Will a refresher class on how to use a chokepole instill empathy into the attendees?
(Video obtained from security camera footage at the Memphis pound via FOIA request)
Added: I found where the 2 dogs in the above clip were brought in. Like many impounds I’ve noticed on the video, these dogs get a lame scan for microchips and no weight. Not sure how they are developing “special diets” and monitoring weight loss for dogs when they aren’t ever weighing them.
YesBiscuit! 
Can a Leopard change its spots?!?
LikeLike
It hurts my eyes, my stomach, my heart… every time.
LikeLike
Where to they find such heinous people?
LikeLike
Oops, I meant “do,” not “to.” Shouldn’t post quickly in a fit of pique ;-)
LikeLike
You will have to get new leadership Memphis, this bunch of welfare drawing mamas babies daddies idiots from the Mayor on down has proven you will get nothing more than what they are capable of. These people working here are some of the most useless pieces of human flesh ever born. Flush em and get back to what works…
LikeLike
Keep it real. What they are is heartless, calloused, cold jerks, but they are likely not on welfare and whether they have children or not and are married or not has nothing to do with it. They deserve to be fired, yes. At the very least. In my opinion, many of them need to be behind bars. But I think it dilutes the issue to sling thinly veiled racial remarks about them. To me, it doesn’t matter what their personal lives are like, it’s how they treat the pets, which is deplorable.
LikeLike
TY. And in addition to what shelter volunteer said, one of the main points here is that they are not on welfare, they are being paid by taxpayers to protect pets from harm! It would actually make more sense to me if they WERE on welfare – hopefully b/c no one will hire them due to the fact that most people don’t trust animal abusers.
LikeLike
Well said, thank you. This is about the treatment of the animals, period.
LikeLike
Those are just babies – how would they like it if someone grabbed their babies and dragged them around on the floor like a sack of garbage. Not even water or food for them either, not even a kind hand…so very callous and cold hearted.
LikeLike
Many of this City paid employee have been there for many years. The last Director said he would train the staff, of course that’s what we are hearing again. Will they be held accountable? Hell NO! They know this, so why change?
You can’t make someone care. You can’t teach someone to have compassion. They should have cleaned house LONG AGO, and not just a few people. There are a few (very, very few) good staff members, but they are the minority.
Many have put thousands to death and are completely burnt out. If they ever cared, it was long, long ago.
BTW – Memphians, YOU are paying their salaries!!!!! Is this how you want your money spent???!!!
LikeLike
These employees blatantly don’t care. They know nothing about “reading animals” or handling animals. Since they seem to detest animals so much, they will be happier working away from animals. Time to clean house and hire people that care.
LikeLike
I totally agree. They really do seem to detest animals and the neither of them in this video even gives the dogs a second glance – just drag them wherever they are going. The woman in this one in particular needs to be slapped senseless – actually they both do. All of these people in all of these clips hate animals – plain and simple. Get the bastards out of there.
LikeLike
This isn’t just disregard. It’s deliberate – the staff at MAS have chosen to (mis)use tools & techniques which they know will cause pain, suffering & stress, and have chosen to use them even when they’re not the most convenient tools at hand.
They’ve been trained & retrained in the proper use of catchpoles & cat tongs before, haven’t they? And it’s done nothing. IMHO, it never will do anything, because they not only don’t perceive the need, they’ve actively resented & resisted any efforts to effect any change, however minor, however easy to implement – and that resentment, they’ve consistently chosen to take out on the animals in their control.
LikeLike
Dragging them around like they were things. So, nothing has changed as we expected. Whilst they were dragging these two little ones on leashes, they scruffed them to lift into those cages – was that really necessary??? Was any of this really necessary? You cannot fix stupid, stubborn, angry, and hateful. You have to change the players, from AC Wharton, all the way down the block in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood (barf!). And AC, if you’re monitoring this blog, your step’n’fetch routine is soooo old. Get a new one. Admit you don’t give a goddam about these animals, then let’s see who else you don’t give a goddam about.
LikeLike
Why does no one there seem to know how to properly pick up a dog? Why is scruffing (with NO SUPPORT UNDERNEATH) the default?
Newsflash to the workers at MAS – if it can walk on its own, it’s TOO OLD to scruff like that. You’re causing pain when you do that. Pain and fear. Again. But as you all seem to lack even the most basic empathy, you neither know nor care about that.
LikeLike
It’s in the employee manual, remember? All the proper techniques for picking up and carrying pets. Pepper made sure of it after I grabbed the “suitcase dog” pic. The training doesn’t take. And it never will, because there is no empathy.
LikeLike
And no consequences. Hopefully, Mr. Rogers is changing that.
LikeLike
yup.. that’s got to be the kill room waiting area… they are not even getting water,, wonder if they are owner surrender? The little one looks like another “Yorkie”
LikeLike
Dot, that’s not the owner surrender intake area. That’s the “ACO In-Processing” area where the dogs are dragged off the trucks. The owner surrender area is actually one of the visible places.
LikeLike
thank you for that information… This is so heartbreaking. Are you a volunteer at this shelter? Is there anything you can add to this blog that will help get changes made there?
LikeLike
I don’t think the owner surrender area is visible to the public – it is a room behind the front desk in the lobby – owner surrenders have their “own” entrance – they are supposed to go behind the building to entrance that area. When I was there, I asked what that room was and that is what was told to me by a volunteer. In the OLD building, the owner surrender area was a desk in the middle of the lobby.
LikeLike
It just makes me cry to see that. What the heck is wrong with MAS?! This has got to stop. What can we do? Tell me and I will do it!
LikeLike
It seems they have all been given their jobs for some other reason other than “qualifications” because it’s obvious they are NOT qualified to work with dogs & cats.
I wonder how it feels to be handed a job, not because you can properly do the job or qualifications, but because of someone you know? What other reason would they have this job? Surely not because they like the job.
LikeLike
That is a Shelby County officer and a MAS technician. Somebody needs to call the county mayor too.
LikeLike
What is the name of the Shelby County ACO?
LikeLike
Sheriff Bill Oldham, head of Shelby County Sheriff Department.
He could investigate also if someone filed charges against anyone at MAS.
LikeLike
From a memo from La Sonya Hall dated July 22, 2011:
>>the first set of photos in the video captured on May 2, 2011 features an animal control officer who works for the Shelby County Health Department.
You might note that the officer in the photos is dressed in a khaki top and army green pants. Conversely, City of Memphis Animal Control Officers wear light blue tops and navy/dark bottoms.<<
LikeLike
I keep thinking . . . not only are these pets treated with everything from callous disregard to obvious cruelty, but most of them will be killed. This kind of treatment will be the last thing they know.
Chokepole retraining will never address this. It is very, very difficult to change the culture of any organization. It can be done, but it must be done overtly and everything has to be dealt with at once.
LikeLike
It is against the law not to provide food and to provide water at all times. Thus far I haven’t seen either one of those things provided in this room.
As for the treatment of these poor animals, it is disgusting and uncalled for. Please, Mr. Rogers……..please clean up your house.
LikeLike
Please, give me 5 minutes alone with every single abuser at MAS, please.
LikeLike
They will never hire people that care about animals because that would mean they wouldn’t be able to keep their kill rate up, in turn they would be spending more money on food, vaccines, etc. The Mayor DOES NOT care about animals, period. He doesn’t want or care to hire non-abusers-and he is the ONLY person that can change MAS. Hasn’t he shown how little he cares already by NOT firing these repeat offenders AND taking out the web cams? He DOES NOT GIVE A RATS ASS! PERIOD! Whether or not Mr. Rogers cares, the Mayor has the say-so.
LikeLike
…and speaking of Mr. Rogers, Does anybody know why he quit/retired from the Post Office? I’m not one to gossip but if you do a little research you may be shocked.
LikeLike
Why?
LikeLike
I guess they keep these 2 around just because they can put newspaper in the crate! I don’t see any other reason.
LikeLike
So sad. MAS was always bad about things like this, but it seems to be really bad lately (dragging, scruffing, chokepoles, cramming, etc).
Also, who is Mr Rogers? New manager? Is he okay, or worse than Pepper? (please have him be better LOL).
LikeLike
How do you go about getting a job at MAS???? I know a few good folks who love animals that need a job and would love to work there!!
LikeLike
Good luck with that… seems they want to keep the lifers and the dog fighting owners.
LikeLike
Lots of good loving people would love to work with pets,The supervisor (s ) are exactly the same , so they care less…..Karma is real , they look like jerks.
LikeLike