The public can now view every pet at MAS, not just the lucky few who are selected for the adoption hallway.  Unfortunately, the meet and greet area is at the city dump and the pets will be in a decomposed state:

City Solid Waste employees from the Memphis Public Works Division are discarding dead animals at the city dump because of a broken incinerator.

The Solid Waste department handles the disposal of animals at the Memphis Animal Shelter and animals who die at Memphis homes.

[…]

Shelly Seeberg, administrator AFSCME Local 1733, which represents Solid Waste employees, said the existing incinerator at 2401 N. Second is broken and she’s not sure if it will be repaired.

Not sure if it will be repaired.  Dang, the city of Memphis is apparently a pretty lax boss.  “Incinerator broken so we’ll be adding 12k pet carcasses a year to the city landfill.  Shrug.”

Memphis taxpayers – had enough yet?

***

Thank you to everyone who sent me this story.  You guys are awesome, no matter what other people say about you.

Sharing some more of the webcam images from yesterday.  None of these made the local news.

Dog on a chokepole on the way to the kill room.

and another...

and another...

Sweet pup to go.

Beautiful brown dog is next.

Not a nice way to hold these 2 pups.

30 seconds later - still not a nice way to hold these two.

Another 30 seconds goes by, two dogs still dangling.

Dog with pretty markings at front of shot.

These two dogs were cage mates.

Presser begins and a worker takes a cart out the front door.

The cart is left here while the presser is taking place. What is on top of the cart?

MAS webcam grab from July 27, 2011.

This afternoon, I capped the above shot via the MAS webcams.  I attached it to the below e-mail which I sent to director Matt Pepper, his boss Janet Hooks, and Mayor Wharton:

My understanding is that MAS ties dogs to the wall in the kill room and forces them to watch the dogs ahead of them being killed before it’s their turn.  I have previously conveyed to you how strongly I am opposed to this practice.  Just now, I saw on the webcam what appears to be a dog and a cat being taken together to the kill room.  I would like to get some clarification on this:

Does the attached shot depict a cat and a dog being brought to the kill room together?

I know you are aware of how terrifying the sight, sound and smell of killing is to any pet, let alone the sight, sound and smell of another species of animal being in close proximity while the killing is occurring.  I find it very troubling to think that MAS might allow this practice.

Please clarify this issue for me.

Thank you,
Shirley Thistlethwaite

If I receive a response, I will let you know.

I have raised this question in the past, as it seems that cats and dogs are sometimes brought the kill room one after the other, with too short a time span in between to have killed and disposed of the previous pet and cleaned up the room for the next killing.  But this is the first time I can recall seeing what appears to be a cat and a dog being taken together by one worker to the kill room.  Specifically, I see a cat in an open wire cage and a dog on a chokepole.  What does the MAS policy manual say about this?  Under the KILLING tab does it simply say “Whatevs”?

A letter to the editor of a Memphis paper encourages readers to walk in the shoes of MAS workers instead of criticizing them.  Because:

They do not want to be involved in euthanasia, but these employees are often required to. These employees are attacked by animals and people alike. They are exposed to animal excrement, vermin and disease, and they are emotionally scarred by the cruel conditions they see animals in day after day.

Let’s take these point by point.

If it’s true that no workers at MAS “want to be involved in” killing (which the letter writer mistakenly calls “euthanasia”), why haven’t they gone to their union and issued a grievance, like they did when they alleged people were making negative comments about them on the internet because of the webcams?  Why don’t they have their union tell the city that MAS workers are the only city employees forced to needlessly kill pets and they don’t want to do it anymore?  The union can offer examples of other no kill communities such as Reno and Austin and demand that Memphis institute similar programs so that the workers can stop “being involved in” killing pets immediately.

As for being “attacked by animals and people”, I assume the latter indicates a verbal form of attack.  The former of course is a risk in any animal job.  The risk can be considerably lowered through training in the humane handling and care of pets and supervision to ensure protocols are followed.  MAS appears to be lacking in these areas.

Vermin and disease – wow, sounds like the Black Death.  Or do you mean kitty colds?  Don’t worry, you can’t catch those.

Now if you want to talk about being emotionally scarred from seeing how animals are treated day after day, I feel your pain.  For example:

Someone surrenders a pair of waggybutts to MAS on July 26.

A worker carries one pup under each arm from the lobby...

...straight to the kill room.

No sir, I will never walk in those shoes. Because I am for no kill. I could not and would not kill a pet for a paycheck or even for a million dollar jackpot. I don’t begrudge anyone’s right or need to work for a living. But if the workers at MAS are truly united in their stance against needless killing, it seems implausible to me they have not taken a stand on the issue and simply maintain the status quo at a place that kills 3 out of every 4 pets it’s paid by the community to protect.

And just because I refuse to walk in their shoes doesn’t mean I am denied my right to advocate for reform and to give a voice to the defenseless pets at their mercy.  Not only am I guaranteed that right in our free society but more importantly, I feel compelled to do it.  Because silence is not an option for me.  When I see pets being needlessly killed and I “do not want to be involved in” the killing, I take action.

A box of puppies surrendered to MAS on July 26, 2011.

The box of puppies is wheeled directly to the kill room.

The one dog appears to be listening to what's being said.

These are pets. They deserve to live. Memphis, please – stop the killing.

Someone reportedly e-mailed a threatening letter to Memphis Councilwoman Janis Fullilove.  These types of letters are unacceptable.  They are also inevitable in any type of high profile case of public outrage such as what’s been happening with MAS.  There will always be a tiny minority of these types of letters generally sent by someone from one of these groups:

• Crackpots who care nothing about the cause but just like to act creepy
• People who do care about the cause but cross the line into poor judgment
• People who oppose the cause and think they can undermine the vocal majority by posing as a supporter and pulling a stunt

Whatever the case, these letters are unacceptable.  No one should be made to feel threatened with physical harm.  Ever.

In addition, these types of letters take the focus off reform efforts.  You don’t notice any city leaders in Memphis bringing thousands of thoughtful, well-reasoned e-mails to the news.  But they will bring the one threatening one.  And that will become the focus, at least temporarily.

If you are writing letters in order to speak up for pets, always be respectful and try to make sure nothing in your letter could be interpreted as a threat.  If something looks questionable, rewrite it using different words or just delete it.  Keep your focus on effecting change.

Completely separate from the issue of inappropriate letters, I want to comment on the ending of the article:

Fullilove, who has five cats and a dog, said she wishes her critics would put down the poison pen and put their passion for animals to good use.

“They love animals, I believe that,” said Fullilove.  “Come here and adopt some of them.  Catch a plane, catch a train, get in your cars, carpool, I don’t care.  Come and adopt some of these animals.”

Ms. Fullilove, I speak only for myself but I can not catch a plane or a train and come fix your community’s problems at your pound.  But I know who can.