The reader who sent this MAS webcam grab cropped it but indicated it was in the isolation area at about 1635 today and that the incident went on for longer than this one shot. The reader reports observing the brown dog on a chokepole.
As far as I can tell via the webcams, the only entrance to this isolation area is at the far end of the room, opposite of where this encounter is taking place. There is no entrance at this end of the room. Therefore, I don’t see how this could possibly have been one worker “surprising” another by coming around a corner.
Which category will this one fall under – Isolated incident? We don’t know what happened the second before and the second after? You are not seeing what you are seeing? Whatever the inevitable justification from MAS might be, it looks concerning to me. What do you think is going on here?
Added, August 11: Nathan Winograd weighs in on the photo here.
The Commercial Appeal reports the city is investigating.
I pray to god those two dogs are playing and not fighting. The guy with his face to the camera is clearly laughing.
Those dogs are not playing, but that guy is laughing.
I was going to say the exact same thing as you guys did. I cant speak for the guy with his back turned, but the other guy really looks like hes egging them on. Dear God, I hope not.
I agree – definitely the employee is smiling, having a good tme with some good old fashioned dog-fighting….just when you think it can’t any worse….
I agree he appears to be smiling.
This needs to be brought to the attention of the authorities. I know what I think is going on, but I cannot believe these people would be stupid enough to . . . maybe I can believe it!
SOMEONE PLEASE CONTACT SOMEONE WHO CAN DO SOMETHING!!!!!!! SOMEONE PLEASE GET THIS INFORMATION TO THE MEDIA!!!!!!!
I don’t suppose you have more screen captures because that really would help make it more clear as to what is happening.
This is the only one I received but if any additional ones come in, I’ll post.
please see memphis, tn new website
http://www.wreg.com
you can watch the whole video there..
and see what takes place before and after
Here is the FULL video, in real time. http://www.wmctv.com/story/15253391/activists-enraged-by-memphis-animal-shelter-webcam-image
looks like he caused the dogs 2 fight………..they were walking just fine together till they got 2 the corner n he pulled the left dog’s leash!!!!
WTH???
A set up dog fight planned by complete morons.
exactly what it looks like a dog fight
speechless
WOW, the guy with his back to the camera is not even tense,,,, as if he is not pulling the dogs away… now we know why the employees don’t want the cameras up… so they can let the dogs fight. Has anyone inspected the dead dogs to see if any of them have been fought? and maybe compare them to the pictures that are taken when they are caught? oh yea they don’t take pictures when the dogs are picked up on the streets…. maybe they figure if there is no evidence in the beginning then there won’t be anything to compare them to…
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks there could be dog fighting going on in the facility. Why did that employee with the stick not just pull the small dog away with the lease. Also, it looks like they might have been trying to see how the other dogs in the cages were reacting to the fight. It certainly looked like a staged fight to me. Or they are just very stupid people. No before and after pictures. Hum. How to make a good fighting dog: Directions: Make dogs upset by spraying down their cages with water, make dogs angry by neglecting to feed them, make dogs angry by not showing any empathy or love to them while there eetc. Who knows what takes place in the kill room. I am only speculating and not accusing anyone, but things just get stranger there all the time.
Has this been reported? Dog fighting is a felony in all 50 states.
What is up with the happy face, forward and happy body language of employee on the left?
The one second snapshot could be deceiving here. The dogs >couldcould< have been an accident. But this looks really bad….particularly in the "isolation area" where there is no access.
Any one second snapshot can be deceiving. I was wringing my hands over this photo for several hours before posting. I sought opinions from a few other people as well. Obviously I ultimately decided to post based on a number of considerations, including:
This is not a chance or accidental encounter due to the location.
The brown dog has no forelegs on the ground. I suspect one of them is in the mouth of the white dog. In any case, his fore weight is being supported by the noose around his neck.
The one employee who is clearly visible from the front is exhibiting facial expressions and body language that do not look in any way like panic or urgency. Further, he is not in a position to haul his dog off – such as both hands on taut leash, leaning his body weight backwards against the dog.
The white dog was still in Iso (in a cage) when I checked last night. I don’t know about the brown dog but the white dog at least was not being taken out for killing at the time of this incident.
MAS has a sordid history when it comes to Pitbull type dogs and dogfighting. They have “lost” large numbers of fight bust dogs out the back door. Then there is the recent case of Kapone.
Given all this, I feel there are sufficient grounds to merit an inquiry.
What are the federal laws on dog fighting? And, in the case of the missing pitbull type dogs from this shelter, what are the federal laws on selling these “missing” dogs to dog fighters?
looks to me like he simply wanted to hit the dog numerous times instead of hauling it away. They are not huge dogs and these workers are I assume trained to deal with dogs. looks bad to me. I did watch the whole video also. Perhaps they actually, were looking to see what the reaction of one/or more of the caged dogs would be. HUM
yeah looks like some mas dog fighters to me. Call the police and report it. 528-cash.
The body language of the dogs says, “We’re fighting”. The body language on the employees says, “We’re enjoying this, and it’s not the first time we’ve done this particular activity”.
God help the animals that end up in that hellhole.
Fire the whole damned lot of them from Pepper on down the line. The things that go on in this place are shameful and against the law. There is nothing that can explain away this. They want to get rid of the cameras? Ha! No wondering why! More than ever they are needed if the same crew is in place.
Okay, I’m not anywhere near Tennessee. Who does this get reported to? I looked as ASPCA web site and can’t find anything about Tennessee. Is Matt Pepper (sp?) the person? Law enforcement won’t do anything, they are too busy with problems on the street. Who is the Mayor? This needs to be handled.
shawn, the aspca (in nyc) has nothing to do with ANY other “spca”, a little trick of theirs. They have no authority over this place. Each SPCA is a separate entity.
Absolutely correct Francene. Same with HSUS, they don’t give much money to any shelter.
I do hope this photo is submitted to the proper authorities to, at the very least, spur on an inquest or investigation.
Pretty sure an animal behaviorist can tell us what the stance means…felony.
If I had to guess what’s going on here by this one still photo, judging by the look on the faces and the stance of both of these “men” and the way they’re holding the dogs it would appear that these men are allowing these two dogs to engage in a physical confronation and furthermore, are getting some kind of kick out of it. It’s even more disturbing considering where this is happening at they’re supposed to be protecting the animals. I’d like to show that guy a kick of my own and wipe that smarmy smirk off his face and see what that picture looks like.
Looks like dogfighting to me.
These two guys have always been trouble. This situation is just typical of what goes on inside MAS. The people to blame are at the top, they dont care and these two guys know it!!
Doesnt matter what explanation anyone comes up with the fact of the matter is it is consistant with the type of behaviour that is MAS.
This was no accident !!! I saw the entire engagement that lasted a good minute. The officers where in no hurry to keep them apart. Good old boys having some fun is what it looked like to me with their stances, facial expressions and non chalant attitudes. Do you see concern on the ACO face? I guess they figured it wouldn’t hurt since they where dragging them to the kill room anyway! FURIOUS!
Watching those web cams you never know what you will see! Perhaps tis the reasoning behind doing away with them.?!! Can anything be done about this?
This was no accident !!! I saw the entire engagement that lasted a good minute. The officers where in no hurry to keep them apart. Good old boys having some fun is what it looked like to me with their stances, facial expressions and non chalant attitudes. Do you see concern on the ACO face? I guess they figured it wouldn’t hurt since they where dragging them to the kill room anyway! FURIOUS!
Watching those web cams you never know what you will see. Perhaps tis the reasoning behind doing away with them.?!! Can anything be done about this?
is there a question as to what is going on.. dog fighting that’s what.. the white dog has the brown dogs leg..the two “spectators” should be hauled off to jail.. but what the heck those dogs are going to die anyway.. so why not have a little fun first.. despicable, disgusting and sickening..
there is no tension in the leash and the white dogs “handler” is obviously enjoying the fight.. man with back to you is doing nothing to stop it either.. can you say “dogfights”?
is there a way to enlarge these pictures..?
thanks
Shit. Time for another police raid. How many of MAS staff can we convict for cruelty to animals?
Mr. Pepper? Time for you to step up now. Fast and hard. My God man, take ACTION.
Oh – and Mayor? Tell me again about how we don’t need cameras at the new shelter because everything is good now. The cameras were put in for “transparency” and that’s what we have – clear evidence of illegal activities and animal abuse. Now what?
Can this pic be posted on the mayor’s FB page?
Thats dog fighting. No doubt about it. That employee is laughing and making me sick.
here is that phone call I wasn’t sure where to put it…I must tell you that I see the time on that “dog play” up there and that is the time that I was talking to Mr. Andrews and there was MUCH barking going on in the background and I wondered what was happening…. obviously this……….. THIS IS WHAT I POSTED EARLIER: I talked to a new supervisor… Mr andrews. VERY VERY nice gentleman. He explained to me that memphis is 15 years behind the rest of the country in many areas. He explained that because they don’t even have money for sch…ools there then the last place that gets money is the shelter and then the animals suffer from it. I asked “if someone donates to the shelter” and he interupted and said “I’m going to tell you that when you donate to the animal shelter the city takes the money. we don’t get any of it. you have to go through Friends of memphis animal shelter to make sure any of that money gets to us” (Which I’m going to fully check on tonight and tomorrow) He said him himself owns 4 dogs and fosters 9 and he lives by himself. I asked why animals were being killed while cages were still open and he said we are a kill shelter and every day people bring in up to 300 animals. But I want to make clear to you that once they reach the adoption area, they stay there. For months even. I asked about those surrenders and he said if the family wants us to euthanize them we do. otherwise we take them back and have them evaluated later. But it just depends on if they are spayed and neutered, vaccinated, and behavioral issues. I asked about low cost spay and neuter and he said that they only had 1 vet for 300 animals and they’ve beeen looking for another one for over a year now but no body has applied. I said we could put more information in the paper about fostering and adopting and he said I don’t mean to be rude to memphis but people here don’t read the newspaper. You could ask them what happened in the news and they wouldn’t know. I asked if they pull the dogs on the leashes and he said I’m trying to get them to stop. I want those dogs to be as calm and collected as possible. If they are crazed, we’ve got problems. He said you may see that some of our officers look “hardened to the job” but we have to put so many animals down some just try not to think about it because it is just that painful. He said if memphis wasn’t in such dispair the shelter would be in much better shape. Its that it all trickles down to the shelter. I offered ideas, I offered suggestions…. however it seemed that he just didn’t have the resources to do them. I was on the phone for almost 45 minutes with him. I can’t remember all of the conversation right now but if I remember any thing else I’ll come back and write more. This is all I could get out right now. But do know He was very nice and HE HIMSELF was very very caring.
You realize if you look through this blog alone, not to mention other no-kill resources, you’d find arguments against each of his lame excuses, right?
I wonder, how do the people of Memphis feel about being described as behind, ignorant, non-reading, etc? It’s always their fault according to MAS and shelters like this.
Lily, he is not a caring man. He is just as cruel as the workers who do it day in day out.
Here’s several links from Nathan J Winograd’s blog that you should read.
Fixing MAS: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=6463
No Kill stars with you: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=6472 (Scroll down to Step Five: Anticipate the Opposition)
The Judge: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=6492
Understanding a culture of cruelty: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=4942
I have a hard time believing that the people bringing in puppies asks so have them killed. I think it’s a lame excuse that they kill when cages are empty because they’re a kill shelter. That’s ridiculous. And I have a hard time believing they have 300 animals brought in daily. I’ve watched the feeds and I usually see 3 – 5 an hour MAYBE.
They are open for surrenders 5 days a week. 5 X 52 weeks=260 days a year. If they took in 300 pets per day, their annual intake numbers would be 78,000 instead of 16,000.
According to Infoplease – http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0004420.html – the Commercial Appeal is one of the top 100 newspapers in the US in circulation, at 216,705. That puts it at No. 51.
That’s a lot of readers Mr Anderson is summarily dismissing.
Mr. Andrews is a great guy and cares for the animals. He is from New York and probably is comparing Memphis to there. I am from Memphis, many here do not read the paper. That is a fact. I attend animal court every week and city council meetings..I have heard City Council members state that they do not read the paper. Mr. Andrews is not being a dismissive smartass…he is painting Memphis with the correct paintbrush.
Mr. Andrews is someone who we don’t want to drive away or harden with insults. He is a good, caring worker and stands out as a star against the thugs they have employed there.
Cindy S.,
Understood. But low expectations are a big part of the problem. As long as people don’t expect much, they won’t get much.
There was a study with autistic kids – one group did much better functionally than another and it turns out that the reason was because the parents in the “better” group *expected* more from their kids. The other group just labeled them “autistic” and that excused (in their minds) the kids from progressing more…and so they didn’t.
We must expect better of our communities. We must demand it. Because anything less is giving up.
The shelter (and the city) has very low expectations. With a real leader, they could do better – much better. But as long as an “Oh well, it’s Memphis, what are you going to do?” attitude prevails, nothing will change.
Well said. I’m not feeling all that eloquent at the moment so I’m just going to stand up on my chair and scream: THEY ARE PUTTING 3 OUT OF 4 OF THEIR PETS IN THE DUMPSTER! I DON’T GIVE A FLYING FRELL HOW MANY PEOPLE IN MEMPHIS READ THE PAPER. STOP THE KILLING, START TAKING ACTION TO FORCE THE CITY TO ADOPT THE PROGRAMS WHICH WILL ENABLE IT.
sorry its lily.. I have an animalinfoblog too….
yep i agree,dogfighting caught on camera!!!!!!
Anyone trained with animals would have never had the 2 out together, not knowing the personality of the animal, looks to me like they might be testing there fighting ability, so once again some will be going out the back door….of course with Pepper as he has always believed, his staff can do no wrong, he has angels working under him.
I would like to think that even these moronic workers wouldnt “plan” a dogfight out in the open in front of the webcams like that. I wonder if they got 2 dogs out at the same time (most likely to kill them at the same time), they got into a scuffle, and they did nothing at all to stop it and it lasted a minute or however longer the person who put this up says it did. This is just what Im hoping, not that its much better.
You have more faith in them than I do. I would put nothing, and I mean NOTHING, past them.
Looks like a dog fight to me. This needs to be brought to the attention of Mr. Andrews, the new supervisor. I can understand how workers get hardened to doing this job day in and day out but what these workers are doing is unconscionable. Maybe one of them knows where Kapone is.
Very good points, Shirley. If Mr Andrews doesnt appear to be worried/wont do anything about it (as someone who emailed him above pointed out), what can we do? I contacted the ASPCA w/ a link to this blog so that maybe something can be done with MAS once and for all, but you know how they are. Is there a local SPCA for Tennessee? Something needs to be done here really…If you call the police they will most likely say that since its not going on at the moment (i.e. no raid), then they cant worry about it right? Plus I dont live in TN so IDK if theyd listen to me. I really have no idea what more to say. Someone place put in their .02.
I sent this link to Penny at the “Examiner.com”… maybe she can help get some notice to this. I’m also going to plaster this photo on FaceBook.
Sent this photo with message to Shelby Co. Sheriff’s Office last night. Asked them why they permit this and asked them to investigate.
Do you have a link for the Shelby Co sheriff? I looked online and couldn’t find what I wanted. The links were very specific (terrorism, warrants, gangs tips, etc). Thanks
I sent this link to the HSUS, who actually replied to me when I wrote them about the fact that stray dogs were being shot in the streets of Fayetteville NC.
What are they doing playing PITTBULL Fight on their
break, the a’hole facing the camera is just loving it…Go MAS
The man with the white dog appears to be smiling. Makes me sick.
They need to be brought up on Animal Abuse charges and for engaging in Dog Fighting!!!
okay – we all agree that there is something pretty awful going on in that shot and that the workers seem to be enjoying themselves.
who is going to step up and contact the LOCAL authorities about this? i don’t feel that living in another state makes me a good candidate for making that contact – unless everyone who is concerned makes contact and the sheriff is flooded with calls/emails.
we need to stop wringing our hands and get someone involved who has the authority to do something and who is willing to do something – that leaves out wharton, hooks, pepper, et al.
LOCALS – who would be the ‘go to’ person who would be willing to take these guys on?
we need action – now!
I just did a cut and paste and sent to all the media in Memphis. PLEASE – this has gone on for too long. Please take action.
Anyone know of an active Animal Rights groups in Memphis? I’d love to be a part of one, but can’t find any.
IMPO, they’re allowing dogs to fight, and from the smiles on the one man’s face, enjoying the fight. And, they “don’t know” what happened to Kapone? My worst fears about MAS are becoming reality.
Does anyone know if there is an exit door in the kill room? One not on camera? My gut has been telling me, allot of pitbuills/pitbull type dogs, are making it out of the kill room alive, only to meet their fates in a “pit”.
Has anyone asked for all the films of this? There should be footage of the whole thing. That would tell the tale for sure. Surely the tapes won’t disappear.
Don’t bet on it.
I do wonder if the security cameras are set up in that area. I wonder if that footage is covered under FOIA?
There are no “tapes.” These are very simple webcams, and likely the information is not stored anywhere. If it IS, I would be interested in MUCH more than this incident.
I would like to see a few months worth of footage so that it could be gone over properly.
The city has mentioned that they do have internal security cameras at MAS although I don’t know if they cover the isolation area. And they didn’t seem to offer much help in the “disappearance” of Kapone either.
Kim, I don’t mean the webcams, I mean the security cameras that are also at the facility (it’s what they used to determine that Kapone never made it into the shelter).
If there are security cameras in that area, I think an FOI request should be made to see that footage.
Seems like they are testing dogs to see which ones are fighters….
I’m not prepared to give a hard opinion on what the dogs were or were not doing the basis of a single photo. I’ve seen too many cases – even with my own dogs – where a single photo taken out of context looked really horrible and the reality of the situation was something completely innocuous.
However, given that this occurred in the “isolation area” where there is only access.from one side (correct?) it speaks to me of very bad judgement on the part of both handlers. Introducing a pair of large, strong, strange dogs whose history you knew little or nothing about to each other in a small, confined, dead end space is an epically bad idea. And *if* he’s trying to control the situation in any way, the leash handling skills of the man with the white dog are utterly abysmal.
Regarding the icky smile – it could be a sign that he was enjoying the situation – but I’ve also seen dog walkers at the park I frequent with similar looks on their faces when their dogs bark and lunge at mine. Inappropriate smiling is a fairly common problem, and tends to happen when people feel tense.
I wrote this huge thing and then my computer did a dumb thing so…
I called Mr. Andrews yesterday to see what kind of information I could get over the phone. I’ve been compiling information to send to the dept of health as a complaint against them. You better believe this will be along with it.
Mr. Andrews was very clear about how they aer part of the city budget and if they were alowed to do more they would. But it has to be okayed by the mayor and city council before they can more on with any programs like TNR. If they were to privatize, they could do this without the permission of the city, and get donations directly from the public to fund these type of things. Right now, any money that goes to the memphis animal shelter goes directly to the city and the city decides how much of that money they get.
I GET the whole No-Kill equation. I’ve read the thing in its entirety and other sites with Nathan Wingorad, Ryan Clinton……… The PROBLEM is…. YOU NEED MONEY TO HAVE RESOURCES AND YOU NEED RESOURCES TO HAVE MONEY. Which Memphis Animal Shelter doesn’t have either of being under control of the city.
If they were like MY animal control they’d have their own website (not based on the cities website) they’d have their own programs such as litter programs, medical programs, bully breed programs, TNR programs and their numbers WOULD drop dramatically. But being under the cities control they have to ask “the man” for permission before moving on. And its usually “no”. How do you fight against that? if you know, tell them. Help them don’t keep bashing them. I heard in Mr. Andrews and I’s conversation that if he was able to do all of these things they would. They absolutely would. Again. remember what I said up above I’m still getting all the information I can and sending it to the dept of health. Remember I”M not the bad guy here. I’m just bringing in information. I could have kept my mouth shut but decided to share with you all. I’ve gotten nothing but negativity. If you don’t believe a word I’m saying… Call the shelter today, Ask for Mr. Andrews and talk to him about the shelter. You’ll see what I mean. You don’t even have to defend your stance because Mr. Andrew’s really does love “all the babies” he just doesn’t know what to do when they have to ask for permission for everything from the city. This is how I felt after I finished my 45 minute conversation.
He COULD stop the stupid dog fighting, the dog pulling, and some of what we see as abuse maybe thats the next target is to get them to stop doing that. I don’t know. Again I’m just here to tell you what went on and what I’m doing about it… What are you doing about it?
Thank you for sharing your conversation with Mr. Andrews. I appreciate all first hand info, especially since no one at MAS will speak to me usually.
If money is a concern, I’d think the city would want to discard the old style “catch and kill” model they are following since it costs more money to house 16,000 pets a year and kill 12,000 of them than it would to adopt the No Kill Equation and save lives.
I appreciate your actions and sharing your impression, but many of us have been sharing concerns and possible actions with many of the people who could something and they aren’t interested. Perhaps the new manager does care, but he can’t do it alone and things such as the abuse, neglect and lack of willingness to put adoption/TNR/rescue support is simply not happening. I have sent more mail (both email and snail mail to the media, shelter administration, city administration) than you can imagine. I have sent money to help rescues willing to pull animals. I have sent money to support the billboard. I also support the animals in my own community and cannot come down to Memphis to do more than I’m doing now. And, my frustration is that it isn’t making a bit of difference.
These workers are doing whatever it is we’re seeing (and I do have my own opinion about that) WITH cameras. What do you think they will be doing when there are NO cameras? That thought gives me nightmares.
So, what would you suggest we do now? Sorry if I sound uptight and frustrated, but to watch this go on for months and months and to reach out to simply try to help and be shot down time after time makes me upset.
Anyone else think this would make a good billboard?
This is YOUR animal ‘shelter’!
That’s a very good idea!
yep!
You could contact a local billboard company and see if they will donate an empty billboard space. Lamar Advertising is a huge billboard company.
Just a thought and don’t know the ins and outs, but can we start a chip-in and hire a lawyer to represent us? Is it even possible to do a civil lawsuit or class-action lawsuit against Wharton, Pepper and the shelter? Like I said, I don’t know the jargon to use, but I’m thinking if we can get someone to represent us that knows the federal and state laws, who to contact, what to do, etc. then I would be willing to donate to a chip-in.
My read on the snapshot, with the additional information that the brown dog is on a chokepole, is that they appear to be evaluating the white dog for fighting potential, using the brown dog as “bait.”
Smart money is on the the white dog disappearing. He’ll probably be listed as killed, and no further tales will be told.
Just like KAPONE, I do think he was ones bait….
I know that many of you have done alot of things to get stuff changed down there. I’m concerned that if you did send money to keep dogs safe though, it didn’t go to the dog it went to the city. He explained that because they are under the city any money goes to them not the animal shelter because they don’t have a 501 c3 thing. he did say if you gave the money to the friends of memphis animal shelter they’d make sure that memphis animal shelter got it. if you sent money to rescues and then the rescues weren’t able to pull the dog then its possible I could have another conversation with Mr. Andrews to find out exactly where the problem is here. and how we can fix it. hes a BRAND NEW supervisor so maybe we’ll see some change in the up coming weeks.
I agree with getting a lawyer. I’m not sure how to go about this but I’d be willing to check in on it. I also have thought about making a trip to memphis and meeting Mr. Andrews face to face. (I’d only have to drive across Missouri and into TN a bit) Seeing the place, asking to see records, and literally showing him or someone how to make those improvements. Mr andrews and I left the phone call happy with each other and I’m sure with my background in veterinary stuff he’d let me tour the entire facility. I hope you all hear I’m willing to TRY to work with them. I don’t get pushed around too easily and just because they are animal cops doesn’t mean anything. I live with a cop and know their “attitudes” they get when on duty and i can bypass that quickly because I know it just a defense mechanism. They are just people without that uniform. So….. I’ll keep listening, keep compiling and writing and my classes start the 21st of aug…so I should have everything ready by then. I don’t mind writing or calling mr andrews again either.
Animal Legal Defense Fund is who you want to contact – http://www.aldf.org. Get the emergency contact # off their web page. They are an organization of attorneys out of Cotati, CA that works nationwide on behalf of animals. Their work is pro-bono and they are nothing short of awesome when it comes to hauling miscreants like these into court and getting the maximum penalty allowed. Sounds like the good Mayor should get hauled in also. I am disgusted every single day by the actions of humans against animals. These people are nothing but worthless pieces of sh*t.
I’m a childhood/teenage cancer survivor by the way so no fight is to big. But I must go lay down my fibromyalgia is acting up. I’m only 28! Puke.
Ill check in later see what people are saying make notes
The same white dog is still in the cage right now, Im looking at the cameras and his cage is the one they are standing in front of. This irratates me, I want to call and report it but without more pics then it would be hard to do so
Looks like someone reported it to a local news station in Memphis =)
link?
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/11/city-officials-investigate-photo-pit-bulls-memphis/?preventMobileRedirect=1
Omg people are so dumb. The Leashes are on the wrong animal. Wtf how did that happen? The angles are all wrong for that to be true. Plus one dig is on a choke pole. Stupid article won’t let me comment.
Thanks – I’m registered and have had my say.
I think someone meant that the leashes should have been on the two men, not the dogs. Maybe I’m misunderstanding, though.
just to put everyone’s mind at ease – MPD was there and decided there was no wrongdoing . . . end of story
kinda hard to do the right thing when the police are part of the problem
Oh whew! What a relief. Mind=totally at ease. Thanks for this wonderful news. Everyone just go back to hoisting little dogs up on chokepoles and such.
No kidding – A city just in real trouble when they turn their backs on this. So the next thing to do is get the word out and vote that mayor down next time he’s up for re-election. Just amazing.
Is this the same MPD who thought that someone burning a kitten to death on a sidewalk wasn’t worthy of a report?
If Matt Pepper had any control over that place, he’d have had demanded their resignations immediately.
yep – that’s them
bet it gives the citizen of Memphis a warm, fuzzy feeling when they know they are protected by police like that
I have a theory based in nothing but pure conjecture that the MPD did not find anything wrong with this latest horrible situation because the two employees in the still from the cameras might be part of that “City Jobs For Felons” program. The city gets a tax break like the dickens from that program and those employees are downright untouchable because of that. I could be as wrong as wrong could be though because I obviously do not know the two employees personally or anything.
As my late granny would say, Memphis is in a “Mell of a Hess” right now with far more than the MAS. If the city has certain illicit fiscal set ups with the MAS which preclude the MAS from doing a fair and honest job, then I say privatize the MAS and call things a day with the gosh darned city. This is beginning to be what I figure is the last thing which could be done out of respect for the animals of the MAS.
I just called the City Attorney office and expressed my concern over the dog fighting picture on Facebook. They knew exactly what I was talking about. The woman was friendly and offered
up that the police had investigated and found no charges could
be filed as this was not animal cruelty or fighting the dogs.
I did point out it was true it was one shot of video footage. I asked if they would post the video. That is an option but a person who lives in the State/City must request throught the Freedom of Information Act the actual footage and was assured that it will reveal these men were not fighting the dogs.
Until the video is up on facebook or youtube – and they will release it to the person with the proper residential requirements – then we will know what is going on.
If they balk and refuse when a resident does request the video then that will be suspicious, very suspicious, disturbingly suspicious!
The senior city attorney who likes to threaten to prosecute bloggers in SC or the asst city attorney who likes to play advisory board member and then change the meeting minutes when she gets caught? Sorry, no sale on anything from that corrupt office.
Don’t trust them, but I sure would be interested to see how they handled a request for the video footage . . .
But would it be the actual footage or something they altered after getting caught, as appears to be customary in SOME *hack* circles?
I’m not saying I know for certain what was going on in this webcam grab – I don’t. But here is something that would give me peace of mind: Have the city show the footage to someone who is familiar with how dogfighters take out a prospect and test his gameness using a second dog. If that person says there is no evidence of dogfighting *or related activities* going on, I would respect that opinion. But if the city is only going to show the footage to police and reporters who have no expertise in this area, I’m not reassured.
Oh and could they produce the dogs – or did they kill them already?
They should be rushing to deliver that video, to prove to all the ‘animal wackos’ that their ‘perceptions’ are wrong. Silence (from Pepper and other employees/vounteers) and not providing concrete, unedited evidence would suggest they can not support their claim that no wrongdoing was occurring. BTW…it would be pretty easy to tell if they tampered with the video and didn’t provide an accurate version.
That was my opinion, scarlett. If these videos are all so innocent – why the secrecy?
It’s a staged dogfight, probably to find out which dog is the better fighter so they’ll know which one to steal. Is anyone surprised why dogs keep disappearing at the shelter. The people who run and oversee this shelter are pathetic. But until a critical mass of people in Memphis demand a change, this will continue to be the status quo. At the very least these people should be fired. Today.
From one comment I read on the news article the excuse is that the one ACO (Mr.Smiley I prosume) was moving the dogs when they started to fight. The other ACO came over to try and help break up the fight.
Why did Mr.Smiley ACO think it was okay to move two dogs at once? One on a leash and the other on a pole? From other photos it seams they preffer the poles to leashes. Why put a possibly aggressive dog on a leash?
In this photo the “helping” ACO is leaning on one leg, not a possition usually apart of the running/rushing motion. His arms are in my opinion crossed in front of him. He is standing there watching not helping at all. If he’s helping break up the fight he is taking his time to ponder the meaning of life first. If he were holding another chokepole then why is he standing so close? Why is he leaning on one leg? A braced possition would give him better control. And why hasn’t the other ACO taking better control of his dog, maybe use two hands on the leash and drop his chokepole.
The brown dog has something wrapped around his front right leg and there are marks and a bump on his back. What happened to him? Has he been bitten prior to this?
I think that Mr.Smiley ACO did take both dogs and a fight broke out. But he knew that would happen. It wasn’t a surprise, it’s an excuse. He can get his info and protect his ass at the same time.
Do they not screen the people they hire . You can see the guy faceing the camera is laughing. This is not a laughing matter. Something needs to be done like NOW. To me it looked like the two were letting the dogs fight.
please watch the whole video at http://www.wreg.com..
this is the memphis, tn animal shelter where this happened. the website i have provided is for the memphis news station.. this picture is very misleading.. you should watch the whole video..
the employee at the beginning of the video should have never tried to handle both animals at the same time..
Just saw breaking news.. Matthew Pepper resigned!
@DB-
I guess I would like to think they are not THAT stupid, especially if its right there on a webcam, but I guess that may be giving them too much credit.
I think they are THAT stupid to do this right in front of the camera, I think they were at the back corner doing something they knew they shouldn’t and forgot the camera was there. These ass holes are fighting these dogs. Some comment above says they saw the whole video, if someone knows where we can find it, please leave in a comment. But there is alot going on here and looks pretty clear, even though it is only one still shot we’re looking at. I’d bet on it, these guys are deliberately allowing these dogs to engage in a physical fight and I’m disgusted! How do the locals feels about what’s going on their local shelter = the shelter their pets end up at if they get lost or. How do they feel about their local animal shelter workers fighting their dogs?
Oh I saw the video and indeed it is misleading, so they may not be fighting the dogs and supposedly acted accordingly but I didn’t agree with hitting the dog with the pole and the way they handled them.
Pepper resigned tonight.
I hope that means things will change for the better
I was having a hospital procedure done yesterday, and these comments are too long for me to catch up on, but my immediate answer is: let’s play Dog Fight and see which one fights better, then its out the back door to the fight ring. Prove me wrong, MAS, you SOB’s so full of BS!
This is another reason why cameras should be installed in the new shelter! These problems don’t just fix themselves. A new building is not going to help protect against employees mishandling animals.
I commented on the news site under their video and on the news Facebook page.