Three Austin Zoo zookeepers were fired in the past two weeks, a month after the American-Statesman reported about zookeepers' allegations of animal mistreatment there.

Kris Ledoux, a 9-year keeper at the zoo who spoke to the Statesman for the story, was suspended after it was published. She said she was fired by phone Feb. 23 after refusing to meet with the zoo’s lawyer unless she could bring her own legal representation.

A termination letter from the zoo to Ledoux said she had "dishonestly presented incomplete information and withheld relevant facts to at least one media reporter" and "refused to cooperate with the investigation," constituting insubordination.

The zoo’s lawyer questioned two other keepers, Nikki Steffan and Stephanie Crider, who were not quoted in the story, as to whether they had spoken anonymously or leaked documents to the media. Both were fired by letter on Feb. 28, Crider said, for cited reasons including tardiness and taking lunches longer than 30 minutes.

BACKGROUND: Turmoil at the Austin Zoo: Documenting a Zookeeepers' Revolt

In response to questions about the firings, board member Rick King said the justifications were outlined in each person’s letter.

“While we cannot comment on individual cases, all decisions were made based on clear and documented violations of the Employee Handbook and violations of other applicable standards of professional conduct,” King wrote in an email Tuesday.

In an email, Ledoux called working at the zoo in Southwest Austin one of the greatest privileges of her life, but said she did not regret her push-back against the management there.

"For years I believed that doing the best I could within an extremely flawed system was best for the animals," she said. "But I have since come to realize that what the animals need most from me is to do everything I can to change the management that causes them harm. ... So many people have lost their jobs and careers in this battle to improve animal care. It is worth it."

The Statesman story was based on the accounts of 24 current and former Austin Zoo staff members, 17 of them zookeepers; a recording of a board meeting; and numerous emails, animal care records and other documents.

Most of the staff members interviewed were consistent in describing unorthodox animal care techniques, an unwillingness to euthanize suffering animals and acts of retaliation against keepers who raised concerns. Most requested anonymity for fear of retaliation in their current jobs or poor references for future ones.

After the story published, six other former keepers who worked at the zoo between 2007 and 2016 contacted the Statesman to say they had experienced similar cases of what they considered poor animal care and mismanagement.

The story came after six keepers sent a 54-page letter to the zoo’s board last summer that detailed allegations of animal mistreatment and grievances against leadership. They requested that the zoo establish an end-of-life protocol and stop allowing Executive Director Patti Clark to serve as both director of the zoo and president of its board.

In September, Clark sent an email to a newly hired deputy director of animal care listing five keepers she knew or suspected had “cooperated to some degree” with the letter.

As of this month, four of those five have been fired. They include Ledoux, who was openly one of the letter writers. Steffan and Crider were not involved with the letter, but, according to Clark’s email, “participated in group texts” to its authors. It’s unclear how Clark knew or believed that to be the case.

Former head keeper Matt Miklaw was not involved with the letter, but Clark’s September email accused him of being “complicit” in the effort to produce it. He was fired two days after the email, which came shortly after he backed up the letter writers’ claims in a meeting with the zoo’s board.

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The zoo has continued to face criticism on social media in response to the allegations of animal mistreatment. A recent fundraising effort by the zoo included in Amplify Austin raised $7,750 — about half of the stated goal, and significantly less than the $12,650 raised through the online charitable program in 2018.

King said a three-person team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture performed an unannounced inspection of the zoo last week. The inspectors interviewed five zookeepers and a local and consulting veterinarian, King said, and reviewed animal care records.

They found no violations, he said.

In an open letter Monday to Austin Zoo supporters, former zoo veterinarian Dr. Leanne Jakubowsky defended the zoo and wrote “we are letting these wonderful animals down by our community’s lack of support.” Jakubowsky previously told the Statesman she quit her work at the zoo because of frustration that management declined to take her medical advice.

“I was in the same boat” as the zookeepers, she said in January. “I had some concerns and I felt like, ‘If you guys can’t trust me’ — one of the basics of a client-veterinarian relationship is trust, to trust me to make good decisions for the animals.”

Jakubowsky said in the letter that the Statesman story “misrepresented my experience at the zoo.” However, she confirmed both her quote and the context in which it would appear before the story ran. She made starkly different comments in the letter Monday.

“During my time at the zoo, ALL geriatric or ill animals had pain medications and environmental modifications appropriate for their illness/injury, and care decisions were always made pursuant to veterinary advice,” she wrote.

Jakubowsky did not respond to requests to explain her change in message.