Euthanasia: a mask for cruelty at Memphis Animal Services

Euthanasia. It is a word meant to be filled with reverence and mercy; a selfless decision to release a loved one from their suffering and likely the hardest thing you will face concerning your pet. It is the ultimate gesture of love for another living being.

It is not the word you should see printed at the top of a spreadsheet to reflect the shocking volume of companion pets killed at your local shelter and it certainly should not be the mask to acts so heinous that once uncovered criminal indictments and convictions of cruelty are handed down.

But in Memphis, that is exactly what happens.

~

I relocated from Baltimore to Memphis mid-2010 and as I made my way into the city on a major interstate, I spotted a pack running along the tree line – two dogs and a pig.  Yes, a pig.  I had no idea what to think about that but it seemed bewilderingly funny at the time.

Two weeks later I had counted four deceased dogs roadside and even more strays that flirted with the same fate.  It became less funny.  No amount of barbecue, music fests or trips to Graceland could erase the images.

Within a month one of those strays showed up in my yard and I wouldn’t know for another 24 hours that I’d made my first mistake in Memphis.   I called Animal Control.

It took them hours to arrive but I was proud of myself for doing a good deed – surely this long-haired, affectionate fellow would soon be reunited with his family or adopted! I patted myself on the back for saving a life.

The next morning I found my mailbox stuffed with articles from a concerned neighbor about my call to Memphis Animal Services – the place I’d just sent that friendly dog – and the advice to “just leave the next dog loose”.

The articles were from February 2010 regarding a raid on the local animal shelter resulting in the Director, Shelter Supervisor and veterinarian of Memphis Animal Services (MAS) being indicted for animal cruelty.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading.  I still had the notion that shelters are relatively good places, offering a safe haven for (most) pets, filled with caring people who want to find homes and care for the homeless, putting only the worst of cases of illness or injury to death if given no other choice.  Right?

~

Then I saw petitions, blog pages and news clips highlighting the tragic conditions at MAS.  Just months prior, reputable groups such as the ASPCA and American Humane Association were involved in a raid and qualified, skilled investigators that has assisted with the Michael Vick case found Memphis pets deprived of basic care such as food and water. Media reported that several starved dogs had to be euthanized as a result of their condition. The photos are painful to view.

And when you see and read about Memphis Animal Services… you do not think of the word euthanasia. You think ineptitude. You think cruelty. You think abuse. You think murder.

And then you stop thinking for a while – because the overwhelming feeling of horror prevents rational thought.

The terrible truth about Memphis’ animal control is hard to accept and impossible to understand because, even if you could manage to ignore the horrific counts of abuse/cruelty, the reality is that in less than 3 years nearly 16,000 animals have been killed by “euthanasia”.

Sixteen thousand homeless pets thrown away in black plastic bags.

For most, a number like that is hard to relate to – but try imagining 8 out of every 10 seats at a Grizzlies game being attended by corpses, imagine the Autozone Park propping up 1.5 body bags per seat.  Stadiums of homeless animals killed for space… time… too young, too old…

It leaves you incoherent with disbelief and outrage. It leaves one with the decision to get involved and be their voice, or … believe the mask.

See, in Memphis the column labeled “euthanized” is not the “isn’t-it-sad-about-the-over-population-problem” where shelter staff sit in front of a computer screen frantically searching for a rescue to save any of the incredibly adoptable pets or desperately dialing multiple contacts because they are truly bereft that they could not find an adoptable dog or cat a home.

It’s about..

• shelter workers with dog fighting ring connections
• dogs disappearing; often without accounting and the “slate wiped clean” as if they didn’t exist
• surrendered puppies deposited into a commercial trash bin like rubbish, dragged to the kill room
• a dog urinating in fear while being dragged at the end of a choke pole
• a dog dying while control officer, a former convicted felon, drives around (avoiding police for disappearance of family pitbull) 
• dog fights on the kennel floor in the hands of shelter staff
• up to 90% of dogs put to death without sedation
• a lead veterinarian written up officially by the city for “cruel and inhumane” treatment of a puppy with an embedded collar, left unattended for days
• ongoing killings due to infectious outbreaks
• public denied shelter transparency/cameras at new location
• slashed adoption hours
• multiple parvo outbreaks resulting in more killed pets
• inmates torture and kill cat while left unsupervised
• “accidental” killings despite guaranteed adopter (six times in one year)
• cats stomped to death (Read that again.  Cats stomped to death.)
• dogs choked, hung and killed by heart stick for the cruel amusement of technicians trained in “euthanasia”

The shocking list goes on.  There are more links below, including the gut wrenching report from the undercover detective who had to endure being a witness to some of these illegal and immoral acts.

It’s been five years since that first opening of my eyes [and how I wish I could close them] to the ongoing tragedy in Memphis and the devastation and frustration our community feels every day has not diminished. There continues to be no accountability for this “Canine Concentration Camp” called Memphis Animal Services and Mayor A.C. Wharton was recently quoted as telling the public to “put up or shut up” with regard to the shelter’s management as he continues to support the current administration.

Memphis Animal Services is notoriously acknowledged across the globe for its history of cruelty and abuse – it is not for the weak of heart or stomach – and the only way back from this vicious cycle of indifference is a new mayor, a new director and new leadership across the board when it comes to animal welfare in Memphis.

While the protests continue, global online petitions are created (and ignored), advocacy groups demand meetings with the mayor (only to be pushed off to an assistant to handle) and rescue groups struggle daily to save the lives of homeless pets (while animal control culls them for financial ground) – pets are still being killed.

I ask each of you refuse the word euthanasia on spreadsheets. Call it what it is.

It is the uninspired, unimaginative, unwilling shelter leadership that results in the unnecessary death of highly adoptable companion animals.

It is merciless, blue-liquid death administered fatally through a syringe and it is catastrophic – for the pets and for those who desperately want to save them.

It is killing. It is not euthanasia.

~

• Undercover detective report released (WARNING: Graphic)
• PetSmart Chartities demand $25K spay/neuter grant money be returned 
• Former employee civil rights violated: forced to defend faith to shelter director
• Animal control officer arrested on multiple charges of rape, allowed to continue working
• Animal control officer goes shopping, leaves dog in back of vehicle
• Mayor refused to interview qualified candidates for shelter director but tells public to “put up or shut up
• Director bans advocacy group from taking photographs meant to help increase adoptions
• Off duty animal control officer impersonates police officer to bully local resident
• Same supervisor verbally abuses and kicks dog in front of other workers
• 46 Pitbulls and Rottweilers stolen from cages: some with scars and injuries consistent with dog fighting

Resources and additional articles at…

• Save Our Shelter (SOS) Memphis
• Yes Biscuit!
• Community Action for Animals 

Online petitions

• Terminate MAS Administrator James Rogers – 6,431 signatures presented to Mayor
• Boycott Memphis: Memphis Animal Services Stop the Killing – 6,100 signatures
• Stop the Abuse at Memphis Animal “Shelter” – 41,542 signatures
• Reform the Shelter! – 2,194 signatures
• Upgrade Memphis to No Kill – 1,443 signatures
• Replace James Rogers and staff with people that care – 1,548