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Ex-Director Challenging SPCA Suncoast Over Ouster

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: March 18, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Martha Murray says officials of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Suncoast officials were barking up the wrong tree in her surprise dismissal as executive director.

SPCA board members say they wish Murray well, but call interim Executive Director Gail Armstrong a "visionary leader" in a press release.

"I was shocked," Murray said in a telephone interview several days after her firing last week. Murray, 52, was a few months shy of her third anniversary supervising the SPCA Suncoast.

Murray has hired a lawyer to challenge her dismissal. She had no warning prior to her dismissal and had not received any bad performance reviews, Murray said.

She even received a Christmas bonus last year, Murray noted. "I worked my butt off," Murray said about her time with the SPCA.

When she became its executive director, SPCA Suncoast was perhaps three months from "going under," Murray said. Over the past few months, it has operated "in the black" and now has money in the bank, she said.

"It's all about the animals," Murray said while en route to pick up a pet from a shelter. She also intends to continue her public service spots for other area shelters on a Suncoast television station.

SPCA board members did not directly comment. Armstrong did not return a call requesting comment.

Board member Kelly Ann Payne forwarded a copy of a March 9 written statement attributed to "Board of Directors, SPCA Suncoast."

Board members are "not at liberty to discuss" an internal human relations situation, the official SPCA statement states. "We can confirm, however, that Ms. Murray is no longer executive director of the SPCA Suncoast and we wish her well."

Board members, the statement further states, are "delighted to introduce the SPCA Suncoast's new interim executive director, Gail Armstrong. Ms. Armstrong is a visionary leader with the necessary practical experience in operations management, organizational administration and program development to lead the SPCA Suncoast into the future."

The statement continues in part that Armstrong "possesses excellent management skills and has a broad understanding of the intricacies of running a successful animal shelter. We look forward to the great progress and forward thinking she will bring to our organization and we invite you to come in to say hello."

Murray complained about the abrupt turn of events.

"I've always given 150 percent," Murray commented about her SPCA tenure. Under her supervision, the adoption rate of animals at SPCA had gone up significantly, she maintains.

"In retrospect, I should have seen it" coming, Murray said about signs of her dismissal. Two new board members began serving at SPCA. "New direction" was one of the excuses she heard.

Murray said she was offered a "lateral move" in the SPCA organization under which she would have focused solely on fundraising, with no direct involvement in shelter operations.

Murray said she had never been fired before. She said she was not even allowed back on the shelter property to collect her personal belongings.

"I'm not a confrontational person," Murray said. But she intends to challenge her dismissal through legal means.

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