- December 16, 2025
Jef Hale, who was hired in 2010 to be Flagler Humane Society director, was fired last week.
Jef Hale, executive director of the Flagler Humane Society, was fired last week.
“Fundamentally, there was a decision by the board to take the shelter in sort of a different direction as an open shelter,” board member Christina Franzen said Monday. Franzen joined the board in July 2011, two months after she began volunteering at the shelter.
Hale, who was hired in 2010, said in a phone interview last week that he was disappointed by the board’s decision, but wasn’t necessarily surprised.
The finances of the organization are in dire straits, he said. Hale has been accused of not caring for the animals and also for being incompetent as director — both of which he says are flat wrong.
“I think more was done to engage the community during the time I was there than anything previously,” Hale said. “I’ve created low-cost vaccination clinics. That was me. I was doing that to engage the community.”
Internal disputes
Last year, there was a dispute between Hale, a board member, and a volunteer. The volunteer was fired. At the time, the volunteer was fostering 10 kittens that had ringworm, and those kittens were brought back to the shelter. But the shelter had no way of treating the kittens, nor a way to isolate them. And so, with the fear that the ringworm could spread to other sheltered animals, as well as humans, Hale said he was forced to euthanize them.
“We’re euthanizing perfectly healthy animals every day,” Hale said. “Do you try to spend money on sick kittens, or do you try to place perfectly healthy cats?”
Dr. Joy Gournic, who has been a supporter of the Flagler Humane Society since she moved to town almost 10 years ago, was upset the way the Humane Society handled the situation with the kittens and the volunteer.
Gournic spoke Jan. 17, to the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners, stating her displeasure with operations at the Humane Society.
Gournic’s opnion matters to the Humane Society. In an Aug. 3, 2011, email to the Humane Society board, Gournic stated that she had decided to remove the Flagler Humane Society has the beneficiary of her trust. Gournic previously had a $500,000 donation to the shelter in her will.
According to Gournic, the volunteer dropped the 10 kittens off to the shelter to get neutered and spayed. The volunteer had plans to bring the kittens to PetSmart, where they could be adopted. When the volunteer called the next day to pick up the kittens, she was told she wasn’t allowed on the premises, Gournic explained in a phone interview Monday. The volunteer had someone else stop by the shelter, who was then told the kittens had been euthanized. That second volunteer was later relieved of duties, too, according to Gournic.
Franzen said Gournic’s email to board members expressed that Hale’s decision to euthanize the 10 cats was in retaliation for the dispute he and the board member had with the volunteer who was let go.
Hale believes Gournic’s complaints were his final straw. Gournic has never met Hale. She said Monday that her problem was with the overall organization. She wants to see the members of the board fulfill their obligations as board members, not just have the title.
“I felt Jef Hale was a symptom of a cancer that started to grow in the Humane Society,” Gournic said.
‘I’m not uncaring’
Despite the controversy, though, Franzen said there are no immediate plans for the Humane Society to become a no-kill shelter.
“We’re not changing the fact that we’re an open shelter,” she said, noting the board wants to decrease the number of animals that are killed based on time, space or resource considerations.
“You’re always going to have animals (euthanized); that factor will remain,” Franzen said. “But what we were really lacking was a systematic way to proactively market or search for homes for animals when it comes down to the wire.”
The Flagler Humane Society claimed to be saving 98% of animals when Hale was hired. That was untrue, he said. He instituted a method to help measure the shelter’s live release rate, which would determine the likelihood that an animal would leave alive.
“For an open shelter, it’s typically 40% to 50%,” Hale said. “Our live release rate for December was 70%, which I think is damn good.”
Still, as a nonprofit organization, the society needed resources. Most of those resources come from the community.
“It’s the chicken or the egg,” Franzen said. “The board needs money to make a difference, but can’t get money if the community support isn’t there.”
Hale said he did engage the community.
When Hale was hired, he said, there was only one level of membership — $100. There weren’t any members.
Since then, Hale created tiers of $25, $50 and $100, and now there are between 200 and 300 members, he said.
“I resurrected the campaign from ashes,” Hale said.
Regardless, Franzen said, “A perfect storm of circumstances made now the right time to make a change ... and move in a different, and hopefully very positive, direction.”
As of Monday, there was no update on a new executive director. The Board of Directors was scheduled to meet Tuesday, when a decision could be made to possibly hire an interim director to allow the board members to conduct a longer search.
“I think the worst thing that could happen is we would rush a decision and get the wrong person,” Franzen said.
For Gournic, it’s not quite yet a done deal. She said Monday that she has an addendum in her will that would allow the Humane Society to still be the main beneficiary. “I’d like to see some positive action,” she said.
Hale said he is saddened by the termination, but saw it coming.
“I just don’t want to be painted as uncaring and incompetent,” he said. “The one thing I’m not is uncaring. I didn’t want to see euthanasia in that facility.”
Gournic said she simply wants what is best for the organization.
“There’s no personal gain for me,” she said. “I have no hidden agenda. ... It’s strictly for the animals and volunteers.”
—Brian McMillan contributed to this report.
