Sheriff Blasted for Ignoring Animal Slaughters, Champion Says No to Shelter Transfer

BROOKSVILLE – The battle continued over who is to blame for the deaths of countless animals at an illegal slaughterhouse, and the fate of the County's Animal Shelter took center stage during today's Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting.

President and Investigator for the Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) Richard 'Kudo' Couto blasted Sheriff Al Nienhuis for failing to take action against the operators of a nightmarish slaughterhouse. Couto hoped that by pleading his case to the BOCC, Commissioners might take action and hold him accountable. Couto stated, "We legally documented animals being hammered, beaten to death with two-by-fours, boiled alive, stabbed to death, including horses." Couto explained that ARM closed over 226 slaughterhouses while working with law enforcement over the past 14 years, resulting in hundreds of arrests. Couto says Nienhuis was given all the evidence needed to develop probable cause eight months ago, but that he ignored the brutal killings and took no action at all. "The Sheriff's Office had probable cause, not only to make arrests but to rescue all of the animals from his property – he left them – knowing they were going to be butchered alive. Al Nienhuis and the Sheriff's Office have failed. They failed the people and the animals of this community."

Just before Sheriff Nienhuis took to the podium, news of a fatal double shooting in Ridge Manor broke, forcing Sheriff Nienhuis to cut his time short. Nienhuis stated, "To say that we turned a blind eye is, of course, not true." Nienhuis stood by his position that nothing was done because he didn't want to violate someone's constitutional rights. "If you make a bad arrest, number one the person can get off because of, I think is a Fifth Amendment, double jeopardy, they could also result taxpayers to a liability, costing taxpayers a tremendous amount of money if we make a bad arrest."

The day after dozens of angry protestors toured the abandoned slaughterhouse, Sheriff Nienhuis went to the property with animal enforcement officers and Channel 8 News to pick up the remaining 5 pigs, a few chickens, and a dog. The move angered local rescues who were preparing to take possession of the animals to ensure they would not be sold to another slaughterhouse. Many say Nienhuis' "PR stunt" was just a way to try and mitigate criticisms from angry citizens who are calling on Nienhuis to step down as Sheriff.

Sheriff Nienhuis then turned his attentions to discussions regarding the transfer of Animal Services to his care, which was removed from the agenda just prior to Tuesday's meeting. "With regard to the agenda item, I wasn't prepared to speak on that, we were prepared to do a presentation. I think that everything that was said on that side of the dais was accurate. Commissioner Narverud came to us with a concern and wanted us to look into it." Nienhuis was referring to false claims that shelter employees used the "heartstick" method to euthanize a dog back in November of 2023. The claims sparked outrage in the community, leading many to call for the firing of Shelter Director James Terry. Some say the controversy was engineered for political reasons so that Narverud and Nienhuis could move forward with their plan to terminate Terry and give the Sheriff's Office control over more of the county's general fund.

Nienhuis said the takeover of Animal Services was not something he was "seeking out," but that just like other duties taken on by the Sheriff's Office that are not statutorily, Nienhuis says he would be happy to do it.

Chairwoman Narverud told Nienhuis, "I pulled the agenda item from the meeting because I knew you couldn't speak to everything that was going on and I didn't want it to be overshadowed by the horrific events that have happened."

Commissioner Steve Champion, the most outspoken conservative on the board, told his fellow commissioners, "I want to squash this right now. I want really, all of you on record, and I know we can't vote because it's not an agenda item anymore, we pulled it, I want you on record before the election to tell me to tell the public where you're at on this. Champion wants the administrator to move forward with hiring a veterinarian and other support staff so that Terry can do his job.

The county has held back on hiring staff due to talks of the transfer being delayed month after month. There are rumors that Narverud and possibly other commissioners have been working to sabotage Terry's reputation, so that when the board does vote on transferring the shelter to Nienhuis, a majority vote will be easier to achieve. Champion has been vehemently opposed to the move since it was first announced earlier this year. "For years now, we've talked about how great it's been. Instead of creating a controversy that should not exist right now," Champion says.

James Terry took the opportunity to defend his leadership and pushed back against plans to transfer Animal Services to the Sheriff. "The one inspiration for Commissioner Narverud was Brevard County. Brevard County's cost per animal is 35% higher. You mentioned the budget is $2 million. I'm sure Brevard has an amazing program, if you want to put another $700,000 into animal services, we could do tons of amazing programs." Terry says he's asked for Vet Tech, a maintenance person, and a front office worker but they were all pulled from the budget because of the possible transition.

Currently, Animal Service does not have a staff veterinarian because no one wants to accept a position not knowing if they will still have a job if a transfer occurs. Terry says they were on course to hire a veterinarian but due to the political controversy, she decided to accept a position elsewhere. "Everything has been thrown out of sorts with this potential transition and it's a major disruption to our operation, it's a major disruption to our animals, and I would just ask you consider that as we continue to not have this presentation."

In response to Terry's comments, Acting Chairman Commissioner Brian Hawkins said, "The reason this conversation ever came up was an issue over the euthanization of a dog and there was enormous outcry." Hawkins also questioned why it has taken so long for an audit to be completed. Terry responded, "The data has been sent up through administration. If that data gets filtered to commissioners or not, I'm not privy to the conversations." In response to the contrived allegations of animal mistreatment Terry said, "When there was an uproar, which was very much based on misinformation about something that did not happen, I have not had visits from Commissioners to come and sit down and stretch the issue out and talk about it." Terry continued, "When you went back to November, it didn't feel like a conversation, it felt like an attack because we had all those people come up and say a bunch of lies and I stood here and asked you to take the arrows and defend us and had one commissioner say 'I won't defend the indefensible,' again leaning into information that was not accurate and did not occur."

Commissioner John Allocco seemed to ignore Terry's explanation for why talks originally began, stating, "I have no opinion because I have not seen a proposal." Allocco continues, "All I want is an animal shelter that is run well and honestly has minimal emails and phone calls from angry people."

Commissioner Champion told R News today, "This is nothing personal with the Sheriff's office. I think the men and women of law enforcement do a great job here in Hernando County. I believe they should continue to focus on keeping the public safe. Our great leader James Terry, his staff, and outstanding volunteers can handle the shelter just fine as long as we get him the resources he needs to care for these animals."

Narverud's opponent Republican Ryan Amsler says, "Many folks are reaching out to me saying that while they feel Commissioner Narverud is a good person at heart and pray for her health condition, Tuesday appeared to them to be a poorly choreographed circus and that politics had gone too far with the animals at risk. I pray that is not the case, but the optics exhibit political chaos."

Candidate for Sheriff Joe Puglia did not sparse words over the issues. "I said this the other night at the Wellington forum, that it's unfortunate our Sheriff's position has become so political. It's to the point where his explanations for failures have become ineffective and frankly insulting to the intellect of the residents in this county. I just don't think they are buying it anymore. The Sheriff seems to spend more time on Facebook touting small accomplishments as grand achievements than he does being a true leader. That's not me. I plan to be an actual cop, go after criminals on all levels, hold our people accountable, and deliver services the citizens deserve, that includes bringing body cameras to this county - there is no excuse for not having them." Puglia goes on to say, "As it relates to the animal shelter, the Sheriff is in no position to run that effectively. He doesn't have the expertise, nor the manpower and it certainly will not be fair to the animals. You can't be an absentee owner and expect a successful business, it will most certainly fail."

Commissioners agreed to wait for the outcome of a pending audit, which is scheduled to start on August 6th before moving forward with hearing a proposal from Sheriff Neinhuis. They also agree to release funding immediately so that James Terry can hire the staff he needs.

Despite all five commissioners being registered Republicans, voters claim there is a noticeable difference between Commissioner Champion, a staunch Trump supporter, and the other four commissioners. Many see the board as being comprised of one true Conservative and four establishment RINOS, which they say is evident in the often 4 to 1 vote over defending freedoms, raising taxes, and "rubber stamping" big budget increases.