DAKOTA CITY — Humboldt County Supervisors terminated the animal control officer contract with Merri Hansen Monday, following a storm of publicity and social media outrage that led Humboldt Community Animal Shelter’s board of directors to also sever ties with her.

“With all that is going on, we thought it best to part ways,” said David Lee, supervisor for the second district of the county.

Lee is one of several officials who contend Hansen became publicly malicious with them on social media.

Lee said the shelter, which started out as a pound, “was told to be a pound until we could get something built.”

Another ACO may be hired soon, but the responsibility for animal control will go back to the Sheriff’s Office until then, he said.

Humboldt City Administrator Travis Goedken could not be reached by press time regarding the status of the city’s ACO contract with Hansen.

Hansen was paid $30 per animal plus mileage for picking up animals called in through the dispatch system. In a previous interview, Goedken said Hansen had not turned in an invoice since December 2018.

Humboldt Community Animal Shelter’s board of directors voted unanimously last Monday to terminate Hansen following what members said have been ongoing personal attacks stemming from her use of social media.

“With all the Facebook posts that she put on, we felt it was a little malicious and over the top,” said District 2 Supervisor Sandy Loney. “Not good for what we’re trying to get accomplished.”

Following the shelter’s board’s official severance, she said supervisors felt it was appropriate to follow suit. Loney, who has been a supervisor since January, said she had not heard of any complaints through official channels from Hansen.

“If she had an issue, she should have came to us, not gone on Facebook,” Loney said. “This undermined it, because people have a sour taste now.”

In an interview with The Messenger last week, Goedken said Hansen had announced her intent to resign from her contract with the city and county of Humboldt as animal control officer, though it was unclear when the resignation would become effective. She was the ACO for more than three years.

Hansen could not be reached for comment.

“There is a ton of — and I stress the term — disinformation. It is malicious. In my opinion, the whole intent is to attack,” Goedken previously said from his personal point of view as a volunteer, telling The Messenger that being passionate about animals “does not allow you to treat people like dirt.”

Hansen is reportedly still taking care of the immediate needs of animals at the shelter.