Sara Pizano, Miami-Dade County's animal services director, announced Thursday night that she is resigning.
The controversial veterinarian has been at the center of a heated debate about the condition animals are kept in at the county animal shelter and a Facebook page dedicated to ousting her has been a topic of discussion in County Hall.
Pizano said she was not forced out by Mayor Carlos Gimenez and that she had been thinking of stepping down for a "very long time."
"I finally decided to resign from Animal Services and concentrate on spay/neuter and other programs to keep animals out of shelter," Pizano said in an email. "You will be hearing all kinds of rumors but the Mayor did not want me to resign and our Department is not scheduled to be consolidated!"
In March, the animal shelter had to be shut down after a disease spread through the dog kennel, which gave critics even more fuel to call for Pizano's resignation or firing.
Pizano, who has been the head of Animal Services since 2005, was accused of keeping animals in deplorable conditions and fostering a kill-first atmosphere, by many posts on the Facebook page.
Pizano's departure comes as the county is set to build a new $14 million animal shelter.
