Audit of Volusia County Animal Services clinic finds 'lax controls' and 'possible fraud'

"Lax controls" at the Volusia County Animal Services clinic ended up costing the county about $26,000 over a few years, including funds lost from what the county describes as an "alleged fraud" according to an audit.

The audit focuses on Brittany Schupp, a former veterinarian assistant in Animal Services, who says she wants to have her name cleared along with the name of the nonprofit she co-founded.

Unrelated to Schupp, the audit states lax controls also led to drugs and donated items in the clinic being vulnerable to theft and other issues.

Volusia County Internal Auditor Jonathan Edwards recently shared the findings of the audit report with the county council. The report says that Schupp undercharged or did not charge at all for various services for her own nonprofit as well as others.

The clinic's services include sterilization, microchipping, vaccinations, and examination and treatment of incoming animals.

Schupp according to the audit was "manipulating invoices to benefit her rescue organization, All Paws on Deck (APOD), and perhaps others," the report says.

It said she told a sheriff's detective that her supervisor approved many of the undocumented invoice changes, however "this approval was not documented nor maintained. It is unclear if others were involved or not."

Finding foster homes

Schupp is treasurer and co-founder of a pet rescue nonprofit located in DeLand, and her mother is the president, she said. They don't run a shelter but focus on connecting animals with medical services and foster homes, she said. Their nonprofit is not affiliated with a similarly named nonprofit in Winter Park.

The sheriff's office interviewed Brittany in January about 56 invoices where services weren't properly charged, which cost the county $1,020. The sheriff's office forwarded the investigation to the State Attorney's Office for possible misdemeanor charges of petit theft and altering records.

The State Attorney's Office filed a notice of intent not to prosecute on March 9.

But more information was uncovered ― with a much larger financial loss ― during the audit process, County Manager George Recktenwald said. So the county has turned the audit report over to the sheriff's office for further review.

Charged improperly

The audit focuses on the clinic's operations from Nov. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2022.

The audit found customers weren't charged properly for services, not just attributable to Schupp. The report says that the clinic had "weak internal controls" and "a lack of supervisory oversight of daily activities."

Also, employees frequently provided discounts instead of standard fees and were inconsistent in how they charged customers. Employees were allowed to handle transactions even where there was "a clear conflict of interest."

"Undocumented approvals of charging less than the standard amount of the fees resulted in approximately $26,000 (or 17%) revenue loss to (Volusia County Animal Services). Of this amount, $10,275 can be attributed to (All Paws on Deck) and $15,725 attributed to other customers," according to the report.

Notice of dismissal

Schupp received a notice of intent to dismiss, which is listed in the audit, and a notice of dismissal for alleged disciplinary issues.

It says she gave a cat that came into Animal Services to an animal rescue that belonged to a friend instead of notifying the cat's actual owner. The owner was identified by a microchip. It says she altered documents and lied to superiors about the issue.

The dismissal also says there were other workplace issues with Schupp, including using county property for personal gain and unprofessional conduct: slamming doors and cursing at the workplace and at an event.

She is appealing the dismissal.

As of the June 20 Volusia County Council meeting, All Paws on Deck was still allowed to bring animals to Volusia County for animal services. But council members voted 7-0 to no longer do any business with Schupp and her nonprofit.

Schupp denies allegations

Schupp spoke with the News-Journal about the audit report. She said her invoices with reduced charges or no charges have legitimate and approved reasons behind them.

"Myself and All Paws on Deck did not do anything wrong, which was documented in the sheriff's report, which is why all the charges were dropped via the state attorney's office," she said.

She also provided a lengthy written response to the audit. For example, reduced charges or no charges were applied for services because she volunteered at the clinic before being hired, and a supervisor approved without her requesting it.

Some cats were given to the care of her nonprofit, instead of going to a shelter, costing the county money. Others were euthanized because they had issues discovered after they were brought in.

She also said a grant program covered some services, and rescheduled surgeries were provided for free and she brought in some animals to take advantage of "free wellness Wednesdays."

While she was suspended because of a disciplinary issue, all surgeries were provided free of charge to all animals. She wrote that "no one knew how to check people out or input paperwork."

Schupp also pointed out that part of the audit that says a new fee schedule approved by the council didn't immediately get updated in the system because of "short staffing and lack of cross-training."

The county's audit and the sheriff's office report conflict with points in Schupp's letter. For example, the audit says that she listed domesticated cats as wild cats so they would be listed with no charge needed for services.

Short notice

Schupp said she didn't know about the item on the county council agenda until she got a call from a county employee on the same day of the meeting, June 20. If she had known earlier, she would have shared her side of the story, she said.

During the sheriff's office investigation, former Animal Services Director Adam Leath shared information that conflicted with Schupp's account of events.

Among other things, he said that she never had permission to receive services for animals belonging to her or her nonprofit free of charge, according to the sheriff's office report. Leath and Public Protection Director Mark Swanson said the county wanted to pursue charges against Schupp.

A detective also spoke with Laura Stiwinter, a former clinic supervisor. She "indicated that it was common for her to use discretion as the clinic supervisor and not charge for certain veterinarian services rendered if the animals were deemed 'rescues,'" according to the report.

"Laura advised she often would provide animals to an array of different local shelters in an effort to prevent from having to remand them to the humane society, who would in turn bill the County of Volusia."

Becky Haze, listed in the report as clinic supervisor, told the sheriff's office she never allowed fees to be waived because of late paperwork, which was what Brittany told the sheriff's office about some of the invoices.

What is Volusia County doing now?

The county's audit report highlights holes in the operations that opened the door to abuse.

The audit report recommends close to 30 updates to how the Animal Services Division is run.

The recommendations include changing how payments and money are handled, implementing checks and balances to prevent theft, doing more to prevent conflicts of interest, improving how pet-license sales are tracked, and changing how non-controlled substances are handled ― the audit found that Animal Services handled controlled substances properly.

A couple of council members also criticized the leadership that was in place at Animal Services at the time the audited financial losses took place.

"It's just my ... feelings: Obviously this was orchestrated. It was larger than what it was," Vice Chair Danny Robins said. "And I have a hard time believing the staff at the time or possibly the director or the leadership at the time that oversees that did not or could not know about this, and I'm really curious to see the outcome in this investigation."

Robins said whoever was involved needs to be held accountable "to the maximum." Council Chairman Jeff Brower said he agreed and added it "should have been caught by the supervisor there."

"I'm glad that senior staff had suspicions and instead of kind of letting that out they went to (the auditor) and did a full investigation, and that does need to be carried out," Brower said.

Leath was the director of Animal Services from January 2019 to May of this year. He is now the CEO of the Halifax Humane Society. The humane society has a contract with Volusia County for providing shelter to animals received from the county, which does not have an animal shelter. The county operates an animal clinic.

Robins suggested that the county give greater oversight to the contract with Halifax Humane Society. Leath didn't respond to messages seeking comment.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: County says possible fraud in Volusia Animal Services cost thousands