Sheriff's office prepares to take over operations at Brevard animal services

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Brevard County Sheriff's Office will soon take over animal services, but the sheriff said his staff is already putting new operation procedures in place.

The county manager, sheriff and clerk of courts met Tuesday about a scathing audit of animal services and enforcement. The Sheriff's Office will take over the department in October.

"Our team is going in with a clean slate, with policies and procedures that were not only looked at from our own local animal services, but our teams have gone out to other animals services throughout the state to see what their best practices are," said Sheriff Wayne Ivey.

The 51-page audit from the clerk's office addresses a number of issues, including inadequate data management, the condition of animal kennels and a lack of consistency in administering euthanization drugs.

"The sheriff is making the effort. They are going to upgrade the software. They understand the issues with animal care, they will have more volunteers working," said Clerk of Court Scott Ellis.

Ellis described the meeting as productive.

"There will be a lot of good changes coming and I think we're all looking forward to it," said Ellis.

County officials said they'll check back on the progress of changes at animal services later in the year.

WFTV