Sumner Co AC in TN is run by the sheriff’s office. From January through October 2012, the Sumner Co pound killed 62% of the pets in its care. From the September update to the pound’s website:
Is a 65% euthanasia rate good? When compared to other animal control organizations, yes … and hopefully it will continue to drop through increased adoptions and rescues.
Hoping did not apparently prove to be a successful action plan as the October update indicates:
A third of the animals taken in were owner surrendered and almost 2/3 were euthanized. Only 7% were rescued. SAD!!
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Our SSNA spay/neuter clinic has just surpassed 8,500 surgeries since opening almost 15 months ago … without their efforts, the numbers would be much much higher.
When a 2 year old Beagle called Rocky escaped from his Hendersonville yard recently, he reportedly ran to a dog park in his old neighborhood. At the park, a woman said Rocky bit her and AC impounded him for a mandatory 10 day quarantine at the Sumner Co pound. The owner counted the days until Rocky could be released and gathered up the $150 redemption fee.
On November 20, Rocky’s release date, the owner called AC to let them know she was on her way to pick up her pet and pay the fee. After hearing that, the person who answered the phone at the pound left her on hold for 8 minutes. The owner finally hung up and called back. That’s when she was told they had already killed Rocky.
The article makes no mention of anyone being fired or even disciplined for the killing of this pet whose owner wanted him back. There isn’t even so much as an apology offered. There’s just this:
Sumner County Sheriff Sony Weatherford said in a statement: “An internal investigation was conducted. No rules or policy was broken or violated. It was an unfortunate incident.”
The pet killing facility finds that killing a pet with an owner who wants him is perfectly in line with policy. Clearly, the policy at the Sumner Co pound must be: Kill, kill, kill.
The pound’s website says the kill numbers would be much higher if it wasn’t for spay-neuter. Was Rocky neutered? I don’t know. Would it have made a difference? I think not. Spay-neuter is not the miracle cure for shelter pet killing. Neither is hoping. The only proven method to end the killing is the No Kill Equation. Part of which is a compassionate director who removes the killing of healthy/treatable pets as an option and doesn’t characterize a 65% kill rate as “good”. There is obviously no such leader at the Sumner Co pound presently. To quote the pound’s website: SAD!!