In looking at webcam grabs, two things strike me about the handling of pets at MAS – way too many dogs are on chokepoles and way too many cats are mishandled. The pound’s policy on scruffing cats is clear: It’s to be used sparingly, it means grabbing the skin on the back of the neck, close to the ears and the pet’s weight must be supported from beneath. And in all caps, bold lettering:
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD AN ANIMAL BE GRABBED OR SUSPENDED BY THE SKIN ON ITS BACK.
Does the policy seem clear to you? It does to me. And yet:
To me, this is such a simple thing. It would cost the city no money to fix this continual mishandling of pets by staff. They wouldn’t have to wait for a new building to be ready or send staff to a national conference to learn these magical techniques. All someone in charge needs to do is to announce at the morning huddle that the policies in the employee manual that they’ve all been trained on are going to be enforced – to the letter. And then do it. Write violators up for infractions every day until the union criteria for discipline and termination is satisfied. Then get some people in there who aren’t afraid of pets. I repeat, there is no cost or risk involved in enforcing your own policies MAS. It would make you look better in the eyes of the public too. What’s stopping you?