situation and began its work on gathering information and conducting initial research into the events. This included securing details on how and why HSSA became involved with this transfer, how and why these animals ended up with the private group, HSSA’s placement vetting and adoption processes, and – most importantly – the status of the animals’ safety.
Based upon communications with the private group, the board understands 254 of the animals at issue were placed in adoptive homes. At present, the board is aware of no evidence to the contrary. We are, however, working with the private group to secure as much information as possible regarding the animals and to confirm their well being. As people who care deeply about animals, we understand well the significant interest in ensuring the animals are OK. While this private group does not maintain adoption records in the manner that a large organization like HSSA does, we are looking for all the information available, formal or not.
Taking into account information received to date and representations made by the leader of the private group to the board’s investigator, the board presently has no evidence indicating any animal was harmed. Importantly, following certain comments made on social media, the private group requested HSSA take 63 animals not yet adopted (one animal had previously been returned to HSSA because of a minor eye issue, for which HSSA provided veterinary care). HSSA did so, and the animals arrived healthy and well in nice, clean habitats with fresh bedding/hay and toys. Of the 63, 24 were adopted and taken to California (HSSA has no knowledge of their status) and all but three of the remaining small animals at HSSA have been adopted.
To gather as much information as possible regarding the animals, HSSA’s processes and management practices, the board retained the services of a qualified, independent, third-party investigator who reports only and directly to the board. To ensure the integrity of this investigation, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, the board took action to suspend HSSA’s CEO and COO pending the results of the investigation, and to ensure that anybody with information inside or outside HSSA could provide helpful information without concern of retaliation. The board does not believe any such retaliation would occur, but we understand well that even the potential of it can chill someone with information from coming forward.
Anyone with information they would like to share with the board or its investigator should email the board at board@hssaz.org.
The board is composed of 15 individuals of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints – all of whom share a deep sense of love, care and concern for all animals and HSSA. The board will do everything in its power to ensure HSSA’s mission and function always was and continues to be to save the lives of animals entrusted to our organization. The board will provide a further update once it has deliberated on the outcome of the investigation."
Officials with SDHS say the suspensions are a good start, but they still want to know what happened to their pets.
"Our trust has been betrayed," said Thompson. "We are devastated. Our staff, our volunteers, everybody who cared for these animals for months, weeks, even some of them had been in our care for a year, were devastated. We want to know where these animals have gone."