My time at JFPS in 2020 began and ended with lies, manipulation, and verbal abuse from the ED, Kari Bagnall. I applied for the Office Administrator job they posted and when filling out my application, I made sure to include that I have an old back and left knee injury that acts up from time to time, especially when on my feet for long periods of time, and that I have asthma. At my interview I was told I was interviewing for the Office Admin position, but that they wanted me to shadow caregivers for a week, just so I could get to know the monkeys and see how the operations work, which didn’t throw up any red flags at first, because as an office admin, I would need to be able to answer questions about the sanctuary and monkeys, and route calls to the appropriate people. I was hired on the spot and asked to come in the next morning for training. I should also mention that the majority of my interview consisted of Kari trash talking former employees, mainly Brianna and Elizabeth, and she basically made everyone sound like lying, thieving, horrible people, and the reason as to why everything was so disorganized. Of course, after working there and dealing with Kari on a daily basis, I discovered she was the problem, and the former employees she spoke so poorly of were probably wonderful people... especially for putting up with her for so long! This was later confirmed by the high praises some of the caregivers that trained me gave Brianna and Elizabeth, as well as informing me that all the awful things Kari said about them were lies. My training began not in the office, but with caregivers. I was NEVER scheduled in the office for the first month I worked there, and I definitely did not just “shadow” caregivers. It was plain to see that I was never intended to be an office admin, even though that’s the job I was hired to do. Kari lied from the beginning and manipulated me into a caregiver position. She saw how much I loved the monkeys and used that against me. I was trained to be a caregiver and thankfully, by knowledgeable caregivers that had been there for a while, all of whom were on the tail end of their 2 weeks notice. Again, no red flags because both were pursuing school endeavors, so I thought nothing of it. I expressed multiple times that I felt as though my issues with my back and knee slowed me down, and I felt as though I was holding the other caregivers up, as I couldn’t keep the same pace as them. I did my best and hung in there. Climbing up and down ladders multiple times when cleaning habitats wreaked havoc on my bad knee, and I almost fell a couple of times because of it. When I told her I would prefer to not be the person on the ladder, as my knee was swelling and giving out, she told me I was being lazy and needed to “hurry up and finish.” Mind you, I was cleaning the habitats by myself because 2 caregivers called out that day. As a caregiver I saw exposed wires from lamps in the monkey’s heat caves, sharp, broken pieces of their habitats that stuck out where a monkey could easily be injured, lots of rusted areas in habitats, and fans and misters never turned on in the area where diabetic and special needs monkeys were (Wendell and Puchi’s areas). I made it a point to turn them on when I passed out their diets, yet they would be turned off later in the afternoon, between 12-2pm, which is around the hottest part of the day! I would turn them back on, and once again, I would walk by and they would be shut off! When I asked about it, Kari or Sara would say, “oh, they must have accidentally gotten bumped.” Another alarming thing I noticed as a caregiver was the drastic reduction in the amount of food they were getting over time. The portions got smaller and smaller. Kari claimed that the monkeys could live on the dry biscuits alone they received, and that the fruit and vegetables were just enrichment; however, I decided to do my own research and discovered that was mostly a lie. Also, anytime I pointed out any of the safety issues above, she would blow them off or say she would have our maintenance guy fix them, but would never actually tell him about the things that needed fixing. When I told her I could fix some of the problems, she told me no, that it was not my job. As a caregiver I also received verbal abuse from Kari, and witnessed pretty much every other caregiver get treated like crap by her too. She would yell at us and demean us over the radios, which everyone on site could hear. She would call people names such as “stupid, idiot, crazy” etc., and would pull us away from important projects to work on something else, then scream at us for not having the first project done. When one of us would bring up the fact that she pulled us away from the first project, she would call us liars and say that she “did no such thing.” My part-time office admin position ended up being a 12-14 hour a day caregiver position. My 3-4 days a week turned into 6, and sometimes 7. We, the caregivers, worked in hazardous areas, such as areas that flooded when it rained, and when delivering or picking up diets in pouring rain, you cannot see well at all. That, combined with flooding, made it impossible to see exposed roots or holes, and I couldn’t tell you how many times I came close to falling or hurting my ankle. We also were made to catch and release poisonous snakes with ZERO training. In fact, I received no type of formal first aid training or any type of safety protocol training whatsoever. I also felt I was pushed to start handing out diets on my own far too early, as there were some areas I hadn’t even been trained in yet, and those areas had monkeys with special diets!! Thankfully, there was still one caregiver there that had been there a little longer than I had, and she helped me the best she could. I told Kari and Beth, the operations manager, how uncomfortable I was handing out special diets on my own, because other than Wendell’s area and Oz, I was unsure of who received special diets, and the last thing I wanted was to hand out the wrong diet to a monkey, as it could be a matter of life and death. Beth told me she completely understood and appreciated my honesty, but Kari later pulled me aside and told me I needed to “suck it up and just hand out the diets on my own.” After a month of caregiving, my knee and back finally gave up. I woke up one morning in excruciating pain, unable to get out of bed. My back was to the point where I could not stand or sit up straight, and my left knee was twice the size of my right knee, and was also hurting terribly. I called out that day — my first time ever calling out since I started there. When I told her why, she sort of laughed and made a comment I thought was pretty odd. She said, “Good thing you told us about your injuries on your application, otherwise we’d have a work comp case on our hands!” I did not go to a doctor because I had no insurance, my husband’s business slowed significantly due to Covid, and I was only being paid minimum wage at JFPS ($8- something an hour) so I simply couldn’t afford it. I felt as though she didn’t believe me, so I had my husband drive me there the next morning so I could show her my knee and the fact that I could barely walk. She said, “Wow! It really is swollen huh? Have you tried CBD cream or medical marijuana for the pain and swelling?” I told her no, reminded her I have terrible asthma and do not smoke, and that I had been taking ibuprofen. She then proceeded to tell me that MY WEIGHT is why I have knee and back issues!! I am overweight due to having Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and that I cannot afford medication for Hashimoto’s to regulate my thyroid. I also informed her that since working at JFPS, I had lost over 20lbs from the physical work 6-7 days a week, 12-14 hours a day. I reminded her that my torn MCL and lower back issues are from when I did roller derby years ago in my 20’s, and that being on my feet and doing manual labor 12-14 hours a day is why my knee was swollen twice its size and I couldn’t walk. She STILL continued to blame my weight for the problem, even though I was barely overweight at the time. I also told her my weight is a very sensitive subject for me, as I struggled with eating disorders for 5 years in my teens and early 20’s, and asked that she not bring it up again. Beth, the ops manager, finally got Kari to put me in the office... but only 2 days a week. I was still caregiving the other days, because at this point, almost all caregivers had quit or were fired. I was also called out of the office multiple times a day to assist with caregiving. The only reason I hung in there for so long was for the monkeys. I loved them and feared what would happen if I left. Kari found out that I was going to be pursuing a degree in veterinary medicine, so she decided to start training me in monkey meds. Sara, her best friend and volunteer, was helping to administer meds, and would often mix up doses, which eventually ended up killing a monkey (I later found this out, so not sure if it happened before or after I left). I was so excited to be able to learn more and help with meds, and Kari seemed EXTREMELY excited that I wanted to learn meds too. When I noticed certain animals wouldn’t eat their meds with peanut butter or whatever was being given, she would say, “Oh they will eventually,” but she also would tell me that you have to stay and watch to make sure they eat it all. I did that anyway, because I wanted to make sure they were getting all of their meds, and also make sure no other monkeys were taking it from them. She would then yell at me for taking so long. When I would tell her why, she would again say, “Meh... they’ll get it eventually.” She would also change medications and dosages WITHOUT consulting the vet first. The vet she did rely on most, Dr. Collins, was a retired lab animal vet and seemed to not really give a damn about the monkeys, and suggested MULTIPLE times to just “cull the sick and special needs ones.” There was an instance where Loopy, a capuchin, had teeth removed and developed an abscess. He became very ill and lethargic. Beth, the ops manager, discovered he was not eating the peanut butter that contained his antibiotics, and when she pointed this out to Kari, she just “whatevered” Beth and said he was getting enough. He later passed, but none of us were made aware of the necropsy findings. There were false stories of poison and cancer told by Kari to try and cover up the truth. Back to the office work. I, unfortunately, had to spend much more time with Kari in the office. She would do the same thing... give a “super important” project, give me something else to do that, in her mind, was more important, and then yell at me when the previous project wasn’t finished. I heard her speak down to and belittle the office manager, Dawn, every time I worked in the office. She treated her horribly. There were many instances where Dawn and I would pass phone messages along to Kari, and she would never return the calls, and when the people did finally speak to her, she would tell them that Dawn and I never gave her the message!! I started emailing Kari the phone messages instead of writing them down, so I had proof. Sure enough, she was supposed to schedule a virtual tour as a surprise during a donor’s baby shower. Dawn and I reminded Kari of this MULTIPLE times via email, and Kari never reached out to the person wanting to schedule. I asked Kari if she could send us a picture of her appointment book (she refused to use the online calendar we set up to help us keep track of when she was available for tours) so we could schedule the virtual tour, as the donor’s baby shower was in a couple of days, and said she didn’t have time taking pictures and sending them to us. I asked if Dawn and I could take a picture of her datebook then, and she said no. When Kari did finally reach out to the friend trying to book the surprise for the donor, she blamed Dawn and I, saying her “incompetent office staff” never gave her the messages. I forwarded all of the email correspondence I had with Kari, reminding her multiple times to contact the donor’s friend, to the donor and CC’d Kari. She screamed at me for doing so, and STILL continued to lie and said that I must have falsified the emails, which obviously wasn’t the case. Kari dropped the ball often in all facets of the sanctuary and always blamed everyone else for her mistakes. I began to notice the pattern and got a sneaking suspicion that the ONLY reason she wanted to train me to do monkey meds was so she had someone else to blame if something went wrong, as she would make changes to the monkeys’ meds often without consulting vets or telling anyone. The last straw was when I had to call out with stomach issues. I have Celiac Disease and get extremely ill if I eat gluten. I had a cross contamination issue one night and could not work the next day, as I was in severe pain and in and out of the restroom every 10 minutes. She insisted I get tested for Covid because of the stomach symptoms. I assured her it was not Covid, but would get tested to play it safe, because the monkeys’ safety is the number 1 priority. She told me I couldn’t come back to work until I had a negative test. This was when cases were pretty high in Florida, so after 4 days without results, I called Kari and told her that I had no results yet, and literally had stomach issues for one day because of cross contamination with gluten from a vegan burger that the restaurant I went to didn’t realize had gluten in it. She still would not let me come back without the results. I assured her I KNEW it was because of the gluten, since it’s something I have dealt with for YEARS. I completely understand wanting to play it safe, so I asked if I could just work in the office, masked as usual of course. She said absolutely not and no one can return if they call out for any reason without a Covid test. Yet her best friend, Sara, was out with flu-like symptoms, a fever, AND stomach issues, but was not required to get tested to come back and work around the monkeys. I wasn’t even asking to be around the monkeys. I explained to her that I could not afford to miss any more work, so she said if I was symptom free for 24 more hours, I could come back. I had been out for 5 days at that point. I told her and Beth, the ops manager, that I called CVS to ask about my results and they said it would at least be another week, as they were swamped with tests. I informed them that I could not afford to miss another week of work on top of the 5 days I already missed. Kari said sorry, but no results = no return to work. I said, “what about the 24hr symptom-free thing you mentioned yesterday?” She told me she had never said such a thing, to which I said, “You are lying through your teeth! You told me yesterday when I called that if I was symptom free for 24 hours, I could return to work the following day!” She denied ever telling me that and asked if there was any office work I could do from home, since I was “so worried” about money. She was extremely condescending and I reminded her that my family and I were struggling because of my husband's business being wiped out due to covid, and I was only making minimum wage, but haven’t been able to work for a week because she won’t let me come back. I told her no, there wasn’t anything I could do from home because she refused to assign me my own password to the donor platform we used. She then said, “Well, you can post on social media from home.” I told her that it literally takes a minute to do and wasn’t going to provide enough hours. I finally told her and Beth that, if I was not allowed to return for another week, I would have to start seeking employment elsewhere. Kari then tried to guilt trip me by saying that I don’t care about the monkeys otherwise I would stay. I told her that she knows damn well that’s not the case, that I love the monkeys and they were the only reason I was still there. I asked her again if I could come back because at this point, I didn’t have enough money to pay rent and really needed to work, and she said no, so I drove down there, handed my keys to Beth through the gate, and told her I quit. I messaged Kari and told her that I literally worked until I could not physically get out of bed, all for the monkeys, and that I would appreciate it if she quit telling people I quit because I didn’t give a damn about the monkeys, just money. She said she never said that, and I told her, once again, that she needs to quit lying. I told her that not only did she tell me that herself, but that other employees were telling me she was telling everyone that’s why I quit. I told her that if I didn’t care about the monkeys and only cared about making money, that I sure as hell wouldn’t be working there, because there are many other jobs I could do to make twice of what I was being paid there. I reminded her that I never got the raise I was promised, yet still stayed. I told her that even though I was in massive amounts of pain, I still showed up and busted my ass every day. She never responded to that, but 2 weeks later sent me a text saying she’s sorry that I couldn’t put my nonsense against her aside and return to work. I just said, “Kari... you wouldn’t LET ME return to work without a Covid test, which, by the way, was negative... just as I told you it would be because I know my body and have dealt with Celiac’s for years.” Her response, “I never told you that you couldn’t come back to work without a negative test,” to which I replied, “Wow, have a nice lie... I mean life, Kari.”
August 24, 2021 To my fellow JFPS Board members, Please include the entirety of this statement (attached as a PDF) in the minutes of the August 24, 2021 meeting. As a refresher: Board Members' Roles The board makes all the decisions that direct how the organization operates and, as such, is ultimately responsible for how the organization performs. Board members manage the organization's assets, oversee fundraising, perform audits, hire and fire staff, prepare reports, disburse funds, and perform any other responsibilities required to fulfill its mission and goals. They must perform these tasks with integrity and honesty. Duties of a Board Member Each state has different laws that govern what board of director members must do and what their roles are, but, in general, a board member has three duties to fulfill: Duty of care: Board members are responsible for having the same duty of care about the organization that a prudent and ordinary person would. This means that they need to show up, participate, remain informed about all aspects of the organization, and take appropriate actions to help the organization meet its goals and thrive. The duty of care requires them to read and understand financial reports, track spending, and participate in strategic planning. The board members are also responsible for making sure the nonprofit's records are kept accurately and preserved. Duty of loyalty: Nonprofit board members must also be loyal to the organization itself. This means working in its best interest and not using it for their own personal or professional gain. If a board member has a conflict of interest, they must disclose it. Duty of obedience: Board members are also required to show the duty of obedience, which means they need to be aware of the laws that affect the organization and ensure that they follow them. They must fully understand and follow all of the organization's own governing documents, such as the bylaws, and are also responsible for helping the organization carry out its stated goals. Liability for Board Members All board members are expected to understand and uphold their duties. Ignorance of what is required is not a defense, which is why it is a good idea for boards to regularly review their responsibilities and evaluate how well they are upholding them. Board members who breach their fiduciary duties can be held personally liable, particularly where there has been an abuse of fiduciary duty. ************************* After reviewing the above, I wonder if this Board has ever been asked to consider, participate in or vote on: o Expenditure of restricted funds? o Preparation of an annual budget? o Employment practices or policies? o Preparation of IRS 990 filings and extensions? o Preparations of grant requests or reports? o Real estate acquisition or sales? o Sale of real estate holdings to a Board member? o Extending a mortgage loan to a Board member? o Bidding for and letting of contracts? o Approval of financial statements at each Board meeting? o Adoption of a non-disclosure agreement – or any agreement? o Adoption of a drug-testing policy – or any policy? o Settlement of cases/fines with government agencies? o Investment strategy? o Strategic planning? If each member of the Board cannot answer YES to all of the above, you absolutely have breached your fiduciary duties and may be held personally liable. While you may have been assured that your Board participation is “no big deal” – it actually IS a big deal and requires a certain amount of work on the part of those who agree to serve. As I have shared with you on a number of occasions, I have grave concerns about both the past and the future of Jungle Friends. Each of you should as well. Current and former volunteers, employees, grantors and donors continue to come forward. Their experiences at the hands of current management include: lack of leadership; physical, mental and verbal abuse; harassment; lack of accountability & transparency re: designated contributions & expenditures; self-dealing by the current ED; wasting of resources; mismanagement of controlled substances; failure to address medical & social issues of residents as they arise; failure to take responsibility for directly attributable actions; issuance of company-wide policy changes without Board approval; lack of Board oversight; creating and maintaining an unsafe workplace; and numerous conflicts of interest. Appropriate complaints have been filed with: US Fish & Wildlife, USDA, FL Fish & Wildlife; Internal Revenue Service; OSHA/Dept. of Labor; local code enforcement; FL Office of the Attorney General; BBB Wise Giving Alliance; Charity Navigator and others. As I searched for the root causes of the organizational breakdown, the only common thread I found is Kari Bagnall. Her insistence on controlling every aspect of the organization, its finances, fundraising, operations, Board and employees is in complete contradiction of the intended structure of a non-profit organization. While such practices may be permissible (though ill-advised) in a closely held corporation, they contravene the laws governing non-profits, which by definition are not “owned” or controlled by any one person. The very fact that this Special Meeting has been called for the expressed purpose of “removing April Truitt from the JFPS Board of Directors” is a clear indication of the level of dysfunction and lack of independence of this Board. I once again urge each of you to seriously consider your fiduciary obligations to this organization. Re: the Plan and Proposal I submitted to this Board and which was voted down as of July 16 - Kari has been circulating a fair amount of disparaging misinformation about my motivation. To clarify: the personal proposal I attached to the 15-Point Plan outlined my own conditions if you were to select me to implement said Plan. The 15-Point Plan may be implemented on its own by the capable leadership team of your choice. Let me make it clear that I have withdrawn my proposal and am no longer interested or available to lead the sorely-needed restructuring of JFPS. However, you are free to use/edit/discard the 15-point Plan as you see fit. Whatever action you choose, DO SOMETHING - and quickly! It is abundantly clear that this organization is not sustainable under current leadership. For the animals, April D. Truitt
I just wanted to make a follow-up post about Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Gainsville Florida. Yesterday I returned home from the facility after leaving my working interview early. I had heard the rumors about the care of the animals and decided to go to see it for myself. My hope was to see if the manager Kari was the type of person who would be receptive to change and open to new ideas. I quickly learned that this was not the case and left early. My biggest concern is the lack of staff and even more so, the lack of willingness for people to work there. As you all probably know, this field is incredibly competitive and she should have tons of applications from qualified animal care professionals. I was asked to work in one section of the sanctuary where there are 130+ capuchins and spider monkeys to care for. I was shocked to learn that there is ONE staff member currently working this section on a daily basis. As a result, many basic tasks such as raking debris go undone. There are piles of rotten produce and monkey chow throughout the sanctuary which attracts pests such as rats. Because of this, there is rat poison dispersed throughout the facility often right in reach of the monkeys. When talking to former staff members I learned that monkeys have gotten to poison in the past yet this practice still continues. My first conversation with the owner Kari mainly consisted of her criticizing my choice to not to live a vegan lifestyle. 75% of our conversations moving forward were all very similar. She explained little about the job, the monkeys, what my responsibilities would be, or trying to learn more about me. This was particularly frustrating as I felt like the focus of my "interview" was on veganism and not the emergency of fixing the sanctuary. While on-site in general I think a lot of the monkeys were in okay condition. This was hard to determine however because the only time there are eyes on the monkeys is for a few seconds when distributing food in the morning and again in the evening. There is a lack of enrichment at the facility with only a toy or two in each enclosure that are rarely (if ever) changed. When I brought this to Kari's attention her response was that their outdoor enclosures are the enrichment. One monkey, while I was there, had a bite wound that Kari brushed off as a scrape that she sprayed with antiseptic spray. The next day it looked even worse and the monkey was constantly picking at it. A former employee informed me that they used to give antibiotics and pain meds to animals with even minimum injuries. This was certainly not the case and there seemed to be no intention of medicating him even as the wound grew worse. The enclosures themselves were significantly overgrown with weeds and very rarely cleaned. I heard one rumor that one enclosure there hasn't been cleaned in over 2 years! While I cannot personally confirm this, the enclosures certainly don't look like they have seen much attention in quite some time. In summary, the problem I see here is purely management. Kari can be quite confrontational which I witnessed firsthand as I politely told her I was no longer interested in the job. She attacked my lifestyle choice to eat meat by claiming I support animal abuse. She suggested I was a weak person for "not being able to handle the hard work at her facility." Kari was quick to blame her former employees for the poor condition of her facility despite her role as executive director. I believe a leader of a facility such as Jungle friends should be able to "put their egos aside" and own up to their mistakes to better the lives of the animals in their care. I write this post today to encourage those of you in this field to avoid Jungle Friends at all costs until new management is in place. I encourage you all to reach out to the Jungle Friends board of directors and Kari herself (karibagnall@junglefriends.org) to ask Kari to step down. For the safety and well-being of these incredible animals, I ask you all to support the need to change the Jungle Friends management so the facility can become the amazing place I know it can be!
February 8, 2016 Please accept this letter as notice of my resignation as Director of Development for Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary. My last day of employment will be Friday, February 19, 2016. My decision to leave is based on both professional and personal reasons. My experience at Jungle Friends has been very eye opening but I cannot continue, in good conscience, to solicit funds for an organization that does not adhere to ethical standards of good gift stewardship and the donor’s bill of rights. I would like to thank you and everyone at Jungle Friends for the opportunities you have given me to be involved in such a noble cause. I hope that we can continue our professional relationship and that I can be a resource for Jungle Friends in the future. Best wishes to you and to the staff. ** A Board of Director responded to the resignation asking for more details on what was “eye opening”. This was the detailed answer recieved from the Director and Development- Thank you for your concern. First of all, I think it would be important to review The Donor Bill of Rights. Jungle Friends does well with the exception of #4: To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given. There is an ongoing issue of utilizing restricted gifts for general operations, especially as of late due to the dire financial situation we are currently in. It was reported during last week’s board meeting, Jungle Friends currently has roughly $40,000 in its operational account, $100,000 in an emergency account at the local Community Foundation and $600,000 (this monies is for research retirees, specifically the Cottontops and Squirrel monkeys) invested in the Lifetime Care Fund. I was shocked to hear this considering that over $230,000 was brought in this past December/early January for the 8 Ironmen. These funds were generated from the Year End Appeal and multiple grants that were solicited 4th quarter to build 10 habitats and fund lifetime care. During that board meeting I asked what had happened to that money and was told it was gone because we needed it for general operations. I understand that there are some who feel they are being “judicious” with the funds because there is food to buy and electric bills to pay but we have a responsibility to the donor, even more so to the foundations, to honor their gifts in the way they were given and/or solicited. Not just from an ethical standpoint but also from a legal standpoint. A donor/foundation has every right to ask for their money back if it is not being utilized under the parameters in which it was given. For example, A foundation provided Jungle Friends with a $50,000 grant to be used for the Director of Development. Along with their grant approval letter they provided a document with a set of stipulations in which the money was to be used. In order to cash the check, the grant agreement had to be signed and it was. Those funds are gone and were used for other projects. I mentioned this because I was asked to write the grant report for the foundation and became alarmed when I found the documentation. I was told that if the foundation wanted their money back, we would just pull it out of the lifetime care fund and give it to them. Again, I understand that situations arise and choices have to be made but as someone who has been tasked to build relationships with donors and write grant reports to the very foundation in which their grant wishes were not honored, I do not feel comfortable with this. There have been a number of high-profile cases where nonprofits have been forced to pay back monies due to poor gift stewardship. For example: Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital and more recently, the Suder Foundation lawsuit. I truly believe in the mission of Jungle Friends and would love to see the organization blossom into the sanctuary that all others look to be like. With strong board involvement, I think it could happen. The concerns that I have listed above can be remedied. I think it all starts with a strategic plan and an in-depth review of the budget.
I was a caretaker at Jungle Friends for just shy of 3 years. I started as an occasional volunteer 2015, I was hired as an apprentice 2016, and I was lead caregiver 2018. I left in 2019. During my time at Jungle Friends I saw many areas of concern. *Trigger warning for mention of animal death* You may already be aware of the crisis ongoing at a Jungle Friends currently. Make no mistake, Jungle Friends was always in crisis but this has reached a real climax. Jungle Friends lost their GFAS accreditation recently, and withdrew from NAPSA as well. These recent events are a blessing to see that the actions of the Executive Director are bearing consequence and I would like to make sure Jungle Friends is upholding their mission and meeting the accreditation requirements. My very first day volunteering at Jungle Friends summer of 2015 I remember helping staff clean habitats. I was offered no training on how to use the small blowtorch I was handed. I also was asked to stand on the very top of a 12 foot ladder to reach the rope I was meant to burn the ends off with the blow torch. As a brand new volunteer with no manual labor experience I did not know how dangerous that act was. The culture of unsafe work conditions continued for the entirety of my time at Jungle Friends. I received close to no training on how to use serious power tools including a power grinder, a reciprocating saw, and I even was instructed on how to use a chainsaw in 2017 by a coworker who was not certified or formally trained on chainsaw use. The limited training I received placed me in dangerous conditions. I used the grinder without eye protection regularly because I was not told the dangers of the flying sparks. I also attempted to use the chainsaw with the chain turned the wrong way because I did not know. Luckily no harm came from that event. In 2016 hurricane Mathew came, and I was a new staff member at the time. We worked over 16 hours without breaks and without overtime pay to capture the animals from the enclosures to bring into emergency caging in safe cinder block buildings. The Executive Director was not present to help us with this emergency. She had left to attend an event in Hollywood instead, even though she was aware of the hurricane days before she left. If the animals had proper indoor shelters such as a night box or indoor building we could have locked them into it would have saved us so many hours of work in emergency weather and could have saved lives. I would like to addresses the death of 2 capuchins due to dangerous freezing weather. Ebi was an elderly brown capuchin who was well known as an animal who did not sleep in the heat sources provided, named "heat caves”. These heat caves are made of half of a blue barrel turned on its side to make the "cave" shape. The barrel is attached to a platform made of metal caging that allows plenty of cold air to come up from below into the cave and on the outside of the enclosure a heat lamp is attached at the end of the "cave". There's plastic sheets covering the lamp in an attempt to keep the cave warm. This setup is not shelter enough. Floyd died while in his heat cave the same day of Ebi's death. Flyod was an elderly capuchin as well who's enclosure had access to the geriatric building's indoor enclosures with electric heating. On the day of his death he had been locked out of this building (on the executive directors instructions. She wanted him and his cagemate Pheobe to cuddle for warmth because Pheobe had a history of not going into the heated indoor. They did not cuddle for warmth, she stayed up in a hammock attached to the roof of the outdoor enclosure while Floyd froze to death in his heat cave.) Floyd died in this make shift shelter. I personally had several conversations with the executive director, and a senior caregiver regarding moving elderly Ebi and his partner Micky to an enclosure with a heated indoor building. We knew this elderly, underweight capuchin was a runway sleeper (he chose to sleep in the connecting tunnel "runways" instead of the makeshift heatcaves) and despite my efforts to move him to one of our indoor accessable enclosures I was told he previously had an indoor he didn't use. The lack of concern for him in the freezing weather led to his death. (Typically, runway sleepers get blankets to keep warm but that day it was raining. Runway sleepers do not get blankets or any additional heat during rain.) The Executive Director shrugged off these deaths as cases of old age and not related to the freezing, rainy weather. I was afraid more deaths would occur because I felt management was not taking the deaths are their causes seriously. I also believe no necropsy were preformed on either animal to confirm cause of death. Due to employee distress, NAPSA received an email with concerns of the conditions and the dismissal of these deaths. NAPSA contacted Bagnall after this email and accepted the Executive Director's claims the deaths were due to old age. At this time there wouldn't have been time for a necropsy to be preformed to know cause of death. On the topic of lacking shelter, the 2017 Hurricane Irma really highlighted the lack of preparedness Jungle Friends operated on. The usual hurricane chaos quickly became real distress when we realized we did not have enough emergency caging and supplies for all the animals we needed to bring inside to safety. When we had all the animals inside, there were 2 and sometimes 3 capuchins squeezed into one "squeeze cage" 25"W x 28"D x 32"H (4.3 sq ft). We also did not have enough water bottles for all of the cages. We had to go around and water the animals manually. Animals got into fights in the cages over the limited food and water and we had no way to seperate them or help the animals. We didn't have enough food dishes and because the cages had paneled bottom not solid bottom any food they dropped fell out of the cage. I believe it is a basic requirement of any animal institution to have adequate emergency supplies for all the animals they house. During the hurricane we had a visit from our Fish and Wildlife inspector. He saw the animals in their shared caging and he saw that the animals didn't have free access to water. He did nothing as far as I know to correct the situation. After these events, management did make an effort to be better prepared for hurricanes in the future but I full heartedly believe the situation should have never occured in the first place. Along with lack of proper shelter and preparedness, the medical side of Jungle Friends is extremely concerning. Vets were very rarely on property during my time at Jungle Friends. Vets were contacted but information was often not communicated to caregivers. Those who dealt with medication at jungle friends were not trained very well. Controlled meds were kept in a Dixie cup in a cabinet and restocked by management. I was taught how to give IM injections of insulin to a capuchin by a coworker with no formal medical training. I was not taught proper needle safety. It was not uncommon to find a capped (used!) needle just on the ground or on a table. I was not taught to asperate before injecting the medication. When the Executive Director occasionally prepared or handed our meds, mistakes occured where animals didn't get the correct dose or medications weren't recorded as given. In 2018 Jungle Friends employed a vet but he did not have a license to practice. He signed off emails as DVM and he did have the degree, but he practiced medicine including prescribing and dosing without a license. The executive director has a habit of employing unqualified people. Often our caregivers were hired from craigslist without any relevant experience. She often took advantage of special needs people who applied. She would ask them to work extra and give them special attention so they didn't see the unfair work conditions. The animals got food in two different dishes. Produce would be handed out in metal bowls, these would be washed daily. The chow, or biscuits as they were called, were fed in plastic bowls. These would be cleaned once a week at the most. Often after a rain they would have mold in them or they would regularly have ants, mouse fecal matter and other pests in them. If the animals didn't eat all their chow, that food would be reused the next day. Who knows how old some of those reused pieces of chow were. I believe the animal's food bowls should all be cleaned daily. My suggestions to do this were dismissed due to lack of man hours. The walk in cooler was cleaned exactly once in my 3 years there as far as I know. Mold grew on the ceiling and walls and all of the animals produce was stored there. There was not time in the day to clean this. I'm sure you are aware of how important enrichment is in the mental wellbeing of animals. At Jungle Friends, enrichment is minimal at best. In the employee manual, the produce diets were listed as daily enrichment. The habitats were quite enriching when kept up with. They have multiple plants for foraging, different swings and ladders and toys. (No additional enrichment was ever introduced or allowed. Enrichment was almost considered a red word just saying it would push management into a frenzy saying that the animals didn't need it and supposedly Fish and Wildlife said the habitats were enrichment enough. Despite this everyday you could see nervous and understimulated animals. Pacing, rocking, and self injurous behaviors were normal.) Unfortunately, the habitats were not kept up with. Often 6 months or more would go between cleanings. Moldy poop piles were very common. Habitats had rusty caging. An animal, Carli capuchin, escaped due to rusty paneling breaking off and leaving a hole for her to escape through. Weeds and bamboo grow practically overnight in the Florida sun so the habitats were often severely overgrown. The animals wouldn't have access to the ground, some of their platforms and swings would be inaccessible due to overgrowth. The habitats, while beautiful when kept well, required too much care for the staffing levels. These habitats were not nearly as enriching as they were meant to be and Staff were actively barred from any type of additional enrichment. Staff turnover was often under 6 months. The atmosphere at Jungle Friends is so toxic and unwelcoming it was quite common for new staff to quit a week or even a single day into work. The executive director had a common pattern. She would hire new staff and tell them how the current staff weren't doing the correct work and were only there for the money (minimum wage, ha!) She did this to sow distrust between new employees and the more senior employees who handled training. She would often try to use new staff to spy on the care staff or create a "us v them" atmosphere. This created many moments of drama and other situations that distracted us from giving all our attention to the animals' care. The executive director had a habit of calling people out on their mistakes and berating them over the radio. This was so common that often staff wouldn't have their radios on during the day and would sometimes miss emergency calls. Staff were expected to be on call at all times. Of you lived on property you were expected to have your radio on and be able to respond at any time. If you left you were expected to tell management when you would be back. No doors were ever allowed to be locked in private dwellings and Kari and others would often come into private rooms without announcement. If you were not responding to texts or calls on time off you would be berated publicly for not being a team player. We were instructed to lie on our time sheets. If we ended work after our shift ended, we were not paid for the overtime and were not to write our actual clock out time. During the winter, required volunteer time for "heat checks" was always an issue. Unpaid for this time, we were expected to volunteer our personal time to wake up at all hours of the night to go check the monkeys heaters were all on. This would usually take an hour but sometimes it would take 2,3 hours if there were issues with the heaters. Multiple times I would go in at times such as 2 am, be there trying to fix a broken heater for hours in the dark, then be expected to be back at work for my shift at 6 am. During the winter staff would be so overworked and sleep deprived there would be weeks were the staff willing to volunteer didn't get a night off from heat checks. Mistakes due to exhaustion would be made such as animals food being placed in feeders they have no access to or health concerns being missed. Staff would be late for their shift after a late night heat check and be sent home as punishment, leaving the remaining exhausted staff to do all the work. This, combined with the lack of proper power tool training, the pressure and expectation to work unpaid overtime, the lack of preparedness from the executive director, the daily bullying and manipulation, the lack of proper medical care or clean habitats; This all leads to one thing: the current issues at Jungle Friends have been long standing. The executive director cannot be trusted to fix these issues. The animals need help. These are just a few of the things I witnessed during my time at Jungle Friends there are endless more stories and will be more until the Board of Directors and the Executive Director are replaced with people willing to give the animals the care and dignity they deserve. Justice for Jungle Friends Monkeys!
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