Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services Unit Celebrates First Year In Service
By Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff // October 12, 2015
SHERIFF SEEKS MORE VOLUNTEERS
ABOVE VIDEO: Supermodel and actress Kate Upton was back in Brevard last March to host the Grand Slam Adoption Event at Space Coast Stadium, sponsored by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and Matthew Development, LLC.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – As most of you are aware, last year the Brevard County Sheriffs Office was asked by the County Commission to take over Animal Services for Brevard County effective October 1, 2015.
Although we still have a number of goals to reach, and a lot to learn, our animal services team, volunteers and rescue partners have done an remarkable job during the past 12 months!
When we first assumed this very important role, we made a commitment to make Brevard County a countywide environment that is more humane, a commitment to raise the standard of care in our Care Centers and a commitment to save as many animals as possible through adoptions, fosters, and the development of relationships with rescue partners.
Without question, we understood the challenges and difficult task that laid ahead of us. Even with that knowledge, we established some lofty goals for our team, to include working toward “No Kill Status!!”
I am extremely excited to share with you the results from our first year of service, and as you can see it demonstrates that we are well on our way to achieving our goals.
Below you will find a chart that is updated and presented each month by Ms. Lynn Miraglia who operates Brevard Lost Pets.
Before moving to Brevard County, Lynn was deeply involved with “No Kill Austin”, one of the most successful shelters in the country.
After moving to Brevard County, Lynn has created and managed a lost pet web site, and has been tracking Brevard’s live release rate (through public records requests) since 2010.
If you have not had a chance to visit Brevard Lost Pets on FaceBook or at BrevardLostPets.com please check it out, as it is an incredible resource to help reunite pets with their owners.
YEARLY Fiscal Year – Live Release Rate
• 2010 46.6%
• 2011 51.3%
• 2012 52.6%
• 2013 56.3%
• 2014 68.5%
• 2015 81.2%
As you can see from the above chart, previous to your Sheriff’s Office assuming Animal Service responsibilities, Brevard County averaged a 55% Live Release Rate (LRR) for the previous five years.
I am very proud to announce that our team has exceeded that number and ended our first year with a Live Release Rate of 80.4%. Even more exciting and significant to our team, volunteers and partners, is that we had five months in the past year that we achieved 90% or above with our Live Release Rate.
As many of you know, Animal Services is still new to our agency, and we are learning, developing and improving our services every day.
While we know that we will make mistakes along the way, we can say with confidence that we will continue to learn from those mistakes and will always work towards our goals and yours to eliminate homeless pets and eradicate animal abuse and neglect in Brevard County.
We can’t do this alone, and while we have an incredible core of devoted volunteers, we can always use more volunteers, foster parents, rescue partners and most importantly, the continued support of our community.
If you would like to help make a difference and volunteer, please CLICK HERE.
We have many opportunities that include, adoption counselors, greeters, dog walkers, enrichment programs, adoption events, foster parents and even a need for filling Kong’s with peanut butter!
Also, if you would like to make a monetary donation to help our cause and other Care Centers and Rescues in Brevard County, please visit the “Sheriff’s Pet Posse” link on our website.
The Pet Posse is a 501(c)(3), foundation established for the express purpose of enriching the lives of animals in Brevard County.
Please join me in congratulating our entire Animal Services Team including our members, volunteers, rescue partners and community for the incredible job, compassion and devotion they give to our animals.
I would also like to personally thank our Brevard County citizens for their support to our agency.
With your support and generosity, we all can truly make a difference in our animals lives. We would not be where we are today without you.
CLICK HERE if you would like to Volunteer; or CLICK HERE for more information about the Pet Posse.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.
Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft. That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today. The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.
Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.
Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.
