10/07/25
Dear SPCA Tampa Bay Directors:
Tina Thomas, Catherine Mitchell, Trevor Tillwick, Dr. Julie Kessel, Dick Caldwell, Will Freeman, Merissa Lynn, Stephanie Morge, Carrie O’Brion, Rhoda Restivo
The point of this letter is to address your position as a SPCATB Board Director, if you still are a board director. Please share this with Ms. Thomas and Mr. Freeman whose contacts I don’t have.
It has been noted that several director’s names were missing from the roster the last time the “Officers and Members” page was online before it vanished. In its place is “Under Construction.” Perhaps better stated “Under Destruction.”
Why have director’s names vanished from the website when it’s all about “transparency”?
“Under Destruction” describes what has been occurring at the SPCATB since 2011.
I have no reason to believe that you are not a good person. I am sure you are proficient and respected in your profession and well connected in the community.
There is every reason to believe that you know little to nothing about the field of animal welfare, are definitely not familiar with the soul of animal welfare in your community and/or you don’t really care. Maybe all three? And the reason for being an SPCATB director is?
I will borrow terms from the healthcare industry, an arena in which Ms. Thomas is described as a “results-driven senior health care executive.”
There is a palpable disgust for the progressive and sustained illness that has infected and defined the administrative level of the agency.
As an aside – we can acknowledge that there are genuine SPCATB staff and volunteers who are not responsible for the administrative illness.
What is this illness?
It is a profound moral decay directly due to a deficiency of honesty and compassion.
The good news? As a director, you have the opportunity (along with the responsibility) to not only administer the cure for the agency to reorient it back to health, but you also have an “off-ramp” for you as a director to get out from this mental and spiritual health dysfunction.
The questions being asked to you (and I would hope you would ask of yourselves):
- Do you know the cure?
- Do you have the constitution, courage, and the will to provide the cure?
The cure/remedy for the agency and the off-ramp for you is nothing but crystal clear:
- End the relationship with CEO Martha Boden and her top administration.
- Consult with the leadership of respected, local animal welfare NFP’s for guidance in rebuilding the administration with leadership that lives and breathes the qualities of honesty and compassion.
Tragically, Ms. Boden’s administration has brought shame to the SPCATB, an agency intended to work for the benefit of animals, not for the benefit of self at the expense of animals. The administration’s practices and policies have also brought a troubling stain to directors” names and reputations.
Ms. Boden’s thirst to achieve recognition in the field of animal welfare have been for the purpose of self-promotion. https://www.tbnweekly.com/pets/article_dcf5a4a9-a216-538a-bfec-bf863bd491cd.html
Achieving the professional status as a “Certified Animal Welfare Administrator” (CAWA) offered by the Society of Animal Welfare Advocates (SAWA) is an empty credential when married to hypocrisy. This credential is listed on the SPCATB page: “Member Spotlight: Get to Know Martha Boden.” Click on the link at the bottom of this page (link below) and see the results. https://spcatampabay.org/member-spotlight-get-to-know-martha-boden-by-the-aawa/
Search: “The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement / Martha Boden” and you will find “Page not found Sorry!” She was listed as an officer up until a month ago. https://theaawa.org/member-spotlight-get-to-know-martha-boden/
Why has she disappeared from their organization? SAWA learned of Ms. Boden’s performance at the SPCATB and no longer wanted that association.
Would the directors find this kind of performance acceptable in their own workplace?
- The SPCA administration falsifying animal statistics since 2012. When the pathetic methodology and details of this reporting was diagnosed and exposed, the administration removed these reports from the website. Regardless, copies of these original reports are retained by our organization and as well are in the possession of the Largo police department. The replacement animal data presently on the website is meaningless and for showcasing only.
https://indysvoice4animals.org/2025/02/22/the-misleading-spca-tampa-bay-2024-animal-statistics/
- Importing puppies and dogs from commercial breeders (aka puppy mills) to displace Pinellas Co animals to sell at inflated “adoption” fees. https://www.tbnweekly.com/opinion/article_adba674c-71d2-11ee-85ab-9716dcbf8d02.html
- Purchasing 65 round trip tickets for the CEO and 12 staff members to make 5 excursions to Missouri to visit a puppy mill breeding operations. This is how donor money is used? https://thenewbarker.dog/2023/10/05/an-unsavory-partnership-you-decide/
- CEO’s unprofessional and intimidating behavior directed toward the editor of the New Barker Magazine, Anna Cooke, ordering her off public property at a fundraising event. Is this the conduct the directors want of the CEO? Has any director reached out to Ms. Cooke to apologize? Perhaps you were unaware. Ms. Cooke is copied on this email and I encourage you to reach out to her with an apology. This is an opportunity to begin leaning into healing and demonstrating decency. https://indysvoice4animals.org/2024/04/10/spca-tampa-bay-ceo-martha-boden-displays-distasteful-behavior-at-a-public-park/
- Ending participation in a spay/neuter voucher program in early 2024. S/N is the first step to ending the killing of adoptable cats and dogs. Something SPCATB cares not to do.
- The cruelty to Waddles the pig who suffered severe sunburn due to neglect just outside Ms. Boden’s window. Boden’s denial of the documented facts? Absent honesty. https://www.fox13news.com/news/spca-tampa-bay-cited-after-waddles-pig-found-suffering-burned-skin https://indysvoice4animals.org/2025/10/03/waddles-sun-scorched-at-spca-tampa-bay/
More is available at: https://indysvoice4animals.org/blog-posts/
Where Does the Money Go?
The SPCATB salaries are a significant expense at the shelter and have always been. The incremental increase note below is remarkable.
From the posted 990’s: Salaries for 2023 were over $5MM. As a comparison, 2022 salaries were $4.2MM and in 2021 salaries were $3.3MM.
Translation: The 2023 salaries increase over 2022 was 19%. The 2022 salaries increase over 2021 was 27%. And the salaries increase over the 3 years period was a whopping 51%.
2023: Total revenue is recorded as $7.5MM. Revenue less expenses –$2.2MM
Where has the $30.7MM in donations total from 2018-2023 gone?
In what column of the ledger is the $750K tax payer’s money for renovations (in the form of a check presented to Martha Boden by State Representative Linda Chaney)? When I twice visited the campus last month, I failed to see any renovations. How about reaching out to Rep Chaney with a clear statement of commitment that this tax payer money will be used as intended? She is copied on this email as well and this would be another opportunity for healing.
We know from the appalling animal data deaths (what can best be unraveled from them) where the money doesn’t go.
The answer to “where does the money go” question has never been a secret. It has been recognized by every person intimately engaged with and/or paying attention to the SPCA Tampa Bay since 2012.
The money is going to agency individuals who have corrupted the brand “SPCA” for personal financial gain. https://indysvoice4animals.org/2025/08/20/who-was-otto-ray/
CEO Martha Boden has extraordinary talents: marketing, fund raising, branding, not to mention the talents of an impressive IT background. Most extraordinary is her art of cunning persuasion.
The Vision to create a community where every animal matters? Sounds attractive reading but in practice – has been a lie.
The Mission Through passionate collaboration with our community we transform the lives of animals? Sounds attractive reading but in practice – has been a lie.
Our commitment to transparency is as bold as our mission. Lie upon lie
Core Values Compassion, Community, Customer Experience and Teamwork? Sounds attractive in words but in practice – has been a lie.
Many others, besides myself, continue to reach out to current and future sponsors and donors asking them to withhold financial support for the agency until there is meaningful change of leadership. We have just begun to warm up with this initiative. Correcting the course of the administration can change this dramatically. Only the directors can affect this change.
https://indysvoice4animals.org/2024/03/12/an-open-letter-to-spca-tampa-bay-donors-supporters/
Is there a director strong enough to take the lead and end these perpetual lies? Is there a director able to embrace that responsibility? Or do the directors turn their back and allow these lies to live in perpetuity while donors are duped, commercial breeders are championed and so many betrayed animals continue to suffer and be killed?
Back to Mission Health and achieving “operational efficiency”: How about adopting “Operation Mission Resuscitation” as the commitment to breathe oxygen into this diseased and dying agency?
Sincere and meaningful action by the directors will be recognized and appreciated.
Token and meaningless action will also be recognized and unappreciated.
This matter of whether the Boden administration is allowed to stay or go boils down to the directors choosing what is right vs wrong. The decision the directors make will define your legacy. Be assured that the spirit of Waddles will weigh heavily on your credibility as a director.
Ms. Boden’s severance package may be financially painful but Humane Society of Indianapolis directors closed that painful chapter, sucked it up and so can you.
Regardless of the declaration on the “About” page: Correspondence sent to board members anonymously and at any addresses other than the one provided here will not receive a response.
If you would like to free yourself of that restriction and discuss this matter further, please feel free to contact me. I would welcome hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Warren Patitz
Cofounder/Director move to ACT (dba Indy’s Voice 4 Animals)
Former Board Chair Indianapolis Animal Care and Control
40+ years active in animal welfare
Former Pinellas County resident
PS: As a matter of Indiana history, after Ms. Boden was relieved of her position, the Indianapolis Humane Society (which you may know as Indyhumane) directors hired John Aleshire, a local NFP administrator. He was the embodiment of honesty and compassion. As a result, the agency made a remarkable comeback from the devastation he inherited and the organization performed at its best in its history. The director who facilitated the needed cure for the struggling Indyhumane became a local champion.