In response to a letter from reader Denise concerning the MAS records of killings during the transition period, LaSonya Hall, a former executive assistant to the chief administrative officer who was promoted to the newly created position of deputy director of the executive division by former Memphis Mayor Herenton, sent the following:
Good Afternoon Ms. Caccamisi:
Thank you for alerting us to the gross misinformation recently posted on the Yes Biscuit web site regarding the Memphis Animal Facility. The kennel stats as well as the euthanasia records from Saturday, November 5 through Saturday, November 12 are attached for your review. The attached data reveals that there were no euthanasias conducted on November 6, 7, 9, & 11. The data further reveals that the euthanasias that were conducted on November 8 & 12 were deemed necessary by the Memphis Animal Facility’s Medical Director, a licensed veterinarian.
Further, the euthanasias that were conducted on Saturday, November 5 included animals for which 1) their hold time had expired prior to or on 11/5/11, 2) owner surrenders, and 3) animals with medical conditions for which euthanasia would alleviate any further suffering. Please note that the the two pitbulls identified as #234328 & 234325 on the euthanasia report dated November 5 were two small pitbull puppies that were sadly unable to survive. The Yes Biscuit post indicating that the two animals “fell over dead in their cages” is a complete prevarication and unsubstantiated.
Unfortunately, the Yes Biscuit post does not acknowledge the very positive strides taken during the transition. Following are just a few examples:
1) Held aggressive adoption campaigns including a major Yappy Hour adoption event on Thursday, 11/3
2) Worked tirelessly with our rescue and pet placement partners
3) Fostered out many animals prior to the transition
4) Successfully transitioned ALL of the animals in our care from the old facility to the new facility on 2350 Appling City Cove
5) Upheld our commitment to the community by suspending euthanasias during the time frame from November 5-12.
6) Provided the public with owner reclamation and owner surrender services at the old facility on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5 from 1PM – 5 PM
7) Continued the provision of owner reclamation and owner surrender services at the old facility (through the gracious assistance of our volunteers) on Tuesday, November 8 –Thursday, November 10 from 2 PM – 5PMFurther, you may also note that during this same time frame (i.e. November 5-12), the facility took in 124 additional animals (e.g. owner surrenders, strays picked up in the field, etc.). Hence, we entered the new facility with all of the animals from the old facility plus the additional 124 animals. Additionally, we resumed our field operation full-time on November 15, which consequently increased the number of animals brought into the new facility. On day 1, within the first hour of opening the new facility, we sadly witnessed more owner surrenders than adoptions.
We hope that you will help us by encouraging more folks in the community to adopt animals from the Memphis Animal Facility on Appling Cove. We will celebrate our grand opening on Saturday, 12/3 at 11:00 AM.
Again, we appreciate your partnership in identifying the communication error and for helping us to ensure that the general public has the correct information.
I’d like to address several of these claims specifically.
The attached data reveals that there were no euthanasias conducted on November 6, 7, 9, & 11. – This is correct. My post did not claim otherwise. To provide some context, November 6 and 7 fell on a Sunday and Monday. MAS does not normally kill pets on Sundays and Mondays as those are typically days off for the workers qualified to kill pets and the pound is closed. So not killing pets on November 6 and 7 qualifies as business as usual at MAS.
The data further reveals that the euthanasias that were conducted on November 8 & 12 were deemed necessary by the Memphis Animal Facility’s Medical Director, a licensed veterinarian. – This is correct. My post did not claim otherwise. The pets killed on these two days are listed as being killed for medical reasons.
Further, the euthanasias that were conducted on Saturday, November 5 included animals for which 1) their hold time had expired prior to or on 11/5/11, 2) owner surrenders, and 3) animals with medical conditions for which euthanasia would alleviate any further suffering. – #1 and #2 are not legitimate reasons to kill pets and directly contradict the city’s claims prior to the MAS closure that the only pet killing during this period would be for medical reasons. To provide context, MAS did not offer for adoption any of these pets whose hold time had expired or whose owners surrendered them. Further, the city refused to allow foster owners to care for them temporarily during the closure. They were needlessly killed for “space” or “behavior” and the MAS records indicate same. #3 references “animals” who were euthanized to alleviate suffering but in fact only 1 dog was killed for a medical reason on November 5 – not “animals” – and the MAS records indicate same.
Please note that the the two pitbulls identified as #234328 & 234325 on the euthanasia report dated November 5 were two small pitbull puppies that were sadly unable to survive. The Yes Biscuit post indicating that the two animals “fell over dead in their cages” is a complete prevarication and unsubstantiated. – While Ms. Hall spins the deaths of these puppies as “sadly unable to survive”, I chose the terminology “fell over dead in their cages”. Call it “tap danced their way to the Rainbow Bridge” if you like but it doesn’t change the fact that these 2 pups died in their cages while in the care of MAS and the records indicate same. Ms. Hall provides no explanation for the 4 dogs who died according to MAS records on November 16 which seems like a curious omission on her part.
Regarding Ms. Hall’s claims as to the tireless efforts of the city to work with rescuers and foster homes, I hope some rescuers will chime in to enlighten us on these exhaustive efforts. It was the “Friends” who advised people that the city would not allow the overwhelming majority of pets at the pound – those in the stray area – to be fostered. I would not describe the refusal to accept help from the public as a tireless effort to save pets’ lives.
4) Successfully transitioned ALL of the animals in our care from the old facility to the new facility on 2350 Appling City Cove
5) Upheld our commitment to the community by suspending euthanasias during the time frame from November 5-12. – These two claims are clearly false in my interpretation and the MAS records indicate same. That was a main point of my post, to expose this attempt to deceive the public. Many pets at MAS who were alive on the morning of November 5 were not transferred to the new facility – they were killed for reasons such as “space”, “behavior” and “too young”.
I stand by my original post. I did not provide any misinformation and the MAS records reflect same. If I make a mistake, I am always happy to correct the record. But based on Ms. Hall’s response, I don’t see where any correction is required. Further, I would offer that some of the claims made by Ms. Hall appear to be misleading at best.
This line from Ms. Hall’s letter may perhaps be the most revealing:
On day 1, within the first hour of opening the new facility, we sadly witnessed more owner surrenders than adoptions.
We witnessed. To me, that is indicative of a failed administration. Shelters who work hard to save pets lives do not “witness” a lack of adoptions. If they see a downward trend in adoptions, they proactively rise to meet the challenge.
It’s not easy being an open admission shelter and maintaining a live release rate of more than 90%. But in listening to people like Bonney Brown and Susanne Kogut speak, I don’t get the impression they do a lot of “witnessing”. Instead, they work their tails off getting the public involved in saving pets by actively seeking out foster homes for all their pets in need – not just the chosen few – and making it easy for people to adopt by letting the public in to see and touch all their pets and making adoption a positive experience.
Memphis could do this too. They could start today.
So, in the end nothing new at MAS. The killing continues as it always did. Animals die because “their holding time is up”, business as usual. Oh, here is a revolutionary idea: have the Shelter open on Saturdays.
The shelter is open on Saturdays from 10 AM til 5 PM.
The shelter was closed for adoptions during the move and on the first Saturday after the move due to an issue with the lobby floor not having sealed properly – a problem which made it dangerous for the public and the staff.
During the time they were closed, there were emails to the Pet Placement Partners for help with some dogs that came in. Despite what anyone might suggest, MAS does reach out to the Pet Placement Partners, and we do help when we are able.
The Pet Placement Partners program is open to other rescues who meet the requirements (info on the city’s website), but one of those requirements for out of area rescues is that you have someone in Memphis who can act as your representative. If you are going to pull dogs/cats/other animals, you have to have someone who can go onsite to do the paperwork and pick the animal up from the shelter.
And closing the entire shelter to the public on the first Saturday it was to be open at the new location was dangerous to the pets who had no chance at adoption or foster that day. Did MAS kill pets that Saturday?
No one here has suggested that MAS doesn’t reach out to rescues. We have seen and shared a number of the “take this pet in the next few hours or we’ll kill him” please sent out by MAS. The question posed in this post was whether the MAS efforts to reach out to rescues qualified as “working tirelessly”.
I’m not speaking for Peter but am guessing he meant Sunday, not Saturday, since the shelter is inexplicably closed on Sundays (which would be a high adoption/redemption day).
The interesting thing is, people are working in the Shelter anyways on Sundays to take care of the animals (they do, right?). Why not going the extra inch and make adoptions possible on Sundays?
If somebody wants to adopt a dog form Allegany County Animal Shelter on Sunday morning @ 4AM, I will be there and make it happen.
Of course, it is much easier to kill the animals at MAS on Tuesday morning…….
“but one of those requirements for out of area rescues is that you have someone in Memphis who can act as your representative. If you are going to pull dogs/cats/other animals, you have to have someone who can go onsite to do the paperwork and pick the animal up from the shelter.”
However, as in the case of Mario, orders were ALLEGEDLY handed down to MAS staff and volunteers NOT to assist in helping the rescue group get the dog safely into his crate. Doesn’t sound like an outreach to save an animal’s life to me.
The first time I read this line:
“Successfully transitioned ALL of the animals in our care from the old facility to the new facility on 2350 Appling City Cove”
I thought it was odd. What does she mean “in our care”? The ones we let live? The ones we choose to transport? It’s very confusing (intenionally, i believe)
Oh the “veil” that Memphis city government tries to drape over the happenings at MAS. It’s just amazing. There is always an excuse for everything!!
Is it a requirement that all city government leader take a class in SPIN?
If you are unable to stand by your record, you must either stand up and take responsibility or figure out how to dance around it. Many in govt seem to opt for the latter.
All the tax payers are paying for these dancing shoes. Sad.
One thing is certain; Ms. Hall is the queen of spin. She’s been doing it for some time now regarding MAS. So I guess that she’s had alot of practice as she certainly hasn’t taken any responsibility for anything that has happened there in the last year.
Ditto! Witnessed that first hand at the last MAS Advisory Board meeting(uh…the last open to the public, that is).
This is what I forwarded to the MAS Board, City Council, Mayor and Congressman, with the request: Any comment?? Any?? Anybody??? Status Quo. It was a post here I forwarded to them, and then they say I alerted them to MISINFORMATION??? Ha, not quite.
Here is the post I forwarded:
A dog in the stray area at MAS is dragged on a chokepole on November 4, 2011.
Thursday, November 3 was the last day Memphis Animal Services was open to the public for normal business at the old location. Many of us were concerned about what would happen to the pets left in the building during the closure and move to the new facility. The city reassured local media at the time, telling the Memphis Flyer:
Any animals left in the stray area and adoption areas will be moved to the new facility unless the shelter’s medical director determines an animal must be euthanized due to a medical condition.
ABC24 received similar information from the city:
[A]ll animals housed at the facility on Tchulahoma during that time will be transferred to Appling City Cove unless the Medical Director determines that the animal has a medical condition that would prevent its transfer.
“MAS’ primary focus during this time of transition is the safety and well-being of the animals,” said Public Services and Neighborhoods Director Janet Hooks.
A review of MAS records reveals that many pets were in fact killed during the transition period for reasons having nothing to do with a medical condition. For example:
On November 5, 4 cats were killed at MAS – 1 for behavior and 3 for space. 25 dogs were killed that day including 5 with no reason given. 3 dogs were killed for behavior, 1 was killed for being too young, 15 were killed for space and only 1 dog was killed for a medical reason. 2 Pitbulls fell over dead in their cages at MAS that day bringing the body count for November 5 to 31.
On November 10, 2 cats and 1 dog were killed for space, 5 dogs were killed for behavior and 4 dogs were killed for medical.
November 15 was the first day the new facility was open. That day, 2 cats and 8 dogs were killed with no reason given. 12 more dogs were killed for space and 1 dog was killed for medical.
The following day, November 16, 4 dogs are listed as “died”, 23 dogs and 1 cat were killed for space, 4 dogs and 1 cat were killed with no reason given, and 3 dogs were killed for medical.
These statistics do not seem to jive with the city’s public reassurances that all animals would be transferred unless a medical condition prevented it. Further, I do not understand how could space possibly be a reason for killing when the shelter was in transition or when it was first opened at the larger facility.
Remember that MAS refused to allow the public to foster dogs from the stray area during the transition period. How can they deny help from volunteers willing to save pets’ lives and then turn around and kill the pets for “space”? Are these killings the result of the city’s focus being directed toward the “safety and well-being of the animals”? I dread to think.
The MAS fail boat sailed long ago. The only question now is how much longer until the caring people of Memphis wage a political campaign for reform against the city. I hope it won’t be much longer.
I am so mad right now.. That statement concerning the dates where no animals were murdered..It’s a lie and I have photos to prove it, One photo shows the grey headed man dragging a dog directly into the kill room on Nov 5… The person that made that statment needs to see the pictures I have.. (which I also shared with Ezbuddy)… Shirley.. Help! they can not get away with these lies.
Dont worry, keep,forwarding post from YesBiscuit and I won’t stop uuntil I get answers. I will not settle for this.I will keep sending eails, I’m on your side, as well as the ainals.
I have 31 pictures from that day. And those dogs weren’t going for any walk in the park.
I just pulled up the photo of the dog and I will send it to Shirley right now.