Memphis resident Victoria Henry’s dog Nola is missing. Ms. Henry writes:
My pups Uno (Siberian Husky) and Nola (Lab mix with American Bulldog) dug a hole in my back yard and got out under the fence on Thursday, May 3, 2012. They were picked up by animal control the same day between 12 noon and 1:00 pm. This information was unknown to me until a week later. On Friday, May 4, 2012, I visited the Memphis Animal Shelter on Appling Road and my search was unsuccessful.
A week later, Thursday, May 10, 2012, I received a phone call from a gentleman in the neighborhood stating that my pups were possibly picked up and taken to the Memphis Animal Shelter. When I visited the shelter on this day I was able to locate one of my pups, Uno. Uno is chipped and was reported lost. I never received a phone call. Nola was nowhere in sight. I also spoke with the officer that picked both of them up from the same location at the same time on the same day. However, Nola’s intake day was listed as April 3, 2012. Additionally she was listed as a pit bull and she is not a pit bull.
More so, I have visited the shelter several times and I have not had any luck locating Nola. The shelter does not have documentation on Nola being euthanized nor do they know of her location. I have requested her paperwork and I was denied; therefore, I am in the process of completing FOIA request. To make matters worse, a male employee recognized that the date was wrong and informed the female employee that was inputting the information into the computer system and she did not change the date. I have also sought legal assistance with this matter. An investigation needs to be done to prevent this from happening to someone else.
Unfortunately, Ms. Henry is “someone else“. In fact, MAS has a history of missing and unaccounted for animals. The rotary club report underscored many pet advocates’ worst fears: dogs being sold out the back door of the pound and possible staff connections to dogfighting.
Last night, ABC24 ran a segment on Nola. When interviewed now, interim director James Rogers gives the impression he’s on the case and will leave no stone unturned. It’s a shame he didn’t take action when Ms. Henry first notified him 3 weeks ago. I assume, based on our many denied FOIA requests for security camera footage, the footage from May 3 has been overwritten. It could have been saved though, if immediate action had been taken on May 10. Or if the city, you know – did its job and preserved security camera footage for 30 days like they said they would. And of course, there is no hope of Nola being found on any webcam grabs since the city shut those off last year.
Ms. Henry believes this is Nola (despite the ridiculous identifying photo) still listed by MAS on PetHarbor:
A number of questions arise regarding this case:
- Where were Nola and Uno on May 4 when Ms. Henry visited the pound to look for her dogs?
- Why wasn’t Uno’s chip scanned and Ms. Henry contacted by MAS?
- Why was Ms. Henry’s request for records denied?
- Why were there apparently no efforts made by MAS to find what happened to Nola after Ms. Henry advised the pound that they had lost her dog?
- Why is the PetHarbor listing still showing an incorrect date of April 3?
- What is the impounding officer’s explanation for these troubling events?
And most importantly:
-
Where’s Nola?
A poster has been created in an effort to help find Nola and it can be viewed here.