to provide a clearer direction for zoo operations. Many of the zoo's approximately 350 volunteers interpreted the merger as an elimination of volunteer training efforts. As a result, more than half of them left the zoo by 1999. In May 2005, a veterinarian named Kris Nelson filed a series of complaints against the zoo regarding animal care and management. Her complaints were backed by two former zoo employees: a chief veterinarian and an animal nutritionist. The complaints stated that dozens of animals had been harmed or died as a result of poor management, feeding practices, and quarantine procedures. Another veterinarian, 15-year zoo employee Kathy Orr, discounted many of Nelson's claims as being either invalid, or having been corrected already. The following June, an independent committee of zoological experts from other areas of the country cleared the Phoenix Zoo of the charges. In a published report, the committee outlined some minor flaws in the zoo's operation, but reported no "serious deficiencies". Fundraising for redesign A Phoenix municipal bond election in March 2006 provided $2 million to the project, marking the first time the zoo has received public funds in its history. On 8 June 2006, then-zoo director Jeff Williamson announced a major fund-raising drive over the next 10 years to update the zoo's infrastructure and many of its aging exhibits. The zoo needs to raise $70 million to complete the project. In 2009, a shorter term goal is to raise $20 million by 2012 to pay for a number of improvements that are already under way. See also List of historic properties in Phoenix, Arizona References External links Zoos in Arizona Phoenix Points of Pride Buildings and structures in Phoenix, Arizona Tourist attractions in Phoenix, Arizona Parks in Phoenix, Arizona Zoos established in 1962 1962 establishments in Arizona