- December 4, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council approved another one-year contract with the Flagler Humane Society in a 5-0 on Oct. 7.
The contract is similar to the contract adopted by Flagler County in September. The city will have two liaisons, a council member and staff member, meet quarterly with two FHS board members to review financial reports, intake reports and contract performance.
Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri had several concerns she asked to be addressed before approving the item. Primarily, Pontieri wanted to work out a definition for “overpopulated” in the contract, which states the shelter "must not be overpopulated," but does not provide a metric.
“We have to be able to track these things,” she said.
FHS Executive Director Amy Carotenuto said the shelter being overcrowded could mean different numbers depending on the situation. When FHS took in the 98 cats taken from a Palm Coast home, Carotenuto said she had several cats in her office for a while. Other times, she said, she’s had to borrow cages from the Halifax Humane Society to accommodate an influx of animals. Each population is different, she said, and there isn’t a hard-fast number in place.
“We make do, and then once those animals get adopted, we're back to normal again,” Carotenuto said. “But the animals themselves never suffer because of that.”
But Pontieri said if the FHS does not know the number, it makes it difficult for the city to know what its future needs are. Pontieri said there should be a standard of how many animals can fit in a certain amount of space.
“Because, no offense, but you can't even really define it,” Pontieri said, “We can't define it, you can't define it. What does overpopulation look like?”
Councilman Ty Miller said, by definition, anytime the FHS has to create temporary housing for animals or borrow cages from other shelters, “that’s when we’re overpopulated.”
Pontieri asked Carotenuto to work out with Palm Coast Code Enforcement a solution to that definition.
“I think we just need to keep the lines of communication open,” Pontieri said.
