Jackson Co AC in Oregon has a history of killing microchipped pets and killing pets in general. The local NBC news affiliate has been following up on additional allegations of wrongdoing at the pound.
A former ACO is suing the county and the director claiming he was fired in retaliation over a sexual relationship with the director. They were reportedly having sex at the pound and on “business trips”, paid for by taxpayers.
“We all knew about it. the details, they were gross,” says former shelter employee Erin Conte.
Not to be voyeuristic but where in a pet killing facility is there to have sex? I’m ruling out the dog runs due to filth, the cat cages due to space, the lobby due to visitors… the kill room?
Volunteer Darrell Coggeshall says he’s witnessed a dog being choked by a current staff member. And it gets worse:
Sources at the shelter recounted multiple instances where they found kittens on the euthanasia room floor the day after lethal injection, shaking and struggling, still alive.
The state vet board is meh.
“I’ve heard those reports. If we had a case where it’s shown a certified tech were harming animals, we could propose to revoke that license,” says State Veterinary Board Executive Director Lori Makinen.
The two certified kill techs at the pound allowed their licenses to lapse last year, only renewing them after the local news began poking around. Maybe they were familiar with the board’s lackadaisical approach to enforcement.
“For a while, everything that came in got put down. We had whole families of mamas and babies come in, all healthy and friendly and sweet. They were euthanized for upper respiratory disease while none of them showed any signs of it. (what’s the real story there?) less paperwork,” says Coggeshall.
Oh and the director of the pound works from home. Somehow.
While all of this sounds really bad, take heart. The bigwig government stuffed shirt is on the case:
The ultimate boss at the shelter is Director of Human Services Mark Orndoff.
“I feel our shelter is one that is top notch. I’m very proud of the work that we do,” says Orndoff.
Top notch! I wonder which pet killing facilities he ranks near the bottom.
Oh, how romantical to have sex with all those dogs barking and yapping in the background. Just sayin.
So hearbreaking..
Why is it that the local GOV people always say their shelter is doing so good no matter what level of killing and abuse is going on?
Good question …
Perhaps they were having sex in the supply room with the food! Isn’t it the responsibility of the animal control director to know when licenses need to be renewed since it is a requirement of the job? I assume the county would pay for the renewal fee and any mandatory training/classes. How can the director of the shelter work at home? How much computer work does she have that she can work there? I am glad the story posted the kill rates as the public has no idea how many animals are killed!
Here is a story about Harris County Texas and its problems:
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/120222-harris-county-attorney-wraps-up-probe-into-euthanasia-violations
Mark Orndoff must be deaf dumb and blind….I had dealings with this shelter director over a dog I was trying to get into rescue….as a member of a nationally recognized non profit rescue organization, we work with shelters all over the U.S. to save dogs…but this shelter seems to be the exception…the director seems to prefer to euthanize animals rather than get them out to rescue…she did not return my calls nor respond until after she had already had the puppy euthanized even though I had sent all of our non profit paperwork in to her. She basically stonewalled the rescue effort to save the puppy. I think she needs to be fired and Mark Orndoff needs to step down…he obviously hasn’t a clue what the shelter is doing if he is proud of what they are doing…how can anyone be proud of killing so many animals and being totally incompetent??? The Jackson County Shelter is a disgusting example of a shelter.
I have worked in this shelter and seen first hand how unprofessional the staff handles the shelters affairs. It’s horrible and I’m glad it’s finally being brought to the publics attention. One thing that I’ve questioned is why only after being fired did the employees choose to bring attention to how awful things are there. where we’re their morals while this was going on right under their noses. Shame on them for their selfish and spiteful ways. They should of stood up for all of these animals sooner.
Wow. If it was on TV it must be true. Right? I mean a TV reporter wouldn’t do anything just to get ratings. But….I have to admit that my brain doesn’t just accept everything at face value. So….I’m wondering why no one was interviewed except for employees who are no longer there. Could it be they didn’t leave of their own volition and have a grudge to bear? Why was only one volunteer interviewed from an organization that has hundreds of volunteers? Is it possible he is friends with the ex-employees? I’m also wondering if all those irate people of Jackson County are willing to pay more taxes to make sure no animals are euthanized? Or maybe these readers would be willing to make some committed donations to support the building of more facilities and hiring of more staff to keep all the animals alive? It’s going to take a lot of money. Housing 3000 cats/year plus a couple thousand dogs is going to take a lot of room. Remember that is a year. Soon the numbers will be 6000 and 4000 animals that need sheltered and up the numbers climb. Maybe you would be better off to put your energy toward educating the public. If people were responsible owners and kept their dogs and cats home they wouldn’t end up in the shelter. If they would spay and neuter their animals then the animals wouldn’t be trying to answer to their hormones and escape. If dog owners would train their dogs they wouldn’t be surrendered because “they have too much energy.” Shelters are easy targets, but it isn’t going to solve the problem to just say “save the animals.”
I have adopted a dog from the Jackson County Animal Shelter. I visited many times. The shelter is very clean, the dogs and cats are getting attention frequently from staff and volunteers. I had to have an approved application to get my dog – not just an ID and the $.
I would have given the piece by NBC a lot more credence had they tried to provide a balanced report. Why wasn’t the current board president interviewed of the volunteer organization that works closed with the shelter? Why were no other volunteers interviewed? Why were no other employees interviewed? To me this just looks like sensationalism journalism. But, I know. It’s much more fun to hate then to actually find out the facts. I would invite anyone who wants to trash the shelter to stop in. Any day, any time. You will find the kennels clean, the animals well cared for. It isn’t a perfect shelter. But unless you are willing to take an animal home with you then you aren’t being part of the solution.
Tara – This story was one in a long line of reports – if you take time to read/view them all you will see that attempts to get ‘both sides of the story’ are stonewalled by the Board of Supervisors, the Director, and the Manager. The shelter may be clean, but these statistics are outrageous.
Karen – I live here. What long line of reports are you speaking of? Here is a link for you to read about more “abuse” at the shelter (note abuse in is quotes): http://www.fotas.org/newsletter.html . Especially read about Fifi. Also Rogue. Oh, why stop there? Read them all. These stories do not fit with the image of a high kill shelter, so I will expect you to find a reason to discount them. But like it or not IF you bother to go visit the shelter yourself you will find that the TV story is very one-sided.
The shelter made a mistake in December. Very sad. Yet, why does no one bother to ask the owners why in the hell the cat was running around outside? As you no doubt have read the shelter has made huge changes in response to that mistake. Does that really sound like a shelter that doesn’t care? I guess it doesn’t matter though if you have an agenda.
Again, I will say if you have an issue with the euthanasia statistics then give some thought to how you would propose handling saving every dog and cat. I suggest you put your energy into stopping indiscriminate breeding (such as the Akita/Dingo/Pitbull puppies that the same reporter highlighted a short time ago and seemed to have no problem with that backyard breeding). Hmmm…I wonder what happened to those puppies?
What have you done to make a shelter dog’s life better lately? Personally I’m heading down to volunteer.
Oh my God! That makes me sick. Not even the sexual relationship because whatever (as long as everyone was legal and not doing it when animals are in need), but the descriptions of the abuse/killing/etc….ugh. I may throw-up.
So now we find out the Shelter has been sitting on a donation of $1.5 million dollars and yet they say they do not have the funds or the manpower to improve the kill statistics?
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120511/OPINION/205110318
The article states the fund now has $1.5 million dollars and the donation was a little over $1 million. The shelter could have used $500,000 over 6 to 7 years and still had the original amount of the donation! The administration at this shelter are idiots. I wonder if legal action can be taken. Usually when one makes a donation that large there are specific things that the donor wants done with the money. Has anyone looked into this?
The shelter is looking for a new manager to hire. This is the time for change. If there is anyone out there qualified to be hired, and will make this shelter a “no kill” for all adoptable animals please apply! http://www.co.jackson.or.us/CustomEmployment.asp?SectionID=ALL&JobID=1874