On May 22, 2012 at MAS, no dog in this room was walked, fed, watered or had his cage cleaned between 2pm and 7pm. The footage begins and ends with ripped up newspapers and a slip lead on the floor – nobody can be bothered to pick them up. Cage cards appear scattered throughout the room, just like in the isolation ward. One of the dogs in the runs sticks his head out the bottom for a few minutes to look around. A lady comes in to scan the bar codes on the cage cards. The lights get shut off at about 5:45 and don’t get turned back on by the time the footage ends.
Just wondering, does the “carefully prescribed diet plan” at MAS include any actual food? And the multiple cleanings per day – are those all performed in the morning or what?
Just a warehouse – no care, kindness or compassion. The way those workers interacted with the animals you would think they were checking on bags of rocks.
Meanwhile over in Wilson Co, TN, over 100 dogs got rescued from a hoarding situation. News coverage pointed out the dogs had to live in pens covered in feces, needed (and were not receiving) treatment for medical conditions and were not used to human interaction (because they weren’t getting any). Many
will need behavioralists to “bring them out of the shells” because the hoarder went there to feed and water as best she could but “that is not what companion animals like dogs need,” according to
the article at
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120703/NEWS01/307030040/More-than-100-dogs-rescued-Wilson-County-hoarding-case?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
The article says animal hoarding–a “egregious form of cruelty”–results from psychological and neurological malfunction.
Apparently this disorder can strike entire organizations!
Dogs living in feces, not getting any interaction, not getting fed and watered on a regular basis. Sounds like MAS to me.
MAS–a hoarder shelter–an egregious form of cruelty–caused by organizational dysfunction. Unfortunately for the animals at MAS, Scotlund Haisley isn’t going to be knocking on the door (or knocking it down) anytime soon.
ARC and the TN groups who worked together on the Lebanon hoarding case plan to search the country for potential adopters.
But MAS? meh, why bother when you can just kill them instead.
That was my first thought when I read this – organizational hoarding. Those who have any part in the MAS debacle ought to be charged and tried on charges of abuse/neglect/cruelty to animals, from the mayor on down.
Hoarders KEEP animals. They don’t kill them and rotate in new ones.
Right, because that would be like, totally sick and disturbing.
Well, I wonder. The rescuers found at least one dog dead in his cage in the Wilson Co. raid. How many died in their cages at MAS this past year? As I recall, about 75 during the first quarter of 2012. Far as I’m concerned, MAS is just killing them quicker. And since I don’t believe killing is “kindness” that just quadruples their
“egregiousness.” At least the hoarder crazies aren’t killing with murderous intent.
Exactly. The reason people hear the words “animal hoarder” and cringe is because they picture hungry animals kept in sub-standard conditions, deprived of human contact. If ever police were to raid a “hoarder” and announce that the person killed the animals 5 days a week to “make room” for new ones, people would think that was really quite something. And yet, we have the American shelter system.
yep, hungry, thirsty, lonely, scared and deprived of exercise.
sometimes sick and suffering to the point of death. just to put their deaths in perspective, if the 75 who died in their cages at MAS had been at the Kansas City shelter in July instead, they might all have gotten homes in a single day. there is no justification for what is going on at MAS. none.
It particularly pains me to hear Mr. Rogers et all saying how improved things are there, how they do such a good job with the cleanings and the feeding schedules are so precise that visitors are not allowed to hand out so much as a treat b/c it would upset the delicate formulations. I think about that black lab who got to come out and play ball but was denied getting a treat then turned up dead in her cage. I look at the dogs in these videos and think that if only a visitor would have been allowed to hand out biscuits, at least they would have had something in their stomachs. Puppies, seniors and small breed dogs especially need regular meals but heck, isn’t it a basic kindness that should be shown to all shelter pets, at the very least?
At a recent advisory board meeting, Rogers said they feed 1 cup of kibble per 10 lbs. of body weight twice a day! In my wildest imaginings, I can’t see that quantity of food going into the dog bowls at MAS. Going out the door on the back of a truck, maybe. But actually being fed to the dogs? When? By whom?
Rogers either is lying outright or has no idea what’s going on at MAS.
I suspect he’s believing what people are telling him. Like “we clean the cages twice a day!” and “the dogs and cats get fed regularly!” and “every animal who needs medical care is getting it in a timely and appropriate fashion!”.
He needs to walk around and check on his people, follow up, and stop believing everything he’s told.
snail mail letter to wharton – actually got a reply from my first one – will keep everyone posted this time
Thanks db!
1 cup per 10 pounds of body weight is a hugely ridiculous amount of food, even if it’s the shittiest food out there with the nutritional equivalence of pine shavings with some unspecified fat sprayed on it (Ol’Roy) My Lab mix (68lbs) gets 1 cup twice a day (of course, it’s extra good, real nutrition – Fromm) because she’s elderly and gets only a little exercise each day because of her arthritis/bad knees. My young dog (40lbs) gets the same amount, but she takes almost daily walks, averaging about a mile on warm days and upwards of 3 miles on cooler ones. I DID figure out the actual nutritional needs of each dog so that the Lab doesn’t get fat and the young dog stays lean and interested in training (some treats add to her intake). I am completely and utterly sure that Rogers just pulled that number out of his butt when asked about feeding at MAS, because that’s the number someone who’s ignorant and uncaring about animal’s health would use.
Also, is that the amount supposed to fed to cats, as well? Obviously a bullshit number.
I read where the Animal Legal Defense Fund recently settled a lawsuit with a Palm Springs Shelter for improvements in conditions for homeless animals.
I don’t know much about ALDF but I do know MAS is due for a big fat lawsuit at the very least…..
No the carefully planned diet plan means only when someone “gets around to it.”
has Roger’s ever been seen at the shelter? was he seen in the videos at all?
I haven’t seen him on these videos but I do recall seeing him on the April footage.
has all the footage been viewed? I would love to know if he was even in the building at any point during the day or will he say he was on vacation?
He may have been there prior to when the footage begins (2pm) or he may have been there during the footage but just not in the areas shown on the discs. I still have a disc showing the outside to view so possibly he’ll be on that.
so .. he never walks the shelter to look for himself? Not in any area? If he’s not doing that.. then he’s not doing his job! And the huge dog stuffed into the tiny cage, being an owner surrender.. does that make that room the holding room before they kill them?
No, he was involved in his “processeeeeeeez of doing nothing!!!!!”
“Just a warehouse – no care, kindness or compassion. The way those workers interacted with the animals you would think they were checking on bags of rocks.”
“The rescuers found at least one dog dead in his cage in the Wilson Co. raid. How many died in their cages at MAS this past year? As I recall, about 75 during the first quarter of 2012. Far as I’m concerned, MAS is just killing them quicker. And since I don’t believe killing is “kindness” that just quadruples their “egregiousness.” At least the hoarder crazies aren’t killing with murderous intent.”
“The reason people hear the words “animal hoarder” and cringe is because they picture hungry animals kept in sub-standard conditions, deprived of human contact. If ever police were to raid a “hoarder” and announce that the person killed the animals 5 days a week to “make room” for new ones, people would think that was really quite something. And yet, we have the American shelter system.”
I think these thoughts just about sum it up.
“New” shelter looks and acts just the same as the old shelter. :( Will anything ever change here besides the building and the shelter leader?
That’s what I am seeing too – it is already looking like the old shelter.
Oh, but didn’t you know? They are holding a contest on who can come up with a better logo for MAS, so it will be more pleasing to the public. The winner gets a month of pet food, plus a $50 Petco gift card, and bragging rights to the new logo. Doesn’t change the inside ‘house of horrors’ though. Just thought you should know about this. What a bunch of crap.
I sure hope the bag of food isn’t whatever they (aren’t) feeding the animals there.
4 walls and a roof can’t make a difference there but new people could.
As for the stuff on the floor I believe that would be a safety hazard and what would OSHA think of that. It would be tax payers money footing the bill if some one got hurt.
Are these videos ever sent to the news media? Even on a state level…or national level. Surely SOMEBODY would air it, if only to say “shelters like this exist everywhere…get involved!” But it seems like for sure the one station in Memphis that seems to air a lot of this information would be interested in it. Just wondering…