This clip shows a room of puppies and/or small breed adult dogs in stainless steel cages (hard to tell for certain due to the camera angle). Unlike the large dog kennels, the stainless steel cages do not have the auto waterers as far as I know so water must be provided by staff. If you started watching the video before reading my description, you are probably wondering why I would show you 2 minutes of a lady who does not interact with the dogs in any way except to scan the bar codes on their cage cards. The reason is that this is the only “attention” these dogs got from 2pm to 7pm on May 22. A few minutes after she leaves, the lights are turned out in the room (shown at end of clip) and they are not turned back on, nor does anyone come in, for the remainder of the footage. No dog in this room was walked, fed, watered or had his cage cleaned from 2pm to 7pm on May 22. They were in the dark from 2:10 pm onward.
This is neglect in my opinion and, depending on what the footage from the first part of the day shows (which I don’t have), it may rise to the level of cruelty. It’s important to note that the Memphis pound closed at 7pm that night and did not re-open to the public until 11am the next morning. To my knowledge, there are no cleaning/feeding crews working overnight. I hope the city will investigate. MAS is supposed to be protecting these dogs from neglect and cruelty, not inflicting it upon them. And let’s not forget there is a pattern here and the city can not brush it off as an isolated incident or a few bad apples.
I’m taking a break after this one. The discs are just too sad to watch all in a row. Reader Casey is helping me by watching a bunch of the videos from the “compromised” FOIA request for comparison. Will keep everyone posted.
My heart stopped when the lights went out! What is going on at that place? No food, probably no water, no walk, no kind words or loving hands? This is torture! There is no doubt in my mind that in addition to all this those poor little dogs are held in the dark for hour after hour after hour. That is torture in my mind.
Again this isn’t a room the public sees. Other than the one who read the bar codes probably no one has been in there at all. I ask you; who can protect these innocent little dogs that do not deserve this kind of treatment. Who in Memphis will step up and finally say enough is enough? If you can look at this day after day and not do anything to change it you are as guilty as those who abuse the animals in this way. Please, Memphis. Stop this abuse from happening.
I would love to see someone in Memphis perform an act of civil disobedience and chain themselves to these cages or at least the door to these secret rooms in protest. I’ll raise money to pay your bail!
I agree with you, Arlene! I keep thinking, “when is someone in Memphis going to do something to stop this?” Can’t the dog adovcates who live there band together and get someone to listen to them? The employees at MAS all seem to hate dogs. Something must be done to change things at MAS. These innocent dogs are suffering, and taxpayers are paying for it.
Can anyone confirm if this room is an isolation room for sick dogs? If so, how are they going to get well if no one is taking care of them?! Dang!
This is just heartbreaking to know, let alone see (I couldnt watch the video). These poor pups. I really hate comparing instances to the Hollocaust/concentration camps out of respect to those that endured that awful tragedy, but the more I see/hear from this place, the more I cant help but get that vibe.
I know what you mean Jessica. It’s not a comparison to draw lightly and yet sometimes, it does come to mind when thinking about MAS.
There are many of us that are trying to help and get change to the broken MAS system. I was there on Tuesday…. Apparently my reputation has proceeded me and I am treated with such disrespect and hate by most of the employees…. Apparently I can no longer go to the stray area unless escorted by the interim director or interim supervisor…. I will let you know that the interim supervisor is Jose Cruz. I watched him interact with the dogs and I truly believe he loves the dogs…. Unfortunately, he is under Rogers rules, so ….. It did occur to me that when Lou Ann and I were there with one of the city councilwoman last Saturday- she got her first tour ( and was appalled by what she saw) – but no one gets shown the room with the court case dogs. Do you all remember Stanley- the court case dog that stayed in his kennel for 6 weeks with fractured pelvis, etc- never got any fresh air… Well- I wonder how many more Stanley’s there are?! Many of the dogs are there because their owners abused them…. So what happens?… They end up at MAS and continue to suffer abuse… How do WE fix this system????
Jody: Please see that the councilperson also gets web addresses so she can see folk’s outrage & opinions of MAS’s poor performance. It has to be a good thing that a councilperson saw first-hand the neglect that is so previlant at MAS.
Neglect IS abuse. Locked away in boxes, hour after hour, day after day, with no excercise or way to get away from their own feces, AND in the dark is not anyone’s idea of a decent “shelter” for any animal.. As pack animals, dogs thrive on & require companionship. Those dogs will forever be emotionally scarred.
I wonder if the state veterinary board could make them take care of the dogs who need the care, and there must be so many of them in that ward of court cases and abused dogs. We know the MAS vet doesn’t take care of much there.
I have several of the same Vendor Reps that MAS has. We all talk and compare notes about facilites making great strides and new products, etc. I was told by two reps that the MAS kennels are not cleaned from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning. Horrible stuff for sure.
I feel so useless…this is just wrong on all levels. Everything that can be said about what goes on there has been said and still falls on deaf ears..It breaks my heart. I just don’t get it.. how can they get away with this?
I agree, Dot. It’s truly stupefying how the political establishment protects the system. All of this is on the Internet, with caring people expressing outrage every day, and yet it just continues.
I hope change results from the city councilwoman’s tour of MAS on Saturday that Jody writes about above. Thank you, Jody and Lou Ann, for doing that.
I ant to have high hopes that something good will happen.. but… I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed yet again..
Not only is this neglet a violation of just pure animal rights !!! but her NOT wearing shoes has got to be some sorda code violation …..i know it seems lame about the shoes when lives are at stake
A lot of it has to do with the type of people they hire at MAS. They have never been close to a pet, never known anyone close to a pet, never worked around dogs/cats, never cared about any animal and is only there for a paycheck.
They could follow every rule & regulation on the books, but if they don’t have a heart for dogs & cats, the dogs & cats will pay for it and they are not suited for any position at MAS.
It’s obvious enough to me that the type of MAS employees I’ve seen are NOT suited to be there.
Do they not care then, that the world is watching them via blogs like this? How can the city not care what PR is being generated in the bad light of what goes on?
What does one have to do to become an employee at this place? Do they check out the people? do they ask about prior experience?
OR have the employees become so hardened and are under the influence of the powers that be and are so afraid of them and losing their jobs that they turn their back on the animals?
(I would love to be an “undercover” employee for a week or two, but they probably would not hire me, since I am known to not keep my mouth shut…)
They simply do – not -care!
That, to me, is the worst. People who care will try, but these folks are going about their daily neglect/abuse/killing, knowing that the world is watching because it’s been going on for so long and somehow, someway, they continue to get away with it.
I don’t know how the people of Memphis can live in such a place where this goes on. I just don’t get it.
Get more of those politicians down there to see firsthand the building and also see those videos! Tell them do something or Memphis will throw you out of office and replace you with animal advocates who will! I’m tired of the neglect in Memphis, at the NYCACC system, Devore in CA, etc. It’s time to get tough with the worthless people who allow this to go on and those who run the dumps and work there but do nothing. We have oversight for nursing homes and hospitals. Get it in place for these facilities too and get legislation to force these people to clean up their act or out on their asses they go!