Humane Society leaders suspended amid Tucson animal-transfer probe

The Humane Society’s board also said it is seeking an independent investigation into allegations of potential wrongdoing that has played out for weeks on social media.

“Over the past several weeks, there has been a significant amount of concern expressed and questions raised regarding the transfer of 318 small animals to a family-run private group in Maricopa County” facility, the board said in a news release.

The saga started Aug. 7, when 318 small animals — including guinea pigs, rats, hamsters and rabbits — were transferred to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona from its counterpart in San Diego.

The board confirmed the animals were immediately transferred from Humane Society facilities in Tucson to “a family-run private group in Maricopa County” the same night they arrived.

Farley, in an earlier email to the Star, described the group as a “family-funded, family-run non-501c3 rescue in a close-knit community that works with many families in their community to help animals,”

However, animals activists in both San Diego and Tucson have said they are skeptical so many animals were placed in a facility so quickly.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“The plausibility of one single rescue placing so many animals in such a short period of time, it seems too good to be true,” said Nina Thompson, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Humane Society. “We’re a huge organization, San Diego Humane Society, we can’t place that many animals in such a short period of time.”

The Humane Society here said on a news release this weekend that it is in communication with the private group in Maricopa County.

There were 254 of the transferred animals successfully placed in adoptive homes and there is no evidence the animals were harmed, the board here said in its news release. The board also said it would try to get as much information about the transfer and well-being of the animals to help alleviate concerns that have been raised.

“The actions taken by HSSA’s board to suspend CEO Steve Farley and Chief Programs Officer Christian Gonzalez in response to this matter is a step in the right direction, but we are deeply saddened and angered by the potential outcome of our animals,” San Diego’s Humane Society said Sunday in a statement.

The organization still considering legal options and is hiring a private investigator to find out what happened to nearly 250 animals that still have not been accounted for, the statement continued.