County silent on animal shelter shake-up

<p>Sonoma County officials who a few months ago effusively praised Amy Cooper for turning around the county's troubled animal shelter are now refusing to say why she was removed from her job with no warning to her staff.</p><p>Cooper's sudden departure as director of Animal Care and Control after less than a year on the job once again raises doubts about management of the county's main shelter following years of criticism, some of it contained in audit and grand jury reports.</p><p>It also has many in the county's network of animal welfare agencies worried about the future of their programs.</p><p>“Amy was very open and forward thinking, and understood the complexities of the problems that we shared mutually,” said Desiree Stinson, executive director of Pets Lifeline, Sonoma Valley's animal shelter. “I'm disappointed that she's gone. I was looking forward to a lot of progressive changes taking place.”</p><p>There was hope when Cooper was hired last July that she would bring stability to an agency that has had two directors since 2006, when a management audit detailed numerous problems with shelter operations.</p><p>Cooper appeared to be succeeding on a number of fronts, including a dramatic decrease in the number of animals killed at the shelter after she started work.</p><p>At their April 13 meeting, county supervisors singled Cooper out for praise after she provided them with a progress report.</p><p>“Amy, we are blessed. Thank you for coming on board,” Chairwoman Valerie Brown said. “It's been a total turn-around just in seeing the relationships that are being built. I know it's stressful and challenging.”</p><p>Brown did not return several calls this week seeking comment about Cooper's departure or what effect it will have on the animal control division.</p><p>Jim Leddy, the county's community and government affairs manager, said Brown was prevented from speaking on those subjects because of labor laws.</p><p>“When it comes to an employee's disposition, we are not allowed to comment. It's illegal,” Leddy said.</p><p>He would not discuss the terms of Cooper's employment with the county or if there was any financial agreement upon her departure.</p><p>But Cooper's departure has generated rampant speculation in animal care circles.</p><p>Some shelter employees and officials in other animal welfare agencies said it involved a personality conflict between Cooper, who did not return several messages this week seeking comment, and Cathy Neville, the county's agricultural commissioner who oversees the animal control division.</p><p>Neville on Wednesday again declined comment on her decision.</p><p>Asked if there are areas that need improvement at the shelter, Neville cited a need to expand spay and neuter programs to reach under-represented segments of the county.</p><p>Others speculated that Neville was motivated to act at the behest of animal welfare advocates, most notably R.J. Kamprath, a vocal critic of the agency.</p><p>In an e-mail to The Press Democrat on Wednesday, Kamprath reiterated her concerns — similar to those expressed by Neville — about spay and neuter programs not reaching a wider audience.</p><p>She also said the shelter has refused her requests to provide statistics on animals entering and leaving the shelter.</p><p>Such data, covering the first half of Cooper's tenure, appears to be available at the county's website. But Kamprath wrote that she looks “forward to leadership that will provide this needed accountability and transparency.”</p><p>Kamprath insisted she was “as surprised as anyone” by the news of Cooper's departure.</p><p>On Tuesday, Neville met with the shelter's 30 or so employees to tell them Cooper was no longer with animal control. But she refused to elaborate on their requests for more information, said several people who were present.</p><p>“We were not given any satisfactory answer,” said an animal control officer who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. “We were just told that she (Cooper) was no longer working here and that's all we needed to know.”</p><p>Another officer said many employees are angry about the decision.</p><p>“We think this is crazy,” the officer said. “It's put the shelter in a negative light again. It's ridiculous.”</p><p>The officer said staffers spoke with Cooper after her departure and she declined to talk about it.</p><p>“She was committed to us and looking forward to her evaluation, and thought everything was great,” the officer said. “So did we.”</p><p>Sheri Cardo, a Petaluma animal welfare advocate and former public information officer for the Marin Humane Society, said the public is owed an explanation for why Cooper was let go.</p><p>“Her loss makes me really angry and makes me fear for the future of that shelter and for the animals,” Cardo said. </p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com.</p>