Audit highlights rift among leadership of
Safe Harbor Animal Rescue of the Keys
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
The recent news that the Monroe County Clerk of Courts has launched a forensic audit of Safe Harbor Animal Rescue of the Keys comes as no surprise to Bill Kauck.
The Marathon charter boat master claims to have experienced dysfunction and inefficiencies at the shelter first-hand in his attempts to adopt a new pet.
“I tried to adopt two dogs from there, twice, in August,” said Kauck, whose longtime Great Dane/Shepherd mix Otto passed in February. “And they told me they needed a credit report, and my Social Security number, among other things. I told them that kind of information was none of their business. I even had a vet make calls to them on my behalf. It really made me wonder why they would turn a viable dog adopter away? There are a lot of animals involved here. How many other dogs have been shut out of adoption?”
The simmering dispute among SHARK’s leadership stems from a difference of opinion about how the 501(c)(3) non-profit should operate, between its board of directors, and its top-dog, Executive Director Tara Vickrey.
The latter communicated her concerns to County Administrator Roman Gastesi in a letter two months ago in which she she accused the board of failing to “. . . keep and maintain accurate and accessible records of minutes, members, filings, financials and so forth.
“I can’t begin to imagine that a review by any competent IRS agent of our records (of those that could be produced) would not show that the organization does not meet the reasonable standards set forth by law to operate as non-profit,” she added. “I think that the actions of a few have jeopardized the hard work and dedication of the many.”
However the president of SHARK’s board, Sandy Tuttle, has pointed out that while the organization is late paying some of its bills, its leaders have taken on a strategic planner, in the hopes of increasing its revenue stream.
In the longer term, the board has sought approval from the County Commission to turn over responsibility for animal services in the Middle Keys to the the Florida Keys SPCA, which currently runs the Stock Island facility. That decision will be taken at the Oct. 21 meeting of the BOCC, in Marathon.
In the meantime, SHARK recently renewed its contract with the county, and is set to receive nearly a quarter-million dollars this fiscal year for animal control services, which are provided from Mile Marker 70, down to Mile Marker 17. The agency has also had to raise tens of thousands of dollars privately, to make ends meet, according to Tuttle.
All this causes taxpayer Bill Kauck to shake his head.
“How can they be crying poor, when they’re not adopting out animals to people like me?” he wondered. “I live across the 117th Street canal from [Vickrey] and they seem to be doing just fine, with a new boat, a Range Rover, and a new Mini Cooper. They also seem to be restoring what appears to be a vintage Nova. Meanwhile I’m driving a beat-up Chevy.”

 

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