A Broward County Animal Care officer was fired earlier this month because she says her anxiety and depression made it difficult to kill healthy animals.
And that, her attorney charges, was something the county couldn't abide.
In April, 30-year-old Hadad, was moved out of a field position with the adoption center that allowed her to roam the streets looking for animal cruelty, and into an area called "the kennels."
There, attorney Martavis Clarke says, part of her new responsibility was to euthanize animals -- even the healthy ones.
"Due to her depression & anxiety, Dafna cannot kill," says her gofundme campaign, which is seeking $5,000 for "the fight against Broward County Animal Care."
But according to an internal memo obtained by New Times, that was a problem for the county animal center. According to the document, Hadad had asked the state whether she would fall under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Hadad "has a covered disability, but [was] no longer qualified to perform the essential functions of [her] job, and was not a qualified individual with a disability," the document said.
And to Broward Animal Care, that meant one thing: She had to go.
In Hadad's discharge letter, the bosses told her she had 45 days to "seek reassignment" within the county apparatus. When she didn't, they booted her out.
"The easy solution was to put her back in the field where she belongs, where only the euthanasia of suffering animals is necessary," says her gofundme campaign, which has collected $340 for Hadad.
Clarke says Hadad plans to file a lawsuit against the county but hasn't yet.
Spokespeople with Broward Animal Care did not immediately return requests for comment.
Follow Terrence McCoy on Twitter
Follow @NewTimesBroward
