Victoria Henry’s beloved dog Nola was impounded by the Memphis pound on May 3 and hasn’t been seen since. What has anyone at MAS done to help find Nola?
Someone finally deleted her listing off the PetHarbor website. Other than that, I don’t know what has been done. The ACO who impounded Nola and made the error on the intake date didn’t do his/her job and failed to contact Ms. Henry based upon the microchip information. The supervisor who Ms. Henry talked to regarding Nola’s disappearance didn’t do his job and failed to view the security camera footage as he promised, instead allowing it to be overwritten. The person who denied Ms. Henry’s request for Nola’s records, forcing her to file a FOIA request, merely acted to obstruct in my view. I don’t know what other possible explanation there could be.
The city promised – at the last shelter advisory board meeting open to the public – to get a camera for the kill room at MAS since staff had been abusing animals in that room. But the city failed to follow through on that promise and now no one can confirm whether Nola was killed in that room. At that same meeting, the city also pledged to bring the security camera system up to the previously promised standard of retaining video data for 30 days. Had the city followed though on this, the evidence of what really happened to Nola could have been examined.
Interim director James Rogers says in essence that he is powerless to give direction to the MAS employees and that the police might have better luck getting answers out of them. Remember when Mayor Wharton said the attorney general’s office would subpoena testimony from employees regarding the alleged dogfighting connections at MAS? Good times. (Dang, I need a new category for the blog. What’s the superlative of HellaLame?)
As usual, it’s up to regular citizens – the irresponsible public, as MAS is so fond of calling them – to roll up their sleeves and step into the muck MAS has left behind. Here’s how people are getting involved:
- Where’s Nola? – group on Facebook for sharing information
- Nola’s Volunteers – group on FB for anyone willing to pass out flyers, conduct searches, etc (closed group, need to request membership from admin)
- Memphis area residents can attend tonight’s public meeting of the shelter advisory board at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library located at 3030 Poplar Avenue, 38111 in meeting room A from 6:00 PM until 7:30 PM.
I would get a lawyer and take the city to court.
I hope that the meeting results in…something. Action, answers, staff replacement, something.
Any thoughts on a billboard? I still think this story needs more publicity.
So what exactly does Rogers get paid to do??
Someone going to the meeting tonight – can you please ask also why employees are permitted to have the wrong dates/times in their cameras? Those photos are part of the shelter’s documentation and allowing wrong dates/times on them is unacceptable.
Oh goody, I will be attending the meeting tonight. I’m sure they will be thrilled to have ME there. Oh darn. I will provide feedback this evening after the meeting.
Yes please ask why the shelter employees either refuse or are too stupid to post accurate information and dates regarding posts on petharbor.com. Also let it be known that there are numerous volunteer organization groups and individuals who could do this much better and have offered! The posting of Nola might have let the owner know where her dog was if a better picture had been taken with the right description. NOT everything is a PIT BULL !! OMG this makes me so angry. And……..to think that the director cannot get a handle on the problems at MAS is just absurd. Remove him and get somebody who CAN do the job.
Exactly Patti. I forwarded your post to my MAS contact list, copy pasted below:
Yes, why do we still have the same employees, director and are firing volunteers????? Any comments??? Anyone?????
I WILL be there this evening.
Denise Caccamisi
—– Forwarded Message —–
From: YesBiscuit!
To: dece2001@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 12:00 PM
Subject: [New comment] Still No Information on Nola; Public Meeting Tonight
New comment on YesBiscuit!
Patti commented on Still No Information on Nola; Public Meeting Tonight.
in response to Denise:
Oh goody, I will be attending the meeting tonight. I’m sure they will be thrilled to have ME there. Oh darn. I will provide feedback this evening after the meeting.
Yes please ask why the shelter employees either refuse or are too stupid to post accurate information and dates regarding posts on petharbor.com. Also let it be known that there are numerous volunteer organization groups and individuals who could do this much better and have offered! The posting of Nola might have let the owner know where her dog was if a better picture had been taken with the right description. NOT everything is a PIT BULL !! OMG this makes me so angry. And……..to think that the director cannot get a handle on the problems at MAS is just absurd. Remove him and get somebody who CAN do the job.
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I completely agree that accurate dates and good photos are vital to returning pets to their owners….
However….
a good photo posted of Nola would have done nothing to help. Victoria was not ever made aware of the pet harbor site by either the staff or the volunteers at MAS.
If the city does not make the public aware of pet harbor, it is next to useless.
Also, in this case, Nola probably was not around long enough to have been found by her owner.
G.Gordon, well, a decent photo would at least tell her if that was her dog or not. And better record keeping would have told them if they had killed her or sold her out the back door or what…
Please try to tape the meeting! Maybe a cellphone or a voice recorder. Wish I was there to hear it in person.
Well can’t say it went well, but we got their attention now. Maybe all of them will be fired, as they should be.
Having a very suspicious mind, there are only a couple of reasons why they aren’t telling us what happened to Nola (and I think they DO know). She’s dead or she was sold out the back for whatever purposes they use them for. If she was alive and well I would think they’d be more than happy to tell us that (“we goofed, but she’s in a good and loving home”).
This whole organization stinks!
Where are the MAS apologists now that this has happened again and the blatant disregard for doing what they said they were going to do? It’s just hard to explain away the corruption and apathy that permeates what is MAS and the Memphis government that allows these things to go on.
(Can’t imagine they treat their citizens any better, either)
You’re right, they don’t treat us any better either. They ignore those of us on yesbiscuit, but I forward almost every comment about this to my MAS list of 23 and I am attending the public meeting this evening. They won’t be glad to see me, but, I plan to make my presence known and will plead for whoever is responsible for this to be held accountable. Haha, not likely to get a response. I will update this evening.
Looking forward to hearing how it goes, Denise!
me too
I also want to hear how it goes..
“The city promised – at the last shelter advisory board meeting open to the public – to get a camera for the kill room at MAS since staff had been abusing animals in that room.”
The City did not promise. The MAS Board voted to recommend this to the City. The Board does not have the power to force the city to do anything.
This was just an empty, meaningless suggestion by an impotent Board.
I personally believe that the ones to be held accountable are Hooks and Hall! Those below them on the ladder either can’t or won’t do anything to fix the mess that is MAS. Those two have way too much power and if they’d use it for good it would be one thing. As it stands they either turn a blind eye and ear to or explain away the problems. Shame on them for not standing up for the helpless companion pets that need a voice to speak for them.
Mayor: Get to the bottom of this mess.
According to the Where’s Nola Facebook above, Nola was killed on May 4 and there is apparently documentation. Check the Where’s Nola Facebook page for more information.
Damn.
Mikken, yes, Nola was killed the day she was brought in. Lies lies and more lies were given to the concerned owners. The MAS board meeting was a lot of rhetoric and BS and posturing by Rogers and the vet, until the owner of Nola stepped up and took the floor. It was a very heated meeting. The vet on the board is a total jerk, and Rogers is his usual condescending self. However, ,we did catch him trying to fudge numbers indicating their kill rate was only 41%, but, 2200 animals were missing, so this did not computer. Only 555 spaces and 2200 were missing? 961 “positive outcomes” blah blah blah
i went to the MAS board meeting this evening, and yes, it has been confirmed that Nola was killed on the day she was brought in. the owners of Nola were there, and the husband took the floor and had his say, before being rudely interrupted by the vet on the board. I was outraged. He was lied to and lied to. In addition, it cost them $165 to finally pick up Una who the fiance found at the shelter 10 days later. Still no explanation on how the incident went awry, just Rogers’ usual “human error.” It was a very heated meeting, with me right there in the middle. I told the truth and let them have it. It was very stimulating. Will have to look at my notes to remember everything and post on Thursday. In the end, it is still the same “atta boy” network and nothing has changed. Rogers likes pie charts and ledgers, none of which make MAS a less house of horrors.
Denise. It was confirmed on the news that Nola was killed the day after she was brought it, May 4. It was also confirmed by Victoria that it was the 4th.
And Victoria’s fiance did not make a trip to MAS. It was Victoria, he was out of town when this happened.
Simple mistakes but as this is an open investigation, we must stick to the facts.
Gordon, I know it was Victoria who made the trips to MAS. She found Una 10 days later. Nola WAS killed on the day of her intake. Regardless, she is dead, and people need to be held accountable. Rogers put up a fancy power point presentation, but did not address issues at MAS, but rather, sugar coated them. WHen he put up the numbers for the kill rate at 41%, with a smirk on his face saying “look at this” it was immediately brought to his attention that 2200 animals were unaccounted for and the numbers were incorrect. After doing the math, it was finally revealed the more accurate number at 71%. The look on his face was priceless. How dare we challenge him. Victoria and her fiance were at the MEETING last night. Nola and Una were never scanned for microchips. The date was in error. Nola was killed, that is the main concern here.
I can’t wait to read your notes.. Thanks for being there
Dot, if you will read posts above, you will see comments and notes. ALso, video and audio of the meeting. Needless to say, I was very vocal, as were others. Shame no one at MAS can tell the truth. BIG BIG waste of our taxpayer dollars but, thank goodness the coverup was exposed. They tried to skip it in last night’s meeting but Nola’s owners were there, and well, the rest is posted here….
Denise, I know what happened at the meeting. I was sitting on the row behind you. Nola was brought in on the 3rd and killed on the 4th. If a lawsuit is going to be brought we definately don’t need the jury pool confused by differing accounts or the defense claiming the story changed constantly. Let’s all just stay on the same page, same facts. Impounded on the 3rd, killed on the 4th, Victoria visited the shelter on the 4th was escorted by a volunteer and shown one row of dogs, Victoria received a call from a neighbor informing her the dogs were impounded, returned to MAS, spoke with Beamon who escorted her through stray area, found UNO, Beamon promised to get tapes from IT dept. (spoke with him twice) and Rogers once, Victoria filed police report on Wed. 6th, Rogers called her to shelter on Tuesday the 12th to inform her about Nola.
MAS is horrible. We all agree.
thanks for the clarification. Glad you came forward. Yes, we need to sue the city to get the crap out of MAS, but I fear, with the good ole boy network, nothing will happen as usual. I’m not letting up though, I forward as many of these posts to my MAS list as possible, asking for comments and answers. Guess what???? I never get any. Wonder why…..humph. Yes, I am on your page. Again, thanks.
Here is one report of the meeting.
http://www.wmctv.com/story/18783600/memphis-animal-services-employee-fired-after-pet-mistakenly-euthanized
thank you Clarice. At least I know I have that, plus my notes. Poor Nola, may she rest in peace.
Another news report of the meeting with video:
http://wreg.com/2012/06/13/memphis-animal-shelter-employee-fired-after-accidental-euthanasia/
“Interim director James Rogers says in essence that he is powerless to give direction to the MAS employees and that the police might have better luck getting answers out of them.”
Wow. Must be great to have a boss where any time he/she wants me to answer/follow them about something, they just throw their hands up in the air and say “oh well, can’t worry about it”