Over the last couple of weeks two of Greenbelt’s three animal control officers have resigned, including Supervisor Walter Rivas-Flores, who had worked at the shelter since 2022 and became the supervisor in January this year. Earlier this year Rivas-Flores, who personally trained every volunteer, spoke enthusiastically about his big plans for the future of the shelter and described his work as “a labor of love.”
During the July 8 Greenbelt City Council meeting, resident Elizabeth Tobey called on council to support the recently beleaguered animal shelter. Tobey, who has volunteered at the shelter since 2012, thanked the city for maintaining the only municipal shelter in the county and expressed her support for the animal control officers. She lamented that the shelter has faced a lot of challenges in recent years and stressed the great need for it, in particular due to evictions, animals left behind in apartments and those found abandoned and abused.
She expressed concern about the turnover of animal control officers and asked what could be done to support them. “They’re very hard working and dedicated but I’m wondering if they are getting enough support to be able to do their jobs properly,” said Tobey. “What can we do as a city and a community to support the animal control officers and the shelter so that they can continue to help animals. And in helping animals we also do help people,” said Tobey.
“We understand the concerns. I am saddened that Walter resigned. He was doing such a great job,” said City Manager Josué Salmerón of the former shelter supervisor. “It’s a tough job.… It’s hard to do that work.” He said that the second animal control officer had resigned that day.
“We’re actively recruiting for those two positions, but we [will] keep things in place to ensure that we have some basic operation at the animal shelter,” Salmerón said during his report.
He said the city also wished the conditions at the shelter were better, in particular to have a larger, newer space. There are plans to rehab the shelter with a new structure and the city hopes to have contracts for the project in place by the end of the calendar year. With only one remaining member of staff they are working to have other staff fill in shifts at the shelter and are grateful to volunteers.