A Florida animal control officer has been arrested after allegedly using a City of Palm Coast credit card to pay a $386.64 veterinary bill for her personal dog, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Chelsie Willis, 36, of Fort McCoy, was arrested on Friday, 16 October, and charged with fraudulent use of a credit card involving more than $100.
Deputies said Willis used the city-issued card on 18 September at East Coast Animal Hospital, where her dog, Layla, was being treated. The card was also used for authorised city expenses during the visit, before the charge for the personal account was made, investigators said.
Animal control officer accused of trying to move vet bill to city account
The veterinary hospital contacted Palm Coast city administrators on 15 October after Willis allegedly returned to the clinic and asked for her dog’s account to be removed from her personal records and added to the city’s account.
Staff refused, telling her that the request would breach company policy and amount to falsifying records, according to the sheriff’s office. They then reported their concerns to city officials.
Records from the hospital and the City of Palm Coast later confirmed the unauthorised charge, investigators said.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said the arrest followed “a series of very poor decisions that evolved into an attempted cover up”.
“Public service is a privilege, not a personal piggy bank,” he said, praising the hospital workers for raising the alarm.
Palm Coast deputy city manager Jim Macfarlane said the city took the alleged misuse of public funds “extremely seriously” and acted immediately after learning of the suspected misconduct.
He said Willis’s alleged behaviour did not reflect “the integrity and accountability we expect of every City employee”.
Willis was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where she was being held on a $2,500 bond. The allegations have not been tested in court.
