Longtime Azteca City employee speaks out about animal shelter
Kelly Willits and Cindy were rescued from the Aztec Animal Shelter about four years ago.David Edward Albright/Tricity Records
Kelly Willits, former veterinary technician at Aztec Animal Shelter, was fired on May 12, 2022. In September, she filed a lawsuit against the city of Azteca, alleging violations of the New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act.
Willits said she loves her job and this lawsuit is an attempt to draw attention to abuse at animal shelters and change certain practices.
After a brief investigation, the city will settle Willits’ claim for $95,000, Daniel C. Apodaca of the Saucedo Chavez law firm in Albuquerque said in a Feb. 2 statement. He said he agreed.
Aztec City Manager Jeff Blackburn responded via email with “no comment.”
The complaint filed by Apodaca included 57 elements, including violations of whistleblower laws, retaliation against Willits, and wrongful, unlawful and wrongful termination of Willits.
Element 57 stated that “as a direct and proximate cause and result of Defendant’s (City of Aztec) conduct, Willits was injured and suffered damages in the amount that will be shown at trial.”
Willietz, who has worked at the Aztec Animal Shelter for nearly 17 years, has primarily assisted with spaying and neutering. She and her Dr. Chris Bauer performed over 17,000 surgeries during her 14 years.
“This does not include amputations or surgeries due to other types of injuries,” said Willits, who also served as an animal control officer at times.
“I’ve always been really proud of the fact that we continued to do what was right for animals,” she said.
Willits said she has never been verbally reprimanded or written up.
Best Friends Animal Association Grant
Willits said the problem arose after the Aztec Animal Shelter received a Best Friends grant from the Animal Society in 2020 that provides funding to trap, neuter and release stray and feral cats in trapping areas.
Best Friends has set a “zero-culling” standard that “90% of the dogs and cats that come to the shelter must be saved.” The program required treated animals to be released quickly to avoid them becoming sick or consuming resources such as food, medical supplies and laundry, Willits said.
The three-day turnaround time was extended to seven days because the shelter had a veterinarian one day a week, Willits said.
Kelly Willits is holding a turtle. (David Edward Albright/Tricity Records)
Willits’ concerns
Willits first became concerned that the cat was not released in a timely manner.
“They were housed in cat rooms and cat wings for weeks at a time,” she said. “There was a discussion about who would pay for the cat to be turned away.”
Willits believed it was a misuse of the grant money to continue sheltering cats in the face of overcrowding and health concerns such as upper respiratory infections and ringworm. As the number of surgeries increased, it became difficult to find a place to put the cat.
“My concern was that above a certain number it’s not safe,” she said. Because they have to be monitored.
Initial inspection by Best Friends staff
Willits’ complaint alleges that in 2020, management became concerned that Best Friends’ inspection visits once or twice a year would leave empty kennels empty, and the shelter was forced to do what was right for the animals. He says he no longer does it.
“Management made the comment that grant recipients would not be able to come here and see all of the cat houses,” Willits said.
Willits said she began releasing the cats through the back door of the shelter. She said she started with about 30 cats, but then she started letting them out when she was away from the shelter.
She also said cats and dogs were improperly classified as hot-tempered or aggressive, even though the shelter advertised itself as a “slow-kill” rather than “no-kill” shelter. He said the animal had been euthanized, and that the animal was not euthanized due to limited space.
Initially, Willits spoke with supervisors and others.
“The more I voiced my concerns about it, the more they froze me out,” she said.
Willits told her boss that the friendly dog was advertised as adoptable on a website (http://www.aztecnm.gov/animalshelter.html) and was not being sent to a shelter for a chance. He said he told him.
“Euthanasia has to happen… We don’t have enough homes. … We understand there is room for it, but only after exhausting all possibilities,” Willits said, adding that computers don’t have enough homes. It added that dogs were on the unavailable list.
“When I asked why they hadn’t exhausted all possibilities before euthanasia, I was told that once they knew people were here, they couldn’t euthanize without making a big fuss about it,” Willits said. he said.
Kelly Willits has adopted many animals, including birds and baby rabbits. She is currently taking care of kittens.David Edward Albright/Tricity Records
“A cold and hostile environment”
Mr Willits said anyone who spoke out was treated badly and the environment became cold and hostile.
“We were supposed to be a safe place for homeless and abused animals, and it just didn’t feel like that was happening,” Willits said.
“I was told it didn’t concern me,” Willits said.
Important factors in determining euthanasia are temperament and illness. And these classifications can be easily manipulated or mislabeled, Willits said.
Willits said she stuck to her job, but began saving emails and text messages from former employees and rescue organizations.
“I felt it coming…because I had never been treated like that in 16 and a half years,” Willits said.
She was told she was not allowed to speak to the rescue coordinator and had sent the rescue coordinator a photo of the dog listed as unreachable.
“No one spoke to me and meetings were being held behind closed doors,” Willits said.
Willits was told by text message to meet with kennel supervisor Lisa Tucker, shelter director Tina Roper and four others.
According to the complaint, Willits was concerned about meeting with Tucker without other staff members present. She told Roper about this.
Willits said: tricity records She said she also contacted Aztec’s human resources department and requested a meeting, but received no response.
“For reasons that are unclear, the Azteca Animal Shelter, apparently in coordination with the City of Azteca’s Human Resources Department, has determined that Mr. Willitt’s behavior constitutes ‘insubordination’ and that he will be verbally reprimanded,” the complaint states. is stated.
Ms. Willits received a verbal reprimand toward the end of her shift and spoke with Ms. Roper to express her concerns about the reprimand. The conversation became heated and he thought it would be best for Willits to leave about an hour early, according to the complaint.
Roper and Willits walked to the truck, the suit goes on, but she didn’t worry because they routinely left early at the shelter after work.
At around 5:55 p.m., Willits received an email asking him to meet with various employees at City Hall the next morning, according to the complaint.
The complaint states Willits believed this was a meeting scheduled for the previous day. However, she was informed of her intention to terminate her employment. Her reason is that the day before she had left work early and abandoned her job.
The suit states the reason for the termination was Willits’ continued coercion into various inappropriate acts and inaccurate reporting of the number of kills at the shelter.
Willits said that what he really wanted after being certified unemployed was to speak out and provide evidence.
“You can’t do more than what you can do in your own area,” she said. “And I want to go public and have people look at this situation and dig deeper… ask probing questions… maybe we can hold them more accountable.” yeah.”
“It was never about the money. If I had zero I would have gone through this. This is for the animals and I hope that by me doing this it gives someone else the courage to speak out. ” she said.
She said the good people in the shelter fear retaliation.
“I understand that they need the job. But there’s a point where if you don’t stand up for what’s right, you’re just part of what’s wrong,” Willits said. .
