JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayor Lenny Curry has named an interim division chief of Jacksonville's Animal Care and Protective Services who steps in after former chief Nikki Harris resigned amid controversy.
John Shellhorn, who was the head of Mosquito Control for the city, takes over after Harris stepped down amid an investigation by the city's inspector general's office into claims by a whistleblower that she was falsifying euthanization numbers to maintain the shelter's no-kill status.
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That investigation is expected to take a couple more months.
Harris is now working at the Jacksonville Humane Society.
Harris wrote wrote in her resignation letter to the city that "this has been a difficult decision to make," and that she would continue to work through Oct. 7 before "pursuing other opportunities that I believe will help me reach my long-term career goals."
READ: Nikki Harris' letter of resignation
One of the shelter's former employees wrote what he said was just one of many letters sent to the city about the conditions.
Inspector General Thomas Cline could not comment about the investigation, but said it began after News4Jax aired a series of stories about the whistleblowers' allegations.
John Dolores wrote a letter last year to the city of Jacksonville and he said he wasn't alone. He's glad that the city is doing what he calls justice to all animals who lost their lives.
"There was quite a few problems, along with missing equipment, targeting people, there were many issues -- euthanizing animals that shouldn't have been euthanized," Dolores said.
Dolores described the conditions he saw as an Animal Control and Protective Services employee over the last five years that he worked there. He said it got so bad that he had to write a letter to the city.
"They lost a lot of great employees because of management," Dolores said.
Those same concerns were expressed in more letters sent last month to the city's Ethics Commission, alleging that two managers falsified data and used fraudulent reports in order to maintain the ACPS' no-kill status.
Harris personnel file shows that she came to ACPS from First Coast No More Homeless Pets in 2013. She was appointed chief the next year and given a salary of $90,000. According to her resume, she's worked with animals since 2003 and holds a graduate degree.
The file also contained a letter of praise from former Mayor Alvin Brown, congratulating Harris on being named the 2014 Outstanding Supervisor of the Year by the Florida Animal Control Association.
There were no mentions of any wrongdoing in her file.