One Hundred Seventy-Six

An e-mail written by Memphis Animal Services (MAS) interim director James Rogers on June 23, 2012 reads, in part:

From: James.Rogers@memphistn.gov
Date: June 23, 2012 6:46:33 PM EDT

As of this message we have 379 animals in our facility. We have 279 posted on PetHarbor.

The new $7.2 million MAS facility has the capacity to house 555 pets. Of the 379 animals stated by Mr. Rogers as being in the pound on June 23, some were likely sharing cages (litters with or without mamas). But even if every one of the 379 was in his own cage, that would leave 176 cages empty.

Yet on June 23, MAS killed 32 pets, primarily for “space”.  Via a FOIA request, the complete records for these 32 animals are available as pdfs here (part 1), here (part 2) and here (part 3).  These are some of the 32 pets MAS put into the dumpster that day:

Cat #242257 was impounded as a stray by MAS on June 15. She aborted a fetus that day. Someone was interested in adopting her but on June 21 she was noted as being “lethargic” so they killed her for “health” on June 23. There were at least 176 empty cages where she could have stayed while receiving vet care, had anyone at MAS been interested in saving her:

Three cats, all young and apparently healthy and friendly, were killed on June 23 because the owner requested death. There were at least 176 empty cages at MAS on June 23 where these cats could have been housed and eventually adopted, had anyone at MAS been interested in saving them. One of those cats is listed as being 3 months old:

Dog #242748 was impounded for killing by request on June 22 but nobody got around to doing it.  On June 23, James Rogers put him on the kill list for space, despite having at least 176 cages empty:

Dog #242396 was impounded as a stray on June 16. She had an injured foot. She received no treatment although she did have an exam on June 20 which verified the injury. On June 23, after a week at MAS without treatment for her injury, she was killed for space despite at least 176 cages sitting empty:

Dog #242434 was impounded in connection with a cruelty case on June 18. MAS killed him for space on June 23 despite having at least 176 empty cages in the facility:

How many more, Memphis?