Ross Licitra Accused Of Threatening A 2nd Monmouth SPCA Employee

EATONTOWN, NJ — A second employee who used to work for the Monmouth County SPCA has now come forward to police to allege that SPCA Executive Director Ross Licitra berated him, even physically threatening him, when he similarly brought up concerns over a decision in June to euthanize a dog at the shelter.

The second employee, not named, filed a police report with Eatontown Police. In that report, he said Licitra told him "when people are rude to his managers, it makes him want to reach over the desk and cut their throat and watch them bleed out on the floor."

This second employee went to the police after a first SPCA employee, also not named, secretly recorded Licitra and assistant director Barbara Lovell berating him after he also questioned their decision to euthanize the same dog, a female pit bull named Shy Baby.

Both men said they did not think Shy Baby had to be killed, with the first worker saying she had a fear of men and suggesting the solution be that only women be around Shy Baby.

Licitra repeatedly told the first worker, an hourly employee, he was "stupid. A nobody" and had "no right" to question decisions made by Licitra or shelter management.

Licitra not only runs the county SPCA, but he is also an elected Monmouth County Commissioner; he and all his fellow Commissioners are Republican.

The Monmouth County Commissioners condemned Licitra's behavior last week. However, the Monmouth SPCA Board of Directors, led by Board President Andrew Grossman, said they stand by him and he will keep his $132,000-a-year job at the helm of the non-profit.

The second employee filed his report with Eatontown Police on July 30. He said Licitra yelled at both employees on June 28. The employee makes the same allegation against Licitra here.

The police report reads as follows:

"As a former employee at the SPCA in Eatontown, (name redacted) and a few co-workers disagreed with a decision to euthanize an animal and decided to voice their opinion at the next department meeting," read the police report. "As a result of that meeting, director Ross Licitra called a private meeting with (name redacted) on June 28 at 1 p.m. (Name redacted) explained that during that meeting, Licitra stated that when people are rude to his managers, it makes him want to reach over the desk and cut their throat and watch them bleed out on the floor. (Name redacted) stated that Licitra was referring to (name redacted) and his co-workers voicing their opinion at the department meeting. (Name redacted) interpreted Licitra's statement as a threat to himself."

Both employees, both men, have since been fired from the Monmouth County SPCA. There is also a public Facebook group, Secret Squirrels of the Monmouth County SPCA, which has 562 members and describes itself as "a group for all individuals who have had a horrific experience with the MCSPCA or with any person in their management."

Last week, Licitra apologized for his outburst on the first employee. He said the male employees were "bullying" the female managers and female veterinarian at the SPCA over their decision to euthanize Shy Baby.

Licitra did not respond Wednesday when Patch asked him about the police report filed by the second employee.

Here is the audio of the June 28 incident:

Licitra, who is also the chief of Humane Law Enforcement Police, is paid a yearly salary of $132,000 to run the SPCA, and the SPCA contracts with many Monmouth County towns to handle their animal complaints.

Monmouth SPCA Board stands behind Licitra

On Wednesday morning, before the allegations from the second employee were revealed, Monmouth County SPCA Board President Andrew Grossman said the SPCA board finds Licitra's comments "unacceptable," but that he will keep his job as executive director.

Grossman also said the SPCA implemented counseling and compassion fatigue support for all staff members, is working on improving staff communication and "established a senior management (team) to review and deliver any disciplinary action as needed."

"The Monmouth County SPCA Board of Trustees has been closely monitoring a situation at our shelter regarding the verbal discipline of an employee on June 28 that has recently surfaced on social media, in addition to the ongoing defamatory statements against various MCSPCA employees that have come to follow," read Grossman's statement in part. "We acknowledge that the manner in which Director Licitra first addressed the employee was unacceptable and we do appreciate his apology. We agree that the leader of an organization with a reputation as fine as the MCSPCA should never allow himself to lose his temper while disciplining a staff member ... The Monmouth County SPCA Board acknowledges that mistakes were made in handling this situation, but we must also acknowledge that the proven track record of this leadership team is undeniable. We, as their Board, have steadfast confidence in the leadership in place at the MCSPCA, and look forward to working alongside them to learn and grow from historical events in an effort to generate a more successful future for this organization."

Grossman and the SPCA did not respond to Patch when asked if they have a comment to the remarks he made to the second employee.

Licitra absent from Tuesday's Monmouth Commissioners meeting, Commissioners condemn his comments

The Commissioners held their monthly meeting Tuesday; Licitra was absent from that meeting. However, multiple members of the public stood at Tuesday's meeting and demanded the Board of Commissioners vote to remove Licitra from his elected position (watch here).

"If he does not resign, I am calling on him to be removed," said Freehold Township resident Doris Lin. "No one talks like that to employees. Has he ever talked to county employees this way? Even if he hasn't yet, this is his attitude towards employees, towards people he supervises. He should not be in any kind of position of power."

Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone said last week that the Board as a whole views Licitra's comments as "inappropriate and does not condone his actions."

Arnone repeated that statement again Tuesday before the public at the meeting:

"We are aware of a recent incident involving one of our fellow Commissioners and an employee of the Monmouth County SPCA. We believe that the manner in which the Commissioner spoke was inappropriate and we do not condone his actions. As the County Commissioner Board, we are committed to upholding a standard of professionalism and respect in all interactions involving County government with employees, residents and vendors. While this incident did not occur within County government or impact County operations in any way, we will continue to review facts as they become available."

A change.org petition calls for Licitra to be removed has circulated, and as of press time has 1,492 signatures.

Prior on this topic:

'Stupid.' 'You're Nobody.' Monmouth SPCA Director Berates Worker (July 28)

Monmouth SPCA Director Licitra Apologizes For Outburst On Employee (July 29)

Here is Grossman's entire statement Wednesday:

"The Monmouth County SPCA Board of Trustees has been closely monitoring a situation at our shelter regarding the verbal discipline of an employee on June 28th that has recently surfaced on social media in addition to the ongoing defamatory statements against various MCSPCA employees that have come to follow. It should be noted that we, as the Board, were advised of the initial incident on the day that it occurred and have been in frequent contact with the Director Team throughout the past 2 weeks.

We acknowledge that the manner in which Director Licitra first addressed the employee was unacceptable and we do appreciate his apology. We agree that the leader of an organization with a reputation as fine as the MCSPCA should never allow himself to lose his temper while disciplining a staff member.

We are pleased that efforts are underway to better the organization through the implementation of:

● Improving staff communications and transparency through small-group forums
● Counselling and compassion fatigue support for all staff members
● Appointing an established panel of senior management to review and deliver any disciplinary
action as needed

While the Board believes that there is always room for improvement and growth in leadership, we collectively would like to caution the public to make well-informed choices about where they are finding their information. The audio being shared on social media represents approximately only one third of the entirety of the dialogue this employee had with Director Licitra, Director Lovell and several other employees.

Furthermore, much of what we are seeing portrayed on social media is an alarming array of untruths built on misinformation and gossip, and again, we request that those reading be mindful about their consumption of social media. This deliberate negativity ends up ultimately harming the hard-working staff and volunteers at the shelter and the very animals people want to help.

In 2015, when Ross Licitra took over as the Executive Director, the MCSPCA was losing $1.2 million per year- just one year away from bankruptcy. By 2017, the shelter was operating in the black and opened the doors to our pivotal Vogel Veterinary Care Center, an affordable, full-service veterinary practice to help offset the ever growing, unattainable cost of adequate veterinary care in Monmouth County. This service to the public has resulted in less neglect for pets and higher retention of pet ownership in the county.

The MCSPCA, under Ross’s leadership, led the charge that reformed the SPCA across New Jersey, ensuring that every police department in the state by law must employ a Humane Law Enforcement officer. The MCSPCA has been lauded by state government as “the gold standard” for Humane Law Enforcement. It should be noted that under Ross’s leadership, animal cruelty cases have significantly decreased across the county. His Humane Law Enforcement team is frequently consulted on cases from out of county, they participate in law enforcement education and hold three of the longest animal cruelty sentences in the state of New Jersey.

Additionally, Ross built one of the largest animal control divisions in the state that serves the residents and animals in our community twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Within that, he has instituted the largest and most successful Trap, Neuter and Return programs in the New Jersey to humanely address the feral cat population.

For the past nine years under Ross’s stewardship, the Board of Trustees has witnessed the Monmouth County SPCA grow in a profoundly positive direction. The successful expansion in programming, community outreach and solid statistics speak to the MCSPCA as one of the most well-established animal welfare organizations in the state of New Jersey.

The Monmouth County SPCA Board acknowledges that mistakes were made in handling this situation, but we must also acknowledge that the proven track record of this leadership team is undeniable. We, as their Board, have steadfast confidence in the leadership in place at the MCSPCA, and look forward to working alongside them to learn and grow from historical events in an effort to generate a more successful future for this organization."

Andrew Grossman
Monmouth County SPCA Board President