Commissioner Prizzia Admits Concerns on ACAR's Response Times Are Valid
Alachua County Commissioner Anna Prizzia briefly brought up Alachua County Animal Resources (ACAR) towards the end of Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting.
Prizzia said, “I’ve talked to people in the community who’ve had difficult experiences getting [ACAR] to respond to calls. I think it may sometimes be hours, and sometimes it may be staffing with [ACAR].... It's been a variety of issues, it hasn’t been one thing. I’ve tried to buffer those with the conversations I’ve had with staff and you all. It keeps coming up again, and again, and again. I do think there is something there in regard to the level of service we have with animal resource officers and their response. Some of it is stray dogs or dog issues, but most of it is dogs being loose…. I just wanted to bring that up and say, if there is something [ACAR Director] Julie [Johnson] needs or if there are service issues in the coming budget year, I’d love to hear what those things are so we can address them. It keeps coming up.”
County Commissioner Anna Prizzia speaks about ACAR call response times. (video cred. gnvinfo)
At the December 10 BOC meeting, a public commenter spoke about losing their kitten after ACAR’s emergency line didn’t get back to her. She said it's a common story she's heard.
The controversy with ACAR started after GnvInfo publicized emails from former volunteers to county commissioners alleging animal abuse by Dr. Samantha Stephenson and mismanagement by ACAR Director Julie Johnson.
Cheyenne Lukander
Cheyenne Lukander
Jack Walden
