Hernando County Animal Services Director David Paloff: Beware of Pittie Party of Florida!
The Issue
The following letter was sent by certified postal mail on July 13, 2026, to Hernando County Animal Services Director David Paloff. It was also sent by email. Some personal information, such as phone numbers, have been redacted from this online copy.
"Dear Mr. Paloff:
I am reaching out regarding your Hernando County animal rescue pull-agreement partner Pittie Party of Central Florida. You are apparently scheduled to meet with them this week. One of your longtime Hernando County volunteers, Kelly Flood, alleged last week that Pittie Party was raising money last for an emaciated and seriously ill female dog, Sasha, who had already died at a private Osceola County veterinarian hours earlier.
According to Flood’s allegations, Hernando County volunteers drove Sasha to Pittie Party’s preferred private veterinarian in Osceola County for an anticipated handover. Upon arrival, the Hernando County volunteers were allegedly told by the private clinic that they were expected to pay for the seriously ill dog’s immediate needs, rather than Pittie Party. This is not the first time that Pittie Party has allegedly surprised another group’s out-of-town transport volunteers with unexpected financial pressure. The transport volunteers were apparently not in possession of Hernando County funds.
According to Flood, she called her acquaintance who lives in New Jersey, and that private individual fully paid the St. Cloud veterinarian’s bill for Sasha. Unfortunately, but also unsurprisingly, Sasha did not survive. It appears that she was deceased before Pittie Party fully took possession from Hernando County at the private clinic. Of course, that potential legal matter is to be argued between you.
The bill was allegedly paid in full that afternoon by the New Jersey private party contacted by Flood, then all human parties left the clinic or disconnected their calls. In the future, will there be plans so that your unpaid volunteers and transporters are not faced with unexpected veterinary bills in other counties when interfacing with your allegedly disreputable pull-partners? This is not the first time that Pittie Party and their adjacent pitbull groups headed by Lisa "Namaste" Smith have been accused of financial “bait-and-switch.”
In retrospect, this seemed to be a hazardous transfer of a critically ill and emaciated Hernando County dog to a reputedly problematic outside rescue in Osceola County. Once arrived, one or more of your unpaid Hernando County volunteers may have felt pressured to fund this directive without support from your shelter. Despite the generosity of an out-of-state private donor, Sasha expired anyway, and apparently before Pittie Party took full possession. We hope this decision wasn’t solely driven to avoid a death statistic on Hernando County’s monthly rolls. Lately, some municipal shelters seem inhumanely driven by “live release” metrics ordered by Best Friends Animal Society rather than what’s safe and kind for the animals, volunteers, and taxpayers. Sasha’s final days were spent in neglect. We hope this intercounty transport of a sick dog, ending in death, wasn’t ironically motivated to meet a Utah organization’s desired “no-kill” percentage point.
It has since been alleged by Flood that Pittie Party’s Sarah Patricia Schmidt deceptively posted a fundraising appeal for Sasha on Pittie Party’s social media later that evening and subsequently received money from a low-income senior woman in Florida. Commenters noted that this is not the first time that Pittie Party has been accused of possible fundraising fraud involving elderly donors, veterinarian bills paid by others, or deceased dogs transported in from “no-kill” municipal shelters. In turn, Pittie Party and their attorney Peri Sedigh are evidently demanding that you terminate the volunteer. They may be threatening civil action against additional senior Hernando County shelter volunteers.
Sarah Schmidt has been accused previously of attaining thousands of dollars in donations for medical treatment for pitbulls that have already died, were in the custody of a different shelter, and whose vet bill was already covered by volunteers for that other shelter. In 2025, Schmidt allegedly threatened another shelter's volunteers speaking up about the issue as she's threatening this time.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2620509644825929&set=a.148317125378539
It should be noted that Pittie Party may also have a pull-agreement with Pasco County and Miami-Dade. To facilitate transparency, they will receive a copy of this correspondence. You’re welcome to forward this email. In addition, this letter will be posted on social media with some personal information, such as addresses, redacted. Please conduct your own investigation before making decisions affecting your organization. Regard all of the following statements as opinions.
Pittie Party of Central Florida is owned and managed by New Yorker Sarah Schmidt, and is registered at 5280 Silver Thistle Lane, Saint Cloud, Florida. Schmidt's Facebook and other online posts claim that her group is a nonprofit, but she apparently doesn't have a current, valid IRS number on which she’s filed annual returns. She's completed Florida nonprofit paperwork for the past decade that clearly states that she must also register and file federal IRS forms but evidently has not. It appears she has been breaking the law. She also does not follow other Florida nonprofit laws and standards, such as holding a valid board of directors of unrelated members and that holds meetings. She tells her supporters that their donations are tax-deductible but this may be one of many falsehoods. In animal-rescue groups, Sarah Schmidt is known quietly as “There’s-ah Shyster.”
Please be advised that Schmidt networks and transports with New York convicted grand-thief Lisa Joy Smith, also known online as Lisa Namaste Smith from A Good Dog Rescue of Broward County. Smith has a long court history in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York for alleged harassment of county shelter workers and volunteers. There are also credible allegations of embezzlement, elder abuse, serious animal neglect, infectious disease, hoarding, and other concerns. Schmidt and other pitbull groups pull dogs from Miami-Dade and other municipal shelters where Smith is banned for harassment of employees.
https://nypost.com/2026/06/05/lifestyle/new-york-couple-locked-in-dogfight-with-pet-rescue-over-ownership-of-foster-pups/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/rescueresearch/posts/3160556110798394/
Each of Sarah Schmidt’s "rescue" pitbulls, which somehow remain at her kennel or get repeatedly returned for years, somehow develop one expensive medical crisis after another. For example, the dog Peach develops one costly medical condition, then another. Somehow, the vet bill in one situation jumped from $3K, to triple that overnight, but nobody found out what was wrong or at least it wasn’t divulged. Then another calamity, and another.
https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064704851617/search?q=peach
Sarah allegedly bait-and-switches potential foster parents, telling followers she needs someone to take a pitbull for just a weekend, which becomes a year.
Sarah Schmidt sometimes gains donors' trust by telling followers that they can call the veterinarian directly with their credit cards. It makes her seem trustworthy, so her well-meaning marks on the internet don't tend to call the vet at all. Donors tend to just Venmo the money to Schmidt directly instead.
Some people do actually try to call the veterinarians to pay directly. The receptionist at the Casselberry location of Veterinary Emergency Clinic of Central Florida told those callers that they had to Venmo Schmidt the money directly. This happens even after the callers read the receptionist the listing verbatim which said they could pay the clinic directly, which the receptionist seemed aware of, the receptionist told callers they couldn't. That listing seems to have disappeared, but not before being screenshotted by a caller.
Sarah Schmidt seemed to be present in that office and could hear the conversation taking place even though it was not on speaker phone, or at least the callers had not given permission to be on speaker phone. There seemed to be an arrangement between the receptionist and Schmidt. Some callers did not want to pay Pittie Party directly; they wanted to pay the vet bill for which Schmidt posts the supposed vet bills. Are those not real? Was the dog not alive by then?
The public is advised to record, publish, and share those calls. Others have, just as they've been taking Pittie Party screenshots in case some posts go away. Because it does appear that some photos weren't edited as well as they could have been. Sarah Schmidt may decide to delete these threads now for her dog "rescue."
Pittie Party apparently often uses the Casselberry location of a chain veterinary clinic, Veterinary Emergency Clinic of Central Florida that's more than two hours north of Schmidt's house when the traffic is light. The drive can be three hours when it's not. Supposedly, these vet visits for the pits are for expensive "emergencies." Schmidt apparently chooses to drive north through Poinciana, Florida which is ranked as having the worst traffic in the state. It's in Osceola County and Polk County, near the theme parks. The vet chain has an all-hours location in Orange County/Waterford Lakes that's between a half-hour to hour from Silver Thistle Lane.
https://veconline.com/locations/waterford-lakes/
Their all-hours location in Winter Garden is less than an hour from Thistle Lane.
https://veconline.com/locations/
Instead, Sarah Schmidt apparently drives from St. Cloud, far south of Orlando in the congested theme park district, to Casselberry, north of Orlando in Seminole County. Legitimate vet clinics do take direct payments from the public for animals that have true medical bills. Does Sarah Schmidt have an unethical monetary arrangement with someone at the Casselberry clinic?
https://veconline.com/locations/casselberry/
Schmidt is the only officer right now on her supposed nonprofit. Florida and IRS law require at least three officers, not that one should necessarily trust anyone associated with this operation. She doesn't appear to be a legit nonprofit by IRS standards, which means you're not "donating" to Pittie Party, you're giving to Sarah Schmidt. This may not be tax-deductible.
Schmidt's soliciting posts end with "
-The Pittie Party of Central Florida
501c3 Non Profit Dog Rescue"
It doesn't appear Schmidt has a valid, updated IRS number. If that's the case, she's breaking Florida law, which requires registered state nonprofits to also have IRS federal nonprofit status and file annually. She's been a Florida "nonprofit" for a decade but apparently isn’t annually filing for IRS status. Probably makes sense because Florida lets a lot slide with "nonprofit animal rescues" that the feds sometimes don't.
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/search-for-tax-exempt-organizations
If you believe that you were defrauded by Sarah Schmidt, you can consider contacting your credit card, Venmo or other online platform for a chargeback.
To report charity fraud in the state of Florida, go to the following link.
https://www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Charities/Charity-Scams
If you suspect that you or someone you know is a victim of interstate charity fraud, go to the following link.
If you or someone you know suspects that a charity is misrepresenting itself as an IRS-exempt nonprofit, go to the following link.
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/irs-complaint-process-tax-exempt-organizations
On January 8, 2026, Pittie Party complained in a post online they don't get enough donations unless there's a crisis. Conveniently, Pittie's Sarah Schmidt had one a couple days later, and then another.
Then they "suddenly" came across some supposedly abandoned animals on January 12. Convenient?
They often claim these animals are abandoned. In this January case, it's supposedly in Cocoa, which is Brevard County.
Some members of the animal rescue community have already called both the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and their animal services division, and they don't know anything about this. Sheriff Wayne Ivey would likely be interested in a multi-animal abandonment and neglect case if it were true.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey and Brevard County are known for stopping animal abuse, as seen on their social media feed. If this situation provably happened, the suspect would likely be on a live feed, taking that walk into the jail. Agreeing to surrender the animals to Ivey is unlikely to avoid that.
Pittie Party accidentally left in some clues in those photos that suggest that at least some were staged, and this wasn't actually in Cocoa.
As with many "crisis" calls for money, the cash may not be used for that "emergency." The situation "suddenly" gets solved the following day and/or an external party supposedly won't allow the rescue to have the animals. Such seems to be the case with this one. We recommend saving, publishing, and sharing the photos in case they delete them.
Pittie Party seemed to fake a rescue in a "flood." The footage is actually a South Florida agricultural town known as the Redlands, located near the Everglades in Florida. That "flood" is actually a well-maintained irrigation canal that runs east-west through the south Florida peninsula from Fort Lauderdale to Naples. More than a hundred malicious dogs roam that town and it's mostly the fault of pitbull “rescuers” who live in other counties.
Online "networkers" pull dozens of aggressive dogs from the South Florida municipal shelters and then dump them on the Redlands because it's a poor Black farm town where the residents have often no attorneys or political power to fight back. If Pittie Party attorney Peri Sedigh actually wished to dedicate herself to a valid legal cause, perhaps she can consider the blight that’s been caused to the residents and their imperiled companion animals in the Redlands and the Florida panthers of nearby Everglades.
This is just one example of Pittie Party’s fraudulent rescue videos and photos. In actuality, the water is not deep, but if things are so bad there, maybe it's the rich pit rescuers who should stop dumping vicious shelter-pull dogs there? These aggressive dogs kill baby Florida panthers in the Everglades and the state now has less than 250 total. All it may take is one big hurricane or virus, and the panthers will be extinct.
The dumped pitbulls attack Black farm workers while they work in the fields and their small children at school bus stops. Tourists used to come for the fruit stands, architecture, Black art murals, music, and festivals. The loose dogs have wrecked the tourism and local jobs that came with it. The dumped pitbulls kill the pet dogs and cats of the Redlands residents.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1422601216275871
It should be noted that the current attorney for Pittie Party, Valencia College instructor Peri Elyse Sedigh, has a long history with alleged scam animal activists, rescues, and sanctuaries. Her law office is located at 2443 Grandview Avenue in Sanford. She's promoted and advocated for her violent animal-rights protestor friends who fraudulently edit video footage from their staged riots so that they look like the victims, and the police or business falsely appears to be the aggressors. Two fraudulent activist groups in question are her friend Adam Sugalski’s Bear Defenders and OneProtest.
Sedigh used to represent her friend Jim Bronzo's Second Chance Wildlife Sanctuary in Orlando. If you've been watching the coverage of Miranda's Rescue in California, you can see the similarities to Second Chance. Jim Bronzo is Florida's Shannon Miranda, with the angry middle-age fangirls protecting him and denying that hundreds of animals are obviously disappearing. There are so many resemblances between the two carnies, such as the flamboyant silk blouses, prissy temper tantrums, and tacky bodybuilding. And more than a few dozen missing animals.
Peri Sedigh allegedly threatened ex-volunteers who tried to speak up about what a cruel con Second Chance was and how he cheated his donors and volunteers. Bronzo began calling himself a rescuer in 2012 but is actually a decades-long illegal wildlife poacher, exotic pet breeder, and inhumane reptile importer. The animals were crammed in filth. He had dozens of citations from FWC, which says a lot, as their enforcement is notoriously weak (see: Sloth World). He took donations from the public to "rescue" the public's pet rabbits, ducks, parrots, puppies, and kittens. He also took "open rescues" of piglets and chickens from paid PETA activists. When these people left, he or his convicted heroin-dealer assistant Don Eric Ballard fed the animals to the pythons and other reptiles Bronzo illegally bred. After every hurricane that hit Florida or Georgia, Bronzo would go online and soak out-of-state donors with the sob-story that it knocked down his fence and killed dozens of animals. He'd allegedly raise tens of thousands from international donors. Even when those hurricanes didn't touch Central Florida and Second Chance.
Bronzo told donors there were 350 animals living there. There were usually only around thirty and they were inventory, not rescues. The place was only 2.6 acres including his house, outdoor gym, art studio, Don Eric Ballard's heroin equipment, and the swampy backwoods. There wasn't room for 100 animals, let alone 350. Bronzo took in huge inheritances from elderly people on the false promise he'd look after their animals. Conned the high school, Boy Scouts, and court-ordered volunteers to clean up for free. They had no idea this was a for-profit trafficker, not a real sanctuary. He told the media, donors, and new volunteers in 2016 he'd been operating there as a nonprofit sanctuary for 35 years. He actually moved there sometime in the late 1990s to illegally breed and deal his exotics. He was working as a cheap Daytona Beach timeshare salesman, selling to sex traffickers and outlaw biker gangs. He didn't even claim to be a "sanctuary" until 2012, which is when he realized he could scam elderly women for money and score free labor to clean his cages.
Second Chance had a convenient overnight housefire in 2019, which was covered by insurance, but he and Peri threatened anyone who mentioned that. Bronzo took in millions for the next three years from donors. Not thousands - millions from around the world. People also donated multiple parcels of land so he could build a bigger sanctuary in Brevard County, but it's a mystery what happened to that. Builders donated wood, Spectrum Cable donated security cameras, and a lot of other goods were generously given by businesses and individuals. A new motorhome, animal feed, daily produce from Publix, clothes, animal medications, art supplies. Bronzo sold off a lot of those goods, then attained more of the exact same items from new or different donors who were unaware of the initial donations.
When ex-volunteers or other members of the public attempted to discuss this fraud online beginning around 2019, Bronzo spitefully exclaimed, “Wait until my lawyer gets ahold of them!” That lawyer was his friend, Valencia College instructor Peri Sedigh. She can be credited for protecting this Florida scam and others that have harmed good people and animals. She intimidated former volunteers in 2019 who had photos of seriously ill and neglected animals at Second Chance. The release of those images alone could have been enough to prevent further harm to hundreds of animals, as well as defrauding donors and volunteers. Instead, Sedigh continues to censor that data for her friend, Jim Bronzo.
Some animal rescuers and donors consider Peri Sedigh their big waving red flag or “caution” sign. If she’s associated with an animal charity or activist group, they don’t want to be. If Sedigh is involved with a “nonprofit,” they can be sure It’s majorly harming animals and egregiously defrauding seniors. If she’s a founder or board member of a Florida cause or movement, they run away and don’t look back.
Bronzo constantly played the lottery with some of the donations and won 1.5 million dollars for himself in 2021. He lied to his volunteers and the media about many issues about himself and the charity. About teaching waterskiing to big celebrities as an instructor at Disney, being in the hospital with long-term COVID, his grandfather being a gifted artist who painted with his teeth because he had no arms since childhood, the expensive African tortoises were found "wandering" in Orlando, playing the lottery on the exact same day of his late mother's supposed birthday, the dozens of gopher tortoises were only "temporarily" relocated to College Park because he was building a new water habitat for them, his llamas originating from comedian Robin Williams' family after he died, and that dozens of animals were disappearing because his evil neighbor was sneaking onto the property to steal them. All lies. He said the swans in the front pond were rescues, and sales from his paintings of them went to the "sanctuary." He actually stole those swans as babies from Lake Eola, and the money from the sales went into his personal bank account. He also illegally bred and sold swans. He converted an old refrigerator inside his kitchen into an incubator for the swan, peacock, and African Sulcata tortoise eggs he hatched and sold without licenses. The FWC never caught that. Perhaps this was a cause of that convenient housefire?
Rebuilding that house was always right around the corner after the 2019 fire, and he just needed more money to build it. Someone else was always at fault, supposedly.
The financial fraud and disappearing animals were reported by ex-volunteers multiple times to Orange County Animal Services and Orange County Sheriff's Office. Both declined to respond. Much like in California with Miranda's Rescue.
After Bronzo won the lottery in early 2021, the win was in a couple of local news stories because Florida lottery results are public record. He avoided the media but there was a little coverage anyway. The carnie realized that if some donors read the story, they might start asking why the rebuilding still hadn't happened. He knew it was time to quietly cash out with the millions in donations. Like a coward, he never announced it. He had his volunteers cleaning cages there until the end, unaware the place was being sold. Then Bronzo allegedly killed and dumped most of the remaining animals, sold the land, and is still taking in money from elderly women who don't know he moved to Winter Park. To this day, there has never been any announcement that Second Chance closed, the animals were killed or dumped, and that the land was sold.
Now Bronzo is a celebrated "conservation artist" who has art openings around Florida at galleries and restaurants. Nobody has publicly asked what happened to the literal millions of dollars raised for the rebuild, not to mention the land and general donations. The animal "rescue" and activist community has never publicly called him out and they're unlikely to. Valencia College instructor Peri Sedigh remains personal friends with him to this day and has not disavowed his actions. Grifters protect their own.
Consider all of these statements as opinions. Please perform your own research before making decisions affecting your organization.
Thank you for reading."
10
The Issue
The following letter was sent by certified postal mail on July 13, 2026, to Hernando County Animal Services Director David Paloff. It was also sent by email. Some personal information, such as phone numbers, have been redacted from this online copy.
"Dear Mr. Paloff:
I am reaching out regarding your Hernando County animal rescue pull-agreement partner Pittie Party of Central Florida. You are apparently scheduled to meet with them this week. One of your longtime Hernando County volunteers, Kelly Flood, alleged last week that Pittie Party was raising money last for an emaciated and seriously ill female dog, Sasha, who had already died at a private Osceola County veterinarian hours earlier.
According to Flood’s allegations, Hernando County volunteers drove Sasha to Pittie Party’s preferred private veterinarian in Osceola County for an anticipated handover. Upon arrival, the Hernando County volunteers were allegedly told by the private clinic that they were expected to pay for the seriously ill dog’s immediate needs, rather than Pittie Party. This is not the first time that Pittie Party has allegedly surprised another group’s out-of-town transport volunteers with unexpected financial pressure. The transport volunteers were apparently not in possession of Hernando County funds.
According to Flood, she called her acquaintance who lives in New Jersey, and that private individual fully paid the St. Cloud veterinarian’s bill for Sasha. Unfortunately, but also unsurprisingly, Sasha did not survive. It appears that she was deceased before Pittie Party fully took possession from Hernando County at the private clinic. Of course, that potential legal matter is to be argued between you.
The bill was allegedly paid in full that afternoon by the New Jersey private party contacted by Flood, then all human parties left the clinic or disconnected their calls. In the future, will there be plans so that your unpaid volunteers and transporters are not faced with unexpected veterinary bills in other counties when interfacing with your allegedly disreputable pull-partners? This is not the first time that Pittie Party and their adjacent pitbull groups headed by Lisa "Namaste" Smith have been accused of financial “bait-and-switch.”
In retrospect, this seemed to be a hazardous transfer of a critically ill and emaciated Hernando County dog to a reputedly problematic outside rescue in Osceola County. Once arrived, one or more of your unpaid Hernando County volunteers may have felt pressured to fund this directive without support from your shelter. Despite the generosity of an out-of-state private donor, Sasha expired anyway, and apparently before Pittie Party took full possession. We hope this decision wasn’t solely driven to avoid a death statistic on Hernando County’s monthly rolls. Lately, some municipal shelters seem inhumanely driven by “live release” metrics ordered by Best Friends Animal Society rather than what’s safe and kind for the animals, volunteers, and taxpayers. Sasha’s final days were spent in neglect. We hope this intercounty transport of a sick dog, ending in death, wasn’t ironically motivated to meet a Utah organization’s desired “no-kill” percentage point.
It has since been alleged by Flood that Pittie Party’s Sarah Patricia Schmidt deceptively posted a fundraising appeal for Sasha on Pittie Party’s social media later that evening and subsequently received money from a low-income senior woman in Florida. Commenters noted that this is not the first time that Pittie Party has been accused of possible fundraising fraud involving elderly donors, veterinarian bills paid by others, or deceased dogs transported in from “no-kill” municipal shelters. In turn, Pittie Party and their attorney Peri Sedigh are evidently demanding that you terminate the volunteer. They may be threatening civil action against additional senior Hernando County shelter volunteers.
Sarah Schmidt has been accused previously of attaining thousands of dollars in donations for medical treatment for pitbulls that have already died, were in the custody of a different shelter, and whose vet bill was already covered by volunteers for that other shelter. In 2025, Schmidt allegedly threatened another shelter's volunteers speaking up about the issue as she's threatening this time.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2620509644825929&set=a.148317125378539
It should be noted that Pittie Party may also have a pull-agreement with Pasco County and Miami-Dade. To facilitate transparency, they will receive a copy of this correspondence. You’re welcome to forward this email. In addition, this letter will be posted on social media with some personal information, such as addresses, redacted. Please conduct your own investigation before making decisions affecting your organization. Regard all of the following statements as opinions.
Pittie Party of Central Florida is owned and managed by New Yorker Sarah Schmidt, and is registered at 5280 Silver Thistle Lane, Saint Cloud, Florida. Schmidt's Facebook and other online posts claim that her group is a nonprofit, but she apparently doesn't have a current, valid IRS number on which she’s filed annual returns. She's completed Florida nonprofit paperwork for the past decade that clearly states that she must also register and file federal IRS forms but evidently has not. It appears she has been breaking the law. She also does not follow other Florida nonprofit laws and standards, such as holding a valid board of directors of unrelated members and that holds meetings. She tells her supporters that their donations are tax-deductible but this may be one of many falsehoods. In animal-rescue groups, Sarah Schmidt is known quietly as “There’s-ah Shyster.”
Please be advised that Schmidt networks and transports with New York convicted grand-thief Lisa Joy Smith, also known online as Lisa Namaste Smith from A Good Dog Rescue of Broward County. Smith has a long court history in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York for alleged harassment of county shelter workers and volunteers. There are also credible allegations of embezzlement, elder abuse, serious animal neglect, infectious disease, hoarding, and other concerns. Schmidt and other pitbull groups pull dogs from Miami-Dade and other municipal shelters where Smith is banned for harassment of employees.
https://nypost.com/2026/06/05/lifestyle/new-york-couple-locked-in-dogfight-with-pet-rescue-over-ownership-of-foster-pups/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/rescueresearch/posts/3160556110798394/
Each of Sarah Schmidt’s "rescue" pitbulls, which somehow remain at her kennel or get repeatedly returned for years, somehow develop one expensive medical crisis after another. For example, the dog Peach develops one costly medical condition, then another. Somehow, the vet bill in one situation jumped from $3K, to triple that overnight, but nobody found out what was wrong or at least it wasn’t divulged. Then another calamity, and another.
https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064704851617/search?q=peach
Sarah allegedly bait-and-switches potential foster parents, telling followers she needs someone to take a pitbull for just a weekend, which becomes a year.
Sarah Schmidt sometimes gains donors' trust by telling followers that they can call the veterinarian directly with their credit cards. It makes her seem trustworthy, so her well-meaning marks on the internet don't tend to call the vet at all. Donors tend to just Venmo the money to Schmidt directly instead.
Some people do actually try to call the veterinarians to pay directly. The receptionist at the Casselberry location of Veterinary Emergency Clinic of Central Florida told those callers that they had to Venmo Schmidt the money directly. This happens even after the callers read the receptionist the listing verbatim which said they could pay the clinic directly, which the receptionist seemed aware of, the receptionist told callers they couldn't. That listing seems to have disappeared, but not before being screenshotted by a caller.
Sarah Schmidt seemed to be present in that office and could hear the conversation taking place even though it was not on speaker phone, or at least the callers had not given permission to be on speaker phone. There seemed to be an arrangement between the receptionist and Schmidt. Some callers did not want to pay Pittie Party directly; they wanted to pay the vet bill for which Schmidt posts the supposed vet bills. Are those not real? Was the dog not alive by then?
The public is advised to record, publish, and share those calls. Others have, just as they've been taking Pittie Party screenshots in case some posts go away. Because it does appear that some photos weren't edited as well as they could have been. Sarah Schmidt may decide to delete these threads now for her dog "rescue."
Pittie Party apparently often uses the Casselberry location of a chain veterinary clinic, Veterinary Emergency Clinic of Central Florida that's more than two hours north of Schmidt's house when the traffic is light. The drive can be three hours when it's not. Supposedly, these vet visits for the pits are for expensive "emergencies." Schmidt apparently chooses to drive north through Poinciana, Florida which is ranked as having the worst traffic in the state. It's in Osceola County and Polk County, near the theme parks. The vet chain has an all-hours location in Orange County/Waterford Lakes that's between a half-hour to hour from Silver Thistle Lane.
https://veconline.com/locations/waterford-lakes/
Their all-hours location in Winter Garden is less than an hour from Thistle Lane.
https://veconline.com/locations/
Instead, Sarah Schmidt apparently drives from St. Cloud, far south of Orlando in the congested theme park district, to Casselberry, north of Orlando in Seminole County. Legitimate vet clinics do take direct payments from the public for animals that have true medical bills. Does Sarah Schmidt have an unethical monetary arrangement with someone at the Casselberry clinic?
https://veconline.com/locations/casselberry/
Schmidt is the only officer right now on her supposed nonprofit. Florida and IRS law require at least three officers, not that one should necessarily trust anyone associated with this operation. She doesn't appear to be a legit nonprofit by IRS standards, which means you're not "donating" to Pittie Party, you're giving to Sarah Schmidt. This may not be tax-deductible.
Schmidt's soliciting posts end with "
-The Pittie Party of Central Florida
501c3 Non Profit Dog Rescue"
It doesn't appear Schmidt has a valid, updated IRS number. If that's the case, she's breaking Florida law, which requires registered state nonprofits to also have IRS federal nonprofit status and file annually. She's been a Florida "nonprofit" for a decade but apparently isn’t annually filing for IRS status. Probably makes sense because Florida lets a lot slide with "nonprofit animal rescues" that the feds sometimes don't.
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/search-for-tax-exempt-organizations
If you believe that you were defrauded by Sarah Schmidt, you can consider contacting your credit card, Venmo or other online platform for a chargeback.
To report charity fraud in the state of Florida, go to the following link.
https://www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Charities/Charity-Scams
If you suspect that you or someone you know is a victim of interstate charity fraud, go to the following link.
If you or someone you know suspects that a charity is misrepresenting itself as an IRS-exempt nonprofit, go to the following link.
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/irs-complaint-process-tax-exempt-organizations
On January 8, 2026, Pittie Party complained in a post online they don't get enough donations unless there's a crisis. Conveniently, Pittie's Sarah Schmidt had one a couple days later, and then another.
Then they "suddenly" came across some supposedly abandoned animals on January 12. Convenient?
They often claim these animals are abandoned. In this January case, it's supposedly in Cocoa, which is Brevard County.
Some members of the animal rescue community have already called both the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and their animal services division, and they don't know anything about this. Sheriff Wayne Ivey would likely be interested in a multi-animal abandonment and neglect case if it were true.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey and Brevard County are known for stopping animal abuse, as seen on their social media feed. If this situation provably happened, the suspect would likely be on a live feed, taking that walk into the jail. Agreeing to surrender the animals to Ivey is unlikely to avoid that.
Pittie Party accidentally left in some clues in those photos that suggest that at least some were staged, and this wasn't actually in Cocoa.
As with many "crisis" calls for money, the cash may not be used for that "emergency." The situation "suddenly" gets solved the following day and/or an external party supposedly won't allow the rescue to have the animals. Such seems to be the case with this one. We recommend saving, publishing, and sharing the photos in case they delete them.
Pittie Party seemed to fake a rescue in a "flood." The footage is actually a South Florida agricultural town known as the Redlands, located near the Everglades in Florida. That "flood" is actually a well-maintained irrigation canal that runs east-west through the south Florida peninsula from Fort Lauderdale to Naples. More than a hundred malicious dogs roam that town and it's mostly the fault of pitbull “rescuers” who live in other counties.
Online "networkers" pull dozens of aggressive dogs from the South Florida municipal shelters and then dump them on the Redlands because it's a poor Black farm town where the residents have often no attorneys or political power to fight back. If Pittie Party attorney Peri Sedigh actually wished to dedicate herself to a valid legal cause, perhaps she can consider the blight that’s been caused to the residents and their imperiled companion animals in the Redlands and the Florida panthers of nearby Everglades.
This is just one example of Pittie Party’s fraudulent rescue videos and photos. In actuality, the water is not deep, but if things are so bad there, maybe it's the rich pit rescuers who should stop dumping vicious shelter-pull dogs there? These aggressive dogs kill baby Florida panthers in the Everglades and the state now has less than 250 total. All it may take is one big hurricane or virus, and the panthers will be extinct.
The dumped pitbulls attack Black farm workers while they work in the fields and their small children at school bus stops. Tourists used to come for the fruit stands, architecture, Black art murals, music, and festivals. The loose dogs have wrecked the tourism and local jobs that came with it. The dumped pitbulls kill the pet dogs and cats of the Redlands residents.
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It should be noted that the current attorney for Pittie Party, Valencia College instructor Peri Elyse Sedigh, has a long history with alleged scam animal activists, rescues, and sanctuaries. Her law office is located at 2443 Grandview Avenue in Sanford. She's promoted and advocated for her violent animal-rights protestor friends who fraudulently edit video footage from their staged riots so that they look like the victims, and the police or business falsely appears to be the aggressors. Two fraudulent activist groups in question are her friend Adam Sugalski’s Bear Defenders and OneProtest.
Sedigh used to represent her friend Jim Bronzo's Second Chance Wildlife Sanctuary in Orlando. If you've been watching the coverage of Miranda's Rescue in California, you can see the similarities to Second Chance. Jim Bronzo is Florida's Shannon Miranda, with the angry middle-age fangirls protecting him and denying that hundreds of animals are obviously disappearing. There are so many resemblances between the two carnies, such as the flamboyant silk blouses, prissy temper tantrums, and tacky bodybuilding. And more than a few dozen missing animals.
Peri Sedigh allegedly threatened ex-volunteers who tried to speak up about what a cruel con Second Chance was and how he cheated his donors and volunteers. Bronzo began calling himself a rescuer in 2012 but is actually a decades-long illegal wildlife poacher, exotic pet breeder, and inhumane reptile importer. The animals were crammed in filth. He had dozens of citations from FWC, which says a lot, as their enforcement is notoriously weak (see: Sloth World). He took donations from the public to "rescue" the public's pet rabbits, ducks, parrots, puppies, and kittens. He also took "open rescues" of piglets and chickens from paid PETA activists. When these people left, he or his convicted heroin-dealer assistant Don Eric Ballard fed the animals to the pythons and other reptiles Bronzo illegally bred. After every hurricane that hit Florida or Georgia, Bronzo would go online and soak out-of-state donors with the sob-story that it knocked down his fence and killed dozens of animals. He'd allegedly raise tens of thousands from international donors. Even when those hurricanes didn't touch Central Florida and Second Chance.
Bronzo told donors there were 350 animals living there. There were usually only around thirty and they were inventory, not rescues. The place was only 2.6 acres including his house, outdoor gym, art studio, Don Eric Ballard's heroin equipment, and the swampy backwoods. There wasn't room for 100 animals, let alone 350. Bronzo took in huge inheritances from elderly people on the false promise he'd look after their animals. Conned the high school, Boy Scouts, and court-ordered volunteers to clean up for free. They had no idea this was a for-profit trafficker, not a real sanctuary. He told the media, donors, and new volunteers in 2016 he'd been operating there as a nonprofit sanctuary for 35 years. He actually moved there sometime in the late 1990s to illegally breed and deal his exotics. He was working as a cheap Daytona Beach timeshare salesman, selling to sex traffickers and outlaw biker gangs. He didn't even claim to be a "sanctuary" until 2012, which is when he realized he could scam elderly women for money and score free labor to clean his cages.
Second Chance had a convenient overnight housefire in 2019, which was covered by insurance, but he and Peri threatened anyone who mentioned that. Bronzo took in millions for the next three years from donors. Not thousands - millions from around the world. People also donated multiple parcels of land so he could build a bigger sanctuary in Brevard County, but it's a mystery what happened to that. Builders donated wood, Spectrum Cable donated security cameras, and a lot of other goods were generously given by businesses and individuals. A new motorhome, animal feed, daily produce from Publix, clothes, animal medications, art supplies. Bronzo sold off a lot of those goods, then attained more of the exact same items from new or different donors who were unaware of the initial donations.
When ex-volunteers or other members of the public attempted to discuss this fraud online beginning around 2019, Bronzo spitefully exclaimed, “Wait until my lawyer gets ahold of them!” That lawyer was his friend, Valencia College instructor Peri Sedigh. She can be credited for protecting this Florida scam and others that have harmed good people and animals. She intimidated former volunteers in 2019 who had photos of seriously ill and neglected animals at Second Chance. The release of those images alone could have been enough to prevent further harm to hundreds of animals, as well as defrauding donors and volunteers. Instead, Sedigh continues to censor that data for her friend, Jim Bronzo.
Some animal rescuers and donors consider Peri Sedigh their big waving red flag or “caution” sign. If she’s associated with an animal charity or activist group, they don’t want to be. If Sedigh is involved with a “nonprofit,” they can be sure It’s majorly harming animals and egregiously defrauding seniors. If she’s a founder or board member of a Florida cause or movement, they run away and don’t look back.
Bronzo constantly played the lottery with some of the donations and won 1.5 million dollars for himself in 2021. He lied to his volunteers and the media about many issues about himself and the charity. About teaching waterskiing to big celebrities as an instructor at Disney, being in the hospital with long-term COVID, his grandfather being a gifted artist who painted with his teeth because he had no arms since childhood, the expensive African tortoises were found "wandering" in Orlando, playing the lottery on the exact same day of his late mother's supposed birthday, the dozens of gopher tortoises were only "temporarily" relocated to College Park because he was building a new water habitat for them, his llamas originating from comedian Robin Williams' family after he died, and that dozens of animals were disappearing because his evil neighbor was sneaking onto the property to steal them. All lies. He said the swans in the front pond were rescues, and sales from his paintings of them went to the "sanctuary." He actually stole those swans as babies from Lake Eola, and the money from the sales went into his personal bank account. He also illegally bred and sold swans. He converted an old refrigerator inside his kitchen into an incubator for the swan, peacock, and African Sulcata tortoise eggs he hatched and sold without licenses. The FWC never caught that. Perhaps this was a cause of that convenient housefire?
Rebuilding that house was always right around the corner after the 2019 fire, and he just needed more money to build it. Someone else was always at fault, supposedly.
The financial fraud and disappearing animals were reported by ex-volunteers multiple times to Orange County Animal Services and Orange County Sheriff's Office. Both declined to respond. Much like in California with Miranda's Rescue.
After Bronzo won the lottery in early 2021, the win was in a couple of local news stories because Florida lottery results are public record. He avoided the media but there was a little coverage anyway. The carnie realized that if some donors read the story, they might start asking why the rebuilding still hadn't happened. He knew it was time to quietly cash out with the millions in donations. Like a coward, he never announced it. He had his volunteers cleaning cages there until the end, unaware the place was being sold. Then Bronzo allegedly killed and dumped most of the remaining animals, sold the land, and is still taking in money from elderly women who don't know he moved to Winter Park. To this day, there has never been any announcement that Second Chance closed, the animals were killed or dumped, and that the land was sold.
Now Bronzo is a celebrated "conservation artist" who has art openings around Florida at galleries and restaurants. Nobody has publicly asked what happened to the literal millions of dollars raised for the rebuild, not to mention the land and general donations. The animal "rescue" and activist community has never publicly called him out and they're unlikely to. Valencia College instructor Peri Sedigh remains personal friends with him to this day and has not disavowed his actions. Grifters protect their own.
Consider all of these statements as opinions. Please perform your own research before making decisions affecting your organization.
Thank you for reading."
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Petition created on July 12, 2026