A dog in very rough shape came into the Coweta Co Animal Control shelter in GA last week. He had 4 broken legs and was suffering from tetanus which rendered him immobile. Unable to even open his mouth, he could not eat or drink.
AC described him as being 15 years old, uninjured and dying. Upon rescue, he was taken to a vet who determined he was more like 6 years old, quite obviously injured, and suffering. The dog was euthanized.
Where was the shelter vet during all of this? I have no idea. Did the shelter vet even glance at this dog, from a distance perhaps? When a dog in this condition comes into a shelter and is left to suffer, untreated while the shelter vet collects his/her paycheck from taxpayers, I’m inclined to think a crime has been committed. But I’m not an attorney. I’m just a regular person who cares about pets. As such, I feel I can make a judgment on what I would have done if I worked at this shelter.
Let’s assume the worst: I try to notify the shelter vet of this dog’s urgent need for treatment but whatever the reason, I’m unsuccessful. I appeal to my supervisor to get this dog help but again, no results. It’s almost 5 o’clock and I have an extremely important appointment at 5:30 that I can not miss. I’m not a vet, I’m just a staffer, low on the totem pole and short on time. What would I do?
As a human being, I would at least show this dog some gentle physical affection and get him a bed. If my shelter had no dog beds, I would make one out of blankets and towels. If I could find nothing at all to make a bed out of, I would give this dog the uniform shirt off my back and change into my street clothes. Later, after my appointment, I would stop by Goodwill and pick up as many towels/blankets as I could afford and return to the shelter to provide a more appropriate bed.
I do not know the reasons Coweta Co AC allowed this dog to suffer without veterinary care. Maybe they have some explanation, although I’m hard pressed to imagine it. But leaving a paralyzed dog with pressure sores all over his body to lie on the bare concrete floor? Inexcusable. You don’t have to be a vet or a supervisor to know that this dog needs, at minimum, something comfortable to lie on while he waits for meaningful treatment. You only have to be human.
Does Coweta Co AC have any humans on the payroll?
I saw this story yesterday and have been sick to my stomach since. That poor dog has had nothing but horror until his very death. The story I read indicated he had most likely been hit by a car and had crawled under a deck where he lay for an “unspecified length of time” – long enough I think for his infections to get so bad he ended up with lockjaw. WHERE WERE HIS OWNERS?? WHAT IS wrong with people- I can’t stop crying thinking about the physical, mental and emotional agony that beautiful dog had to endure. and then to end up at that hellhole where his suffering was OBVIOUS and NO ONE CARED.
thank god for his rescuers who at least gave me momentary relief from pain, a kind word and some affection as he died.
People say that they called the shelter to complain after the fact and that they were “laughed at” and hung up on.
Sounds like the local news station needs to go down there with cameras…
They did! The lady who pulled JOJO(old yeller) from the pound was from GA.Humane Society named Michelle. She immediately took him to the vet & vet said the dog was too far gone to help. They surrounded him with love, and put him to sleep. Michelle then notified the CBS News Station in Atlanta…and they came out and did a segment on him..with the pound person..who is a joke! Go view it on CBS Atlanta site. Also, Please sign the petition that is up on JOJO…Justice for JOJO. BTW..the news story forgot to mention that the GAHS lady was told JOJO had died (when she called)…someone else called to verify and found out that was NOT true! This place is the worse!
I called before Ole Yeller ever left and was told by Patricia Palmer, that he was walking in and out of his kennel.
She lied, they all have lied.
They had a vet on call, but the vet never came to help him.
I believe with all my heart they intentionally put him in that cage believeing he would be dead on his own in a few days, that became almost a week.
These people should not be let off the hook, someone needs to pay for this.
Check their Union rules! Shelter workers probably can’t (read that as WON’T) do anything. That’s the vet’s job! Remember – they want to keep their “lowly” jobs!
I don’t think that the prison inmates staffing the shelter are unionized, nor are they on the payroll, since they aren’t paid.
Honestly, i’m suprised they have a vet on staff. Our local impound does not- though because they are next door, we have a working relationship with them- if they pick up an injured/ill animal, they give us a call, and if need be we take the animal with us to better treat it.
I tend to take anything on the examiner with a grain of salt, just because anyone and their mom can be a ‘journalist’ on there.
But the photo is heartbreaking. Does anyone know how long the dog was there? There’s no mention of the date of impound or the date of rescue
I think of the Examiner like anything else on the internet – salt wheel on standby.
The dog was brought in on Thur. Laid in pain with NO medical attention what-so-ever all weekend. He was there 5 DAYS. They even turned a hose on him..which was more torture..as he could not move, had 4 broken legs, sores all over, unable to eat or drink. Apparently they did an autopsy and found that there was no food in his stomach or colon. So, he starved as well. GA-HS would have pulled earlier, but by the time they found out about him, they were told he had “died” by the people at the pound. Later, they found out that he was still alive, and rushed in to get him. They pound wanted him to stay another 6 days, but ended up letting him go with the GA.H.S.
The GA Humane Society is working on finding out more details, including how long the dog languished at the shelter without care. While some Examiner.com articles are crap (not the ones written by yours truly, though), this one is accurate. I’ve spoken with people at GHS about this situation and this shelter and more incidents are coming to light as a result of the publicity this case is receiving. The Newnan shelter is ripe for a hefty dose of regime change.
Just fyi: It’s CowetA not CowetO.
Give blame where it’s due.
Thanks – will fix!
This is a very factual story. I have always cared about animal welfare, have more of my share of rescued pets, but I am not part of any organized animal rescue program. Not that there would be anything wrong if I were, but I don’t work with this, and see this kind of thing everyday. When I saw JoJo on facebook with pleas going out for someone to help him, it troubled me all Saturday 8/7/10 night. I got to thinking about it, Coweta isn’t that far away. I could offer to foster this old man and help him go out of this world with peace, love and dignity. Sunday morning I got up, resolved to find his info online again. By the time I found it Sunday evening, saw that Ga HS has stepped up to the plate, had everything organized, puller, foster, vet care set up for Monday morning. Monday morning, myself and about 100 other facebookers were seeking news, wanting to hear that JoJo had been removed from what looked like a torture chamber for an old dog in such bad shape. Alas, we were told that when Michelle Humphries at Ga HS called to pick the dog up, he was dead. We were grieving together online, all so sad and disappointed that JoJo wasn’t given love and dignity through his last ordeal. Suddenly, we got news that someone else had called, and turned out JoJo was NOT dead. We rejoiced. We all waited patiently for pictures and news of JoJo resting on a comfortable bed, clean and cared for. NO such luck. The vet reported that JoJo was only between 5-7 years old, not the old man we all thought he was. He had sores all over his joints, from pressure points from lying so long on them. He couldn’t walk, had lockjaw, could not eat or drink, and had head tremors from the pain. The vet said the kindest thing would be to let JoJo go. We all began to wonder why JoJo was allowed to suffer this way by the animal control. It is my understanding that Coweta Animal Control has been given dog beds, and certainly JoJo qualified for one, but alas, he was left to suffer even more on the open sores rubbing against the concrete. I do not believe that the Coweta Animal Control called a vet Monday morning. If they did, it was only CYA because they knew that Ga Humane was on the way. What they DID do was hose JoJo down with a pressure hose, so the pullers wouldn’t see the putrid mess that JoJo was lying in. When several of us called Coweta Animal Control to find out who was in charge, and ask some questions, we were passed around from one Lt to the Warden to another man, and each one of them laughed, ridiculed and goaded each one of us with malice, and obvious lack of care about the situation. Not ONE, not one of them asked which dog, what ID #, nor the specifics on what we were complaining about. I was told by one man, the Warden, that I needed to worry about myself instead of a dog. I was told by another man that I must not have much to do. And neither of these “men” had any idea of how wrong what they were saying was, coming out of the mouth’s of people PAID to oversee and supervise the care of these poor, unfortunate animals that end up at Coweta County Animal Control. Even one of Coweta County Commissioner’s made the statement when a meeting was trying to be organized between the commissioner, the warden, and Michelle of Ga HSUS that was very telling. They said that if Michelle came into the meeting with an “attitude” they would not work with ANY rescue groups at Coweta Animal control in the future. I ask you, does this sound like someone concerned about the welfare and abuse of animals, who would use a threat like that to force someone to have an “attitude” that they approve of? Since this situation has come to light, there are suddenly horror stories coming out of the woodwork. I don’t suspect it is the first time that the commissioners of Coweta County have heard about the issues here, sounds like to me its the southern good old boy network, working at it’s finest. And don’t jump me, southerners, I am a southerner too. I am ashamed that I live in the same state where this animal facility is located. Sick, wrong, disturbing and heartbreaking if the good people of Coweta County do not make a stand, and demand change at that facility. Why Coweta county? Because we were told repeatedly that if you called and you didn’t live in Coweta County, they didn’t CARE what you had to say. Not their attitude, they actually said those words, each person that at talked to in regard to the house of horrors that it appears this facility must be.
THE COWETA COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL IS A JOKE!!!!!!!
We called numerous times about neighbors dog constantly in our yard and barking day and night they have to have your name and address as well as phone no# and you have to be home to file a complaint about a dog loose and roaming. I was not home but I left my Cell number with them the AC guy showed up at my house called me ( I could hear the dog barking loudly in his phone) he said with no one here he could do nothing.he said he couldnt tell if this was our dog or the neghbors. WE DONT HAVE A DOG!! if its in our yard then pick it up.He stated he was sorry someone had to be home for him to do that. STUPID LAZY STATE FUNDED WORKERS!!!!!!!!!!!
I have no doubt that ccac did whoa they are a bunch of lazy people I called to report 3 vicious dogs that were running my kids it toke 3 days for them to respond and then they gave me a cage to trap them