Hello everyone,

My name is Sarah Collins and I have started this campaign to bring further awareness to the residents of Queen Anne’s County about the ongoing issues with Ramon Villatoro, the current Chief of Queen Anne’s County Animal Services (QACAS). In the last year, over a dozen QACAS employees have come forward to report their concerns to Queen Anne’s County HR Department. However, each time, not only were concerns dismissed but the meeting records were shared with Ramon, so he was aware of everything that was said.

The issues reported to HR include Ramon having multiple sexual relations with staff members, such as a previous Adoptions Coordinator as well as rescue partners, which he commonly bragged about. These inappropriate relationships and conversations fostered a hostile work environment at QACAS. Last June after submitting my two-week notice, I made an appointment to report my concerns to HR of which Ramon was made aware that same day. After finding out, he pulled me into his office and proceeded to ask why I was going to HR. When I informed him that I did not feel comfortable discussing my reasoning with him, he replied “Go out peacefully Sarah. You already submitted your notice so go out peacefully or you’ll regret it”. I took this comment as a threat but was dismissed by HR in my meeting.
Queen Anne’s County Animal Services is the open admissions shelter for the county, meaning they cannot turn away any domesticated pets from Queen Anne’s. Specifically in the last year, instead of allocating resources to the dogs we receive from QA residents, Ramon chooses to put all resources towards dogs he pulls from other animal shelters such as Aggieland Humane Society in Texas who transfer hundreds of animals to QACAS each year. I would also like to point out that this was never the case when Ramon formerly reported to the Board of Directors for the Animal Welfare League of Queen Anne’s County.

Being an open-intake shelter, often we get dogs in that have behavioral issues which vary but Ramon now chooses to euthanize any dogs that are food aggressive, reactive, resource guard items such as toys or treats, have provoked bites on their record or show aggression towards other animals. For example, last April a two-year-old Foxhound named Ziva who we had adopted out months prior, was returned. Ziva has started resource guarding items in her new home, she never bit anyone but would growl. Her family scheduled a consultation with a professional Animal Behaviorist who concluded that “The adoption was a lifestyle mismatch, and unfortunately both the family and Ziva have suffered because of it” and suggested it was in their best interests to return Ziva so she could find an adopter that would provide the vigorous physical exercise, mental stimulation and training that Coonhounds require. After returning to QACAS, Ziva was evaluated by a former Shelter Behaviorist and failed to show any signs of aggression or resource guarding during the evaluation, but Ramon opted to euthanize Ziva the following day against suggestions from both Behaviorists.

Dogs are not the only animals that Ramon has chosen to euthanize rather than adopt out recently. In the past QACAS, like many others shelters, has had a Barn Cat program in place to help reduce the feral cat population in Queen Anne’s County. In November 2020, Ramon created new protocols regarding feral cats and that after two weeks of being in the shelter, they were to be euthanized. This resulted in many shy cats being unnecessarily euthanized because they were not given enough time to acclimate to the shelter environment. Our Shelter Behaviorist did actively try working with shyer cats to help them come out of their shell but on multiple occasions, Ramon went against her professional recommendations and euthanized any shutdown or shy cats after he deemed them feral.

Ramon‘s poor management has also led to many financial problems for QACAS. He fails to submit the bills on time to the Finance Department for the county, which results in bills going unpaid for months on end. QACAS has been past due for months on bills from vet offices such as Town & Country Vet, Spay Now, and High Street Veterinary Practice. Utilities have also gone unpaid; our phones were shut off by the company after Ramon ignored many notices. Running out of supplies ranging from dog food to toilet paper, medicine, surgical supplies, trash bags, etc., is a daily occurrence at QACAS.

Last June I emailed all five Queen Anne's County Commissioners after leaving my position. The only response I received was from Todd Mohn, the County Administrator, who did request to meet with me but after our meeting, there was no follow-up. I will attach screenshots of the email I sent along with a breakdown of the live release rate for QACAS from last year. 

Due to the lack of action by the County Commissioners and Human Resources Department, I am forced to ask the community to take action. We must stand together to protect the integrity of our community. This can be done by writing to the County Commissioners. Please be the voice for those without.
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” -Elie Wiesel