08/05/2026
Wow.
๐จ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น.
In a single vote, the Board repealed the existing Animal Advisory Council ordinance and replaced it with an entirely new one.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ญ๐ฏ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ผ, ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ณ๐๐น ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐๐'๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ.
Yesterday, that Council ceased to exist.
Current Council members didn't learn their terms had been terminated until after the vote, when they received an email with a draft of the new ordinance attachedโ๐ ๐จ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ค๐ก๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐ช๐๐ก๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ.
Effective immediately:
โ The 7-member Animal Advisory Council was abolished.
โ Every current Council member's term ended.
โ Anyone wishing to serve must now reapply under an entirely new system.
But this wasn't simply a reduction in the size of the Council. It was a complete restructuring of ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ฉ.
Instead of ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐-๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป โ where each commissioner appointed a citizen representative โ the new Council is limited to five specialized positions selected from prescribed categories.
As a result, the Council no longer guarantees citizen representation from every commission district. If the goal was to add specialized expertise, the Board could have expanded the Council while preserving community representation. Instead, it reduced the Council from seven members to five, eliminating district-based citizen representation altogether.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ.
The Director of Animal Welfare & Enforcement โ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ก ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ โ will now serve as the Council's non-voting chairperson. Furthermore,๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ก, with final appointments made by the Board of Commissioners.
An advisory council is supposed to provide independent oversight, ask difficult questions, and hold government accountable. ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น'๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น'๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐จ๐จ ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑโ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
This isn't about politics.
This isn't about personalities.
This is about transparency.
This is about accountability.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐น๐น...
What happens to the work the current Council was already driving?
Just last month, the Council voted to schedule a special session to advance concrete, high-impact recommendations they had spent countless hours developing over the past year, including:
โข Pushing for overhead/bird's-eye view security cameras inside the shelter to monitor animal housing and improve transparency
โข Establishing a county spay/neuter voucher program
โข Advancing a proposal to ban retail pet store sales for profit
โข Implementing independent shelter audit recommendations and medical oversight improvements
Do those critical efforts continueโor do they disappear or will they have to start over under a newly appointed Council?
๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก! ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒโ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐!
If you've ever wanted to help improve animal welfare in Gwinnett, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ.
Please contact the Board of Commissioners and ask them to amend the new Animal Advisory Council ordinance by restoring independent community representation while preserving the new professional positions.
We've prepared an email that you can personalize and send in less than 60 seconds!
๐ง Take action here:
https://gwinnettanimaladvocacyalliance.com/animal-advisory-council-action/
Please take a minute to send your email, share this post, and tag someone else who cares about animal welfare. Every respectful email helps. Thank you for standing with us. โค๏ธ
Gwinnett County Government
Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson
Matthew For Gwinnett
Commissioner Ben Ku
Commissioner Jasper Watkins
Kirkland4District1
