Humane Society of Southern Arizona CEO ousted amid furor over animal transfer

PHOENIX - Two top executives at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona are out, and an investigation is underway into the transfer of hundreds of small animals to Maricopa County, after the organization received them from its counterpart in Southern California.

We first reported on the controversy surrounding the Humane Society of Southern Arizona on Oct. 3. Officials with the San Diego Humane Society said they were well over capacity, and in August, officials with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona said they could help.

Afterwards, 318 pets, including guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters and rat, were transported 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 Nina Thompson with the San Diego Humane Society.

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.

"250 pets are still unaccounted for," said Thompson. "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. 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."

HSSA officials hold news conference

At the time, we reported that HSSA suspended two of their leaders – Chief Executive Officer Steve Farley and Chief Operating Officer Christian Gonzalez – have been suspended. On Oct. 5, officials with HSSA said Farley has been fired, while Gonzalez resigned. Both, according to officials with HSSA, oversaw the transfer. 

During a news conference, HSSA Board of Directors Chair Robert Garcia said the men were negligent in their actions, and failed to follow protocols.

"To rectify the situation, we have begun a search for a new interim CEO, and plan to announce our selection soon," said Garcia. "We will also conduct an audit, and invite stakeholder input to make additional improvements to regain the public’s trust."

Garcia also laid out a timeline of what happened.

"The Humane Society board was first made aware of the transfer on August 31 by the CEO, who communicated to us that the small animals were successfully transferred to a private, family-run group in Maricopa County operated by a Trevor Jones," said Garcia.

Garcia said the board was told the organization successfully worked with Jones on small animal transfers, on at least two other occasions.

"We also discovered that Trevor Jones was merely an individual who routinely facilitated animal adoptions, primarily through personal relationships at his church and community, and was not a licensed rescue organization," said Garcia.

On Sept, 1, Garcia said an employee expressed concerns about the health and safety of the animals, as well as community members. The board started looking into the situation, and Garcia said the board was told that 254 of the animals had been placed, However, he said there were no records of the adoptions.

On Sept. 2, Garcia said Jones returned the remaining 64 animals.

"A rescue group from San Diego collected 28 of those animals," said Garcia. "Today, all but three have been placed with other rescue agencies or adopted."

Fate of some of the animals reportedly unknown

On Sept. 26, the board launched a formal, independent investigation

"On Sept. 29, the humane society board first learned from the media of a Colten Jones, believed to be the brother of Trevor and owner of the Fertile Turtle, a reptile farm," said Garcia.

Garcia could not say whether the animals may have been fed to reptiles.

"Do you have any reason to believe they were perhaps handed off to any sort of organization that would use them as food?" Garcia was asked by a reporter during the news conference.

"We don’t have information to verify that at this point. Our investigation continues," said Garcia.

We have been unable to reach the Jones brothers for comment.