‘You’ve got animals constantly coming at you.’ Miami-Dade pet shelter head on her new job

Sebastian Madigan

January 25, 2023 at 6:00 AM·7 min read

One of the first things that Bronwyn Stanford realized when she took over the helm of Miami-Dade Animal Services was that rescuing and caring for lost cats and stray dogs was strikingly similar to dealing with children who needed homes or protection.

As a longtime administrator with the Florida Department of Children and Families and Children’s Home Society, Stanford was bracingly familiar with the hardships borne by those who had suffered abuse, neglect or abandonment. Upon joining the county’s animal shelter in November 2021, she saw the needs as all too common.

“The issues are so much the same — getting kids really good homes, getting animals really good homes,” Stanford said in an interview.

Stanford oversees the county’s $15 million shelter, which opened in 2016 and has an annual budget of $33 million. Not only is there the constant movement of dozens of animals in and out of the facility, but she oversees 280 employees, who in turn manage as many as 250 volunteers. During much of 2022 and into the new year, the shelter has been overwhelmed with animals to the point it had to stop accepting new ones.

She lamented that there are “never enough foster parents or animal adopters” and said it’s imperative to reduce the amount of time that animals and children spend in shelters or foster homes. Remaining long in either setting is “not ideal,” Stanford said.

‘Way more difficult’ than her DCF job

It didn’t take her long to realize the the job at the animal shelter is “way more difficult,” she said, than the posts she held at DCF.

“I think it’s because you’re dealing with life and death more,” Stanford said. “I dealt with that there too, but I will tell you that there’s so much scrutiny. You’re in the public eye whatever you do.”

She pondered that comment for a moment. “I don’t mind being watched,” she added. “You’re always going to do the right thing for the right reasons. I just think that you’ve got animals constantly coming at you.”

A former attorney and prosecutor who was raised in East Brunswick, N.J., and earned a law degree from Stetson University College of Law, Stanford acknowledged that, even after working for the troubled and scandal-ridden DCF, it took courage to assume the stewardship of Animal Services. The agency has been bedeviled over the years by controversies of its own and subject to the fierce emotional responses — and sometimes irrational passions — of people who love animals.

Pets returned after COVID adoptions

The timing of Stanford’s move to the county shelter in Doral was especially difficult coming during the COVID pandemic.

“Almost the minute I started, we were just coming off COVID here and we were already over capacity in a month,” she said. “We already had not enough space for the animals. They were coming in at an alarming rate. I’ve been in crisis mode since I got here.”

Stanford has had a lifelong interest in caring for animals.

“From the time I was a little girl, all I wanted was to take care of animals,” she said. “I was the kid that was always bringing animals home.”

Esther Jacobo, who worked with Stanford at DCF, said she wasn’t at all “surprised that Bronwyn was called to be the leader of an agency that rescues and takes care of pets.”

A passion for helping children, animals

“From the beginning,” Jacobo said, “it was clear that Bronwyn not only had a passion for helping families and children but she had a passion for helping animals. She had several cats and she often showed us photos of the cats in outfits that she picked especially for their personalities.”

Some years ago, while living on Miami Beach and serving as managing director for DCF’s Southern Region, Stanford often drove through Overtown on her way to work and would see dozens of stray cats and kittens. “I’d drop off food for them,” Stanford said, because the colony of cats was living in a neighborhood that could scarcely sustain it.

“A lot of times they’d have kittens. I’d grab them and spay and neuter them, or I’d pay a trapper to spay and neuter them. I just started taking it on myself to rescue them and find good homes for them.”

Some of the cats ended up in her apartment. Some are still there, although she would not say how many. “A few,” she conceded. “I wasn’t taking tons of them home.”

In 2017 Stanford decided to start an organization, CJPaws, to help stray animals. “I came up with the name and I love it,” she said. “It stands for Compassion, Justice and Protection for the Animals We Save.”

Three years later, when she accepted the directorship of Animal Services, Stanford handed over the reins of CJPaws to avoid a conflict of interest.

Stanford’s initiatives at the shelter include:

▪ Daily walks or play time for dogs.

▪ The creation of a “canine enrichment specialist” who trains shelter staff to deal with unruly dogs to make them more adoptable.

▪ Adding a nonprofit arm, Pets Thrive in 305, and a development director. There’s a fundraising gala planned for May 20. Tables for eight will be available for $5,000.

“This is a great shelter, but I’m really trying to make a lot of changes here,” Stanford said. “I want to create a great culture with the employees. ...Some of the changes we’ve made have come from them.”

Dahlia Canes, an animal-rights activist based in Cutler Bay, compliments Stanford’s efforts.

“She listens to suggestions and solutions brought up by different individuals or groups,” said Canes, who runs the nonprofit Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation, which advocates against laws banning pit bull terriers and similar mixed breeds. “She has a heart of gold, works tirelessly and is damn smart. I hope people will realize that the situation with dogs and cats in Miami-Dade County is at an all-time drama high. She is doing the best she can with what she has.”

Not all such activists are as effusive. “Personally, I believe when she came into the position of director she came with the best intentions and many plans,” said Chelsea Palermo, a longtime critic of the Miami-Dade shelter. “I have seen very few of those plans actually come to fruition. I have worked with her countless times with many empty promises and minimal results. I do not believe this is all her fault. There has been a lot of push-back from other members of the administration.”

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she was proud of Stanford’s progress in the midst of a “national shelter crisis.”

“First and foremost, she loves animals and is personally deeply committed to their welfare,” the mayor wrote in an email. “Bronwyn has successfully managed the highest daily population in the last quarter while experiencing staffing shortages that she is aggressively addressing.”

In addition, Levine Cava said, Stanford has “developed a solid leadership team focused on building trust and strong community partnerships while enhancing Miami-Dade’s Animal Services mission to save, protect, and care for our pets.”

Stanford has adopted three pets since she started working at Miami-Dade Animal Services: two kittens, Paxton and Zoe — the latter came with a skull fracture and brain damage — and a Chihuahua named Parker, found in a canal in the Everglades.

“Alligators were in the canal, and little Parker was swimming for her life,” Stanford recalled being told later. “A couple walking along the canal saw this and the gentleman jumped in to save Parker.”

The little dog, stressed and afraid, was taken to the Redland Dog Sanctuary. During a visit, Stanford picked up the Chihuahua and held her. The sanctuary’s director, Newton Siquira Jr., “told me that that was the first time the dog stopped shaking” since being found, Stanford said.

A few days later, she took Parker home.

“She is the perfect dog for me because she is small, does not bark, and gets along with my cats,” Stanford said. “She is the perfect condo dog!”