Robeson Co Animal Shelter Inspections

The following info is snipped from state inspections of the Robeson Co Animal Shelter over the past two years. These snippets are summaries - not direct quotes. You can click the links to view the original reports (pdfs). My notes are in parentheses.

April 16, 2008 inspection: 108 enclosures with 54 dogs and 4 cats in the shelter. Cross contamination issues.

April 22, 2008 inspection: 108 enclosures with 33 dogs and 4 cats in the shelter. Pets need resting surfaces. Use large feed trays for resting surfaces if size appropriate.

May 15, 2008 inspection: 108 enclosures with 55 dogs and 15 cats in the shelter. Cross-contamination and resting surfaces issues remain.

August 25, 2008 inspection: 108 enclosures with 43 dogs and 19 cats in the shelter. All runs now have resting platforms. Cross-contamination issues. Sick/injured pets are not being treated or euthanized in a timely manner.

October 2, 2008 inspection: 108 enclosures with 43 dogs and 5 cats in the shelter. Sick pets being euthanized in a more timely manner than previously. (No mention made of sick pets receiving veterinary care.) Cross-contamination issues.

December 16, 2008 inspection: 108 enclosures with 24 dogs and 2 cats in the shelter. Cross-contamination issues.

(No inspection reports listed for 9 month period - were any performed?)

September 8, 2009 Euthanasia inspection report: Animals being killed without being checked for tattoos, identification or microchips first.

September 8, 2009 inspection: 108 enclosures with 27 dogs and 15 cats in the shelter. Awaiting new kennels to address cross-contamination issues.

November 17, 2009 Euthanasia inspection report: The shelter is converting their feed room into a euthanasia room.

November 17, 2009 inspection: 108 enclosures with 29 dogs and 1 cat in the shelter. New kennels have been installed and no issues of cross-contamination.

March 1, 2010 inspection: 108 enclosures with 75 dogs and 10 cats in the shelter. Shelter is using Ajax mixed with Clorox to clean kennels, resting boards and food/water bowls. The Ajax label says the product should not be mixed with chlorine bleach. Irritating fumes present in shelter. Dogs and inspector suffered from eye irritation and discomfort as a result.

March 9, 2010 inspection: 108 enclosures with 30 dogs and 10 cats in the shelter. No longer mixing Clorox and Ajax. Every animal now moved to a clean pen daily. Staff no longer cleaning with animals in cages. (The shelter manager, Jeff Bass, apparently provided the inspector with copies of e-mail complaints he received at this visit. The e-mails are not shown in the pdf. Mr. Bass refers to the e-mails in this letter: "[...]the messages continue to come like "chieu hoi” pamphlets falling from the sky in Vietnam".)

***

A few observations: At the time of the above inspections, the shelter was never at capacity. The population ranged from 26 to 85 pets during the time span. With 3 AC officers and 3 employees, I have to wonder why they are killing pets (without checking for chips/tattoos!) when there are empty cages at this facility. And yet:

Bass said that at one time, the shelter was putting down 90 to 95 percent of the animals that came through its doors because of too little space and too few adoptions.

Where is this "too little space" issue? It's not evident to me from these inspection reports.

I also wonder why there is no mention of getting veterinary care for sick/injured pets. Has the shelter tried to get veterinary care for their pets?

Mixing Ajax with bleach - duh. Even if your mama didn't tell you to never mix ammonia and bleach and you didn't bother to read the label on the bottle, you could always check the internets (search for "homemade bombs"). Didn't it burn the staff's eyes too?

At any rate, the inspection reports appear to corroborate at least some of the allegations made by eyewitnesses in various online postings about the shelter.

What's Going on at the Robeson Co Animal Shelter in NC?

An online search turns up countless stories of neglect, cruelty and killings alleged to have taken place at Robeson County Animal Shelter in NC. As with all things posted on the net, you have to judge for yourself what seems credible to you. Stories include:

• 1997 video of pets being cruelly killed by shelter workers (Warning - graphic)
• After the lawsuit which followed the video, the shelter reportedly changed its ways. This posting details a 2010 eyewitness account indicating the shelter has not changed and is still inflicting unnecessary cruelty in the killing of pets.
• 2010 video depicting 73 empty kennels (out of 100) at the shelter yet a dog with a rescue waiting to pull her was killed
• Another lawsuit is currently being considered against the county by the same complainant as the previous case alleging similar acts of cruelty and neglect by the shelter.

The director of the county health department (responsible for shelter operations) recently sent a letter to a local paper in defense of the shelter. He ends the letter as follows:

There are three animal control officers and three employees at the shelter — with some contract assistance — who take care of the animal needs of a human population of nearly 130,000 people in the largest county in the state. They are typically stressed and stretched. By and large, they remain conscientious of their duty to the residents and the animals. The constant probing and prodding take away any satisfaction in the job.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not. It is good though, it adheres to all standards and licensure requirements, but it could be better. We continue to move toward that goal.

While the opposing sides are far apart, I'm sure most everyone will agree that working towards continued improvement is a worthwhile effort. I wonder if the shelter could make its practices more transparent to the public and thus reduce the perceived "probing and prodding" referred to in the letter. Public shelters should be accountable to the public to my mind. If there was more transparency in the sheltering world, it would go a long way toward reassuring the community that pets are being well cared for which is the main concern I think.

How about it Robeson County - could the shelter make itself more transparent to the public so that the community doesn't have to rely on internet postings for information on how the shelter cares for pets?

Note: There are numerous posts circulating indicating that ABC News is looking for eyewitness accounts for a story they are doing on the Robeson Co shelter. The posts provide the contact information for someone at ABC. I have contacted the person listed and she does not wish her name and contact info to be posted any further so please do not post it in the comments.

NC: Owner Tries to Redeem Pets, Animal Control Shrugs

Two family pets got out of their yard through a hole in the fence last week in North Carolina. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control picked them up and told the owner he needed to fix the fence before he could take his dogs home. Since it was raining, it took the owner a couple of days to get the repairs done. Once completed, the owner showed up to redeem his Pitbulls but the shelter had killed them. AC characterizes killing the dogs as "a mistake".

Make that two mistakes.

Mistakes happen. When you're in the business of killing pets, your mistakes are going to involve oops killings. This is one of the many reasons I oppose kill shelters. At any rate, here is the thing that pushed me over the edge: AC staff reportedly said to the owner by way of explanation, "No one knows what happened". Now I am willing to grant that killing the first dog was a mistake. And even that killing the second dog was a mistake. But no one knows what happened? That's no mistake. And it's inexcusable.

I think even an outsider such as a myself can put together a reasonable start to determining what happened in about 30 seconds. I would think the paid staff at AC could do at least a little better than what I can come up with but here goes:

• How many people are authorized at your shelter to kill dogs?
• Of those, who was working on the days the dogs were being held?
• Who, if anyone, normally assists in killing dogs at your shelter and of those, who was at work on the days in question?

So right there we've got a short list of people to talk to. I'm assuming the individuals on that short list were at work at the time it was discovered the dogs had been mistakenly killed. If not, I further assume AC has their contact information and could reach them. After a few brief interviews, the basics of how these mistakes occurred should have been clear. Fleshing out the details, probably including locating paperwork on the dogs, would take a little more time. But to my mind, at least the basics of what happened could have and should have been determined quickly.

Now, [Will] Harlee [the dogs' owner] says Animal Care and Control needs to be held accountable for its mistake, and he still has questions without answers.

"I need to know why and who," he said. "I want somebody to lose their job over this. I need an impression that this can't happen to anybody else."

I would take it a step further and say the community needs to be reassured that in fact, the shelter knows what is going on under its own roof. Otherwise, what are taxpayers paying for?

Animal Care and Control says it's working on better communication.

Are we talking smoke signals and carrier pigeons or what? It really isn't that hard to find out how these two dogs were killed. If nothing else, the AC supervisor could jump up on the counter and yell out, "Raise your hand if you killed 2 Pitbulls recently!". That should get the ball rolling.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Clarksdale, MS: We have space at our shelter for 60 pets but do you think we could make room for just one more?

(Repeat times 400 or so):

The ASPCA removed more than 400 cats and dogs from the Clarksdale, Mississippi shelter on Sunday, January 24, 2010.

Tim Rickey, the ASPCA's Senior Director of Field Investigations and Response, says many of the animals appear to be healthy, but some have medical conditions, including mange, as well as injuries and bite wounds from living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions.

"What we've found," says Rickey, "are more than 400 animals living in a space designed for about 60. Our goal is to export as many of the animals as possible to other agencies where they can be placed up for adoption."

When Sadistic Freaks Get to be Their Own Boss

An Animal Control officer in Canton, Mississippi has been fired after authorities were led by a citizen tip to the remains of more than 100 dead pets in a creek. Alonzo Esco collected paychecks from the city for 3 years while he allegedly shot pets to death and dumped them:

Esco has not been charged with any crime as authorities consider their options for prosecution, Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest said Thursday.

The most Esco likely would face is multiple counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, which is punishable by up to six months in jail, Guest said.
[...]
[Canton Alderman Charles] Weems said Esco was the only person in animal control, a division within the Canton Police Department. As an animal control officer, Esco could kill animals, but only if they were maimed or a threat to the community, Weems said.

Let me guess what the defense will be. Or maybe, since it's just a misdemeanor, he won't bother. If the MS justice system doesn't take animal cruelty seriously, why should a murdering AC officer?

Esco also provided animal control duties for Madison County until the county's contract with the city expired at the end of 2008, Board of Supervisors President Tim Johnson said.

Attention Madison County: Check your creeks.

Canton police opened the investigation when a woman filed a complaint after a pet she wanted to adopt never turned up at the Mississippi Animal Rescue League.

Yeah, I bet.

Dude - What?

The Danville Area Humane Society kills approximately 90% of the pets they get their murdering hands on and is under the direction of HSUS BFF Paulette Dean. Ms. Dean was recently named "Person of the Year" by the VA Voters for Animal Welfare. And if you're done swallowing that mouthful of irony, open wide:

The Danville Area Humane Society announced Monday that it plans to build a no-kill adoption center for Danville and Pittsylvania County next to the existing city animal shelter.

Executive Director Paulette Dean said she believes the new adoption center will help solve the overpopulation problem and decrease the need for euthanasia of animals.

*monocle pop* *spittake*

The slaughterhouse-shelter side by side design aspect is wonderfully convenient. So with one hand, Ms. Dean can fundraise for the no kill shelter while the other hand can reach across the way and keep killing pets by the thousands.

In most cases I would extend support to anyone claiming to adopt the no kill philosophy but in this case, there is obviously no one adopting even the most fundamental tenent of no kill - which is, actually to not kill pets. You can't run a pet slaughterhouse at 666 Main St. and open up a no kill shelter at 668 Main St. and expect no one to notice the hypocrisy. Instead of asking the public for 3/4 of a million bucks to build the new shelter, why not just stop killing pets at the existing place? Ask the public for help doing that, and then ask for more once you've proven you are committed to no kill. As things stand, sorry - no sale.

Paws Up for Gwinnett Co Jail in GA

This is exactly the kind of program we need in the South:

With a sharp decline in inmate population over the past month, Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway plans to devote a portion of the county jail to save dogs' lives.

The jail will serve as a foster home for the Society of Humane Friends, a licensed pet rescue agency.

With six open housing units that can accommodate up to 72 inmates, the sheriff is devoting one ground unit to the program. He will assign a dog to each of the 10 inmates in the unit.

The dogs will have access to a fenced grassy area for exercise, Conway said, and trainers will come in to work with the inmates on grooming and training the animals. The program will begin as soon as he puts up the fence.

Yes, yes, yes! More proof that each of us can do a little something. And when we do, it adds up to a big something.

Ten dogs is not that big of a deal in terms of jail space, Conway said, adding that he is keeping 20 rescued dogs at his home.

No county money will be spent, and the Society of Humane Friends has already agreed to donate food and veterinary care, he said.

"I'm committed to either paying for it out of my pocket or through donations," Conway said. "This is great for the inmates. It will socialize the inmates as well as the dogs."

Dennis Kronenfeld, president of the local chapter of the Society of Humane Friends, said the program is already in correctional facilities in 17 states.

Everybody wins.

Thanks to reader Valerie for mentioning this story to me.

If Only in My Dreams

I hope one Christmas to be thinking about all the shelter pets in this country who are waiting for their future families to find them because we don't kill homeless pets anymore, we adopt them out. But that won't be this year.

From North Carolina:

When Brunswick County Health Department officials began considering whether to buy a new gas chamber to euthanize animals the county couldn't adopt, they knew they wanted one large enough for the shelter's largest animal cages.

A small chamber, Health Director Don Yousey said, would mean that at least some of the animals would have to be forced into the enclosure with a choke stick, a situation that would have been unnecessarily traumatic for both the condemned animal and the person charged with ending its life.

[...]

The need to euthanize animals because there are no homes for them is an unpleasant reality, but a reality nevertheless.

The "unpleasant reality" is that shelter pets are needlessly killed due to a widespread myth of pet overpopulation.

The Brunswick County animal shelter, for instance, takes in about 6,000 dogs and cats a year, Yousey said. Of those, about 5,000 must be euthanized because they are sick, injured, vicious, feral or just can't find humans to adopt them before their waiting time runs out.

That's an 83% kill rate. I believe Brunswick Co has forfeited its right to call its pet killing facility a "shelter".

The shelter uses both lethal injection and carbon monoxide poisoning, depending on the age of the animal and its physical condition as well as the potential safety risks to shelter workers. Puppies and kittens don't die well in gas chambers, and animals with respiratory problems might suffer needlessly there, so they get lethal injections, Yousey said.

Puppies and kittens don't die well in gas chambers. How annoying of them.

"A lot of animals we get down there, they are terrified with you being around, just because you're human," said David Stanley, the health department's director of environmental services[...]

Maybe they're terrified of you because you're not human. Maybe they are frightened by the stench of death in your slaughterhouse "shelter". Maybe they have seen their neighbors get dragged by "choke sticks" into the gas chamber and heard them scream as they struggle against the carbon monoxide.

"It's a horrible job," he said. "It's a thankless job. [Shelter workers] hate it."

You want to be thanked? Try directing your resources toward saving the pets you are supposed to be sheltering and not toward buying a super sized gas chamber.

We are a humane society of pet lovers. Join us.

Danville Area Humane Society Kills Pets, Wants More

Do you read/watch interviews and want to butt in to the conversation and question the answers given by the interviewee instead of just letting them slide? I do. This is possibly why Larry King never calls me back.

Michael Markarian, President of the Humane Society Legislative Fund has an interview posted on his blog with Paulette Dean, shelter director for the Danville Area Humane Society (DAHS) in VA who lobbies for anti-chaining laws:

About 10 years ago, we strengthened our adoption guidelines. We knew that it would be a controversial move since we have a high euthanasia rate, but we also knew it was the right thing to do. We were laying a foundation for the future. Adopted dogs cannot roam and be chained, and adopted cats must be kept inside.

*butts in* How "high" is your kill rate?

From the data provided on the shelter's website for the year 2008:

Intake: 2005 dogs, 3666 cats, 94 "other" pets
Returned to owner: 140 dogs, 26 cats
Adopted: 243 dogs, 142 cats

By my math, that makes the totals: 5765 pets in, 551 pets out.

Although no numbers are provided for how many pets killed, if we make an assumption that the pets who were neither returned to owners or adopted were killed, that works out to an approximate kill rate of 90%. So yeah, I guess I'd have to agree that the shelter's kill rate is "high", if by "high" you mean "insanely cruel". I can see why you'd want to restrict and thus discourage adoptions.

And the shelter director spends her time lobbying for anti-chaining ordinances? From the shelter's site:

The Danville Area Humane Society is thrilled to tell you that an ordinance was passed unanimously by Danville City Council tonight that bans the constant tethering of companion animals! As of July 1, 2010, it will be illegal to:

Tether a companion animal for more than 4 hours in a 24 hour period,
Tether a companion animal when the temperature is below 32 degrees
Tether a companion animal under 4 months old
Tether any sick or injured animal
Tether any companion animal to a fixed point. (specifics to be made public at a later date)

Well hurrah. I guess the shelter will take in even more pets after this ordinance takes effect. And presumably most all of those will be killed. How "humane".

The shelter's website is full of rhetoric against no kill and reads like a blame-the-public manifesto. The director admits in the interview that Danville "has the highest unemployment rate in the state, and also struggles with low education and high poverty rates." Knowing that, is it truly helpful to restrict pet ownership further by imposing ordinances many owners will be financially unable to meet, especially when seizing those pets means they will most likely be killed?

My feeling is that 24/7 chaining is cruelty and should be prosecuted as such. But chaining for 4 hours or to a "fixed point" (?) is something many responsible pet owners do who can't afford a fence. As long as quality shelter and clean water are provided, I'd certainly rather see a dog chained for part of the day by an owner who loves him than to see the dog in a garbage bag at the DAHS. That is, if we have to choose. And apparently, according to this shelter director, we do.

Report on GA Shelters Reveals High Kill Ratios

Thank you to reader Valerie for pointing me to the Georgia Voters for Animal Welfare (GVAW) Survey of Animal Services in Georgia. The purpose of the survey was to obtain statistics from shelters and make the results available to the public. Valerie has posted the report in full on her blog. I will post some excerpts.

The main challenge to the collection of data was apparent apathy or refusal to participate on the part of animal control organizations and shelters in GA:

The primary limitation of this study is that, despite the enormous amount of time, energy and expense invested, GVAW is unable to produce a complete data set, a testament to the need for state-mandated collection of and public access to comprehensive shelter data. For example:

· 45 counties (28%) of the total 159 surveyed did not respond;
· 63 animal control units and/or shelters (32%) did not respond;
· 5 animal control units and/or shelters refused to complete the questionnaire citing
O.C.G.A. 50-18-70(e); and,
· 19 animal control units and/or shelters did not provide intake and/or euthanasia numbers.

In all, 84 animal control units and shelters either didn’t respond at all or didn’t provide intake and exit numbers as requested.

They did receive responses from 162 GA animal control units and shelters. Based upon those responses:

· 50 counties (31%) have no form of animal control;
· Total number of 2007 shelter admissions reported was 245,034;
· Total number of 2007 euthanasias reported was 152,297, representing an overall 62% kill rate;
· Based on the average number of animals killed per shelter, GVAW estimates there were at least an additional 105,000 animals killed in the non-reporting shelters, for an estimated total of 260,000 animals killed in Georgia shelters in 2007

The report loses focus on the need for mandated shelter statistics reporting by veering into the "pet overpopulation" myth and anti-tethering issues but the conclusions regarding the relevant shelter pet numbers are interesting:

Georgia is killing more than its share of companion animals in “shelters” that are funded by taxpayers. National figures on shelter kill rates are reported as low as 4 million and as high as 11 million per year. Using 2008 Census Bureau statistics, Georgia’s human population represents 3.2% of the national population. Factoring Georgia’s estimated annual kill rate of 260,000 shelter animals into a nationwide per person equation, Georgia’s pro rata share is 128,000 animals. Using this formula, Georgia is killing twice the national average.

Just to be clear, from where I'm sitting, even if GA was able to halve its kill rate of shelter pets, that would still suck for 130,000 animals a year. But it would be better than where the state, and much of the South, is at now. I hope GA shelters can get the ball rolling and start saving more of the pets they are charged with sheltering.

Search Warrant for Memphis Animal Shelter

According to the search warrant served on the Memphis Animal Shelter (pdf) Puppy #199287 was admitted on August 18, 2009. Her records indicate she is a friendly pup and specify that she was to be held for a pending court case involving animal cruelty. Sadly, she ended up as evidence in a completely different cruelty case after the shelter allegedly starved her to death. Photographs documenting her condition from arrival until she was found dead in her cage on September 4, 2009 appear in the search warrant along with the necropsy results by the ASPCA Vet. That report concludes Puppy #199287 died of "non-accidental" "end-stage starvation". First her body consumed its external fat in an effort to stay alive. When that supply was exhausted, her body consumed organ fat and finally bone marrow fat. Normal bone marrow fat levels are 60% or higher but this pup's was 2.3%. Although she had not been fed for days, someone apparently gave her a small amount of food shortly before death which she did eat. So Puppy #199287 could and would eat, the shelter just didn't feed her.

The search warrant references a whistleblower (identity withheld) who, along with many other shelter volunteers, had long been advising those in charge at the shelter that animals were being starved, living in feces/urine filled cages with Parvo dogs and receiving no or dirty water. All these people are back on the job today while the investigation continues. Perhaps the only saving grace is a temporary halt to killings at the shelter, ordered by the mayor. But of course that doesn't cover pets starved to death or being forced to live in inhumane conditions. The Mayor is apparently not too concerned about that. If he was, he wouldn't allow the people who condoned this suffering to keep collecting their paychecks and remain responsible for the care of pets at the shelter right now.

I ask again - Are they feeding the pets NOW?

Memphis Animal Shelter Abuse Photos

:::LANGUAGE WARNING::::ALERT:::etc.

This pup was brought into the Memphis Animal Shelter on August 18, 2009:


This is the same pup on September 4. She was found dead in her cage:


Fuckity fuck fuck.

This was not a one off case. This shit has allegedly been going on for a long, long time.

I wonder if they're feeding the dogs NOW?

I can't help looking at that sweet face and seeing just the spot I'd like to leave lipstick on that pup - right between the eyes.

Fuck.

More on Memphis Animal Shelter Cruelty

The Memphis Animal Shelter raided by law enforcement this week has been returned to the city's control. Whistleblowers have reportedly been complaining about cruelty at the shelter for a long time:

Cindy Marx-Sanders, who was appointed to the shelter's advisory board by then-Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery, spent a year before her appointment and the two months after telling shelter administrator Ernie Alexander and his director about problems at the shelter located at 3456 Tchulahoma.

"Nothing was ever done," Marx-Sanders said. "I've brought in complaints, numerous complaints with specific employees, cage numbers; everything they needed, and still nothing was done."

She wasn't the only one complaining. Volunteers and other citizens have called and written City Hall about problems at the shelter for years. One of the tips led to the search warrant executed Tuesday by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office to investigate charges of animal abuse and cruelty, something the shelter is supposed to police for the city. [emphasis added]

That's about the crux of it. The people paid to provide care for pets in need and prevent cruelty in the community are cashing their paychecks while abusing animals themselves. Shelter pets are a special brand of vulnerability - they have no chance, no choice and no hope beyond what their caretakers give them. And when those caretakers are abusers, shelter pets have no owner, no neighbor, no good Samaritan or Vet to speak for them. They are pets who must rely completely on the mercy of shelter staff which is why it's so tragic when the shelter fails them.

193 dogs and cats fell over dead in their cages at the Memphis Animal Shelter in 2008. Who will stand up for them so that the abuse is ended and the shelter reformed? I will be watching with interest.

Troubled TN Shelter Raided by Authorities

Sheriff's deputies in Shelby Co, TN executed a search warrant this week at the Memphis Animal Shelter:

According to the search warrant, "detectives have learned that some animals have been deprived of food and water while at the Memphis Animal Shelter," and while in the shelter's care, "some dogs have been starved to the point of requiring euthanasia."
[...]
District Attorney Bill Gibbons said an investigation into practices at the shelter was launched after his office received a tip from a citizen earlier this month.
[...]
Gibbons said one or more people could face criminal charges. Up to 300 animals were inside the shelter, but officials did not say how many were in bad condition.

So I guess we can hold out hope that they may have fed at least some of them?

This shelter is no stranger to cruelty allegations, as this report from last month illustrates:

The incident in question took place at the animal shelter last Friday, when an injured dog ended up buried beneath bags of euthanized animals. The animals were on their way to an incinerator where dead animals are burned.

The employee involved in this incident kept his job.

Failure to properly feed the dogs in their care has been alleged in recent months as well, although the shelter denied the allegations:

The complaint alleges the shelter was at full capacity, ran out of food, and a dog fight began when an employee trying to stretch the food supply brought one dish into a cage.

"We were never out of food," [Memphis Animal Shelter administrator Ernie] Alexander said.

He then explained what really happened.

"We had an influx of dogs to come in from both the city and the county, where we had three to four animals per kennel," he said.

Alexander claimed the dog fighting was due to the overcrowding, and not a food shortage.

That was in July. So if there truly was no food shortage but now the dogs are starved nearly to death, either someone's lying or intentionally starving the shelter pets. Will everyone keep their jobs this time?

I'm Sure This Will Increase Shelter Adoptions

I mean, who wouldn't want the opportunity to go to jail?

Warner Robins [GA] city council passed an ordinance Monday night setting up a fine and prison time for people who don't sterilize their pets.

The law will apply to animals adopted from the city shelter.
[...]
Council member John Williams says the penalties [up to 6 months in jail and $1000 fine] will help control the city's pet population.

Yeah but see, no. What it will do is drive pet owners away from the city shelter. Responsible pet owners want to neuter their pets in their own time with consideration for their individual circumstances and recommendations from their Vet. Or they may choose not to neuter but rather to safeguard their pet from unintended breeding. In any case, how many owners are going to be willing to risk jail time when there are so many other means of obtaining a pet? I couldn't find any solid figures on the shelter's adoption rates online but I did come across a recent petition against their use of the gas chamber to kill pets. If the shelter is gassing pets to death, why make it far less likely anyone will want to adopt from there by instituting fines and jail time for non-compliance?

But wait - there's more!

John Williams is also leading an effort to protect people from vicious dogs in the city. That's after police say a pit bull attacked a small child last week causing serious injuries to the girl.

Given Mr. Williams' approach to "helping" the city's pet population, I can't wait to see his ideas on "protecting" the public from biting dogs.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

The Hopkins Co Humane Society in KY sounds all right on their website. They offer low cost neuter, reasonable adoption fees which include neuter and they investigate cruelty.

Turns out though, they kill roughly 8 out of 10 pets that come through their doors. The community wants to work toward less killing and has mobilized at all levels to make that happen. But the HCHS President wants to maintain the status quo. She doesn't want volunteers helping out at the shelter because "they become too attached to the animals". Which would be a terrible quality to have in someone caring for pets because that attachment might foster some motivation to do something for the pets besides kill them. Of course there is no room at a "Humane Society" for something like that. In fact the shelter President is not at all concerned about killing pets or leaving kittens in urine filled bins overnight although she is concerned about pesky potential adopters and apparently makes it difficult for anyone to adopt a pet from her shelter.

I wonder how much longer this one lady will be allowed to dictate cruelty and death to the pets in her care. On the taxpayers' dime.


Hat Tip: For Your Entertainment

Cleveland Co Animal Control Sux

A kitten in NC was recently rescued from a storm drain by AC:

Little “Lucky” will never realize how fortunate he really is.

Right. Because he's dead.

Backstory: After getting the kitten out the drain, AC slated him for death because of a bass-akwards policy which mandates the killing of any stray without proof of Rabies vaccine. That would mean definite death for "Lucky" who wouldn't be old enough to get a Rabies vaccine, even if he had an owner. And obviously most strays aren't carrying their proof of Rabies vaccines in their purses when picked up by AC. I guess that explains these sad stats:

Cleveland County Animal Control's annual report for 2007 through 2008 reads that out of 6,750 animals at the shelter, 6,249 were euthanized.

According to that report, nine animals were adopted from the shelter and seven were adopted by the [Cleveland County] Humane Society. While the numbers are low, Lockridge said animal vaccinations and the county's high rate of rabies are part of the reason.

Because of the publicity Lucky's rescue received, there was a public outcry over the idea that he would be killed. Authorities relented and granted him a six month stay in quarantine at the Cleveland Co Humane Society (CCHS). But Lucky never made it out of AC. He apparently became ill and was left to suffer in his cage until the President of CCHS came to pick him up:

“He was curled up in a box, kind of lifeless,” Mebane said, describing Lucky. “That poor kitten was just left there in a cage, all alone, dying. No animal should have to lay there, left to die. We went straight to the vet and he died at the clinic.”

The vet that examined the kitten found him to be dehydrated, with white gums and a dangerously low body temperature.

[...]

“He was so weak that he could barely stand up on his own,” [Veterinarian Deanna] Moseley said. The kitten went into respiratory arrest and died."

Since it presumably took several days for the kitten's condition to deteriorate so badly, I would think someone would be held accountable. But it looks like all the locals involved are expert players at passing the buck:

Moseley conceded the county is limited in what they can provide to animals taken into the shelter.

Mebane agrees.

“It's unfortunate that animal control isn't set up to provide veterinary care,” she said. “It's not their protocol.”

Sam Lockridge of Cleveland County Animal Control was unable to be reached for comment.

Moseley coined Lucky a “survivor,” but noted his story is just another scenario that happens locally on a daily basis.

No one person or group in particular is responsible for Lucky’s death, Moseley said.

So I guess that's that. No harm, no foul. Unless you mean Lucky, or any of the other 6249 pets killed by Cleveland Co Animal Control in recent years. In which case: meh.

Added, 7-22-09: The Rabies vaccine policy mentioned with regards to Lucky:

“Policy will not allow us to sell someone a stray, unvaccinated animal,” said Sam Lockridge, coordinator of health services with the Cleveland County Health Department.

Case Update: Walker Co Humane Society in AL

Couple of updates:

No gag order has been imposed in the Boost case but the surveillance videos I linked to previously have been removed. Thankfully we still have access to the truth here and here.


You're so lame, you probably think this blog is about you.

Someone who didn't pass creative writing in high school has made herself up a webbysite:

Walker County Law is a site dedicated to featuring attorneys located in Jasper, Alabama in Walker County, Alabama. Attorneys featured on this page are here because they have performed outstanding or noteworthy deeds in the recent past.

The attorneyS featured on the site amount to a grand total of one - the attorney representing Boost's owner. I think the page intends to discredit the attorney and his client. Hard to tell from the jumbled mess o' words (I'm still trying to work out "the Imoral Boost"). But what's really a funny coincidence is the page is a twin of looks kinda pretty much exactly like the Walker Co Humane Society website. I assume only high level staff have access to the shelter's web design. What are the odds, ya know?

Boost Video

The Walker Co Humane Society Shelter Director kills friendly dogs and then lies to cover it up.

Surveillance video from the shelter documents the last minutes of the life of a friendly Boxer named Boost who was killed at the Walker Co Humane Society in May 2009. There is a view from the parking lot of Boost being taken out of a carrier, a view from the shelter lobby of him being walked inside, and a view of his dead body being wheeled out the back door in a shopping cart.

Boost's owner has filed a civil case against the lying Shelter Director. The Shelter Director's attorney is trying to obtain a gag order in the case to prevent Boost's owner from telling his story and to get the video proof removed from the web.

Not so fast.

Thank you to my friend John Sibley for editing together this video and helping to get the truth out to the public.

Tech notes: Embed code appears at end of vid. Size of the vid can be adjusted by changing the height/width numbers in the embed code. Keep same proportion for best results. (IOW reduce or increase both numbers by the same factor.)

Case Update: Walker Co Humane Society in AL

You know how sometimes, whatever the reason, you come across something that leaves you feeling like you've been kicked in the chest?

You may remember the story of Boost, the Boxer who got loose and was turned in to the local shelter by good Samaritans in Walker County, AL. The shelter director killed him immediately and so the owner's heart was broken when he showed up promptly to redeem his pet. The shelter director's justification for the killing:

"The dog would not come out of the carrier so we had to use a capture pole. That is when he became aggressive.”

She further hinted that Boost tried to bite someone at the shelter.

Lies, damn lies and lying shelter directors who kill dogs:

• Surveillance video from the parking lot shows Boost being taken out of the crate. (about 1:00 mark)
• Surveillance video from the shelter lobby shows Boost being brought into the shelter (about 1:00 mark)
• Surveillance video from the shelter kennel area - well it shows a shelter worker pushing a shopping cart containing a trash bag out the back door before turning out the lights for the day. [Insert run of curse words here.]

The video seems to confirm what the couple who turned Boost in to the shelter claimed - that he was not aggressive and no catchpole was used. It also might confirm my suspicion that the dog was brought in near the end of the day and the shelter director didn't feel like doing her job so she killed the dog instead of making a space for him. And then made up a story to cover her lying ass when the owner showed up to redeem his pet.

There is a legal case regarding this matter which I will continue to follow with interest. In the meantime, I can't help but wonder how many friendly dogs this shelter director is killing today. Or yesterday. Or tomorrow...