Obtained via FOIA request, the records for dog ID #1500385 at the Hillsborough Co pound in Tampa, FL:
- Impounded from Boyette Animal Hospital on December 26, 2012.
- Swollen head, bleeding from mouth, favoring hind legs, described as “timid”. No visitors allowed.
- Prescribed Primor 600 and Rimadyl 100 mg (antibiotic and pain medications)
- Memo: “OK to dispo on Monday, 12/31/12”
- Killed on December 31, 2012.
No x-rays, no calls to rescue groups for help, no attempt to do anything other than the minimal pain meds and hold until killing. This dog spent his last four days on earth injured, laying on a hard floor in his own waste, and alone. Good job, Hillsborough. The photo shows how very much you cared.
Dispicable! This poor baby deserved a life, not death because he/she was unwell. Would the manager of Hillsborough Animal Control do this to their own child, their own parent, or their own pet? This needs to go viral throughout the Tampa Bay area. So unbelievably sad! Shame on you, Hillsborough!!!
As I live in the Tampa bay area, of which Hillsborough county is a part of, I shared this to the “public” on Facebook. Maybe some, or even just one, of the news sources will pick it up, and reprint it…but I am not holding my breath on that one.
We’ve tried numerous times to get the media to report misconduct and neglect at Pasco Animal Shelter in Land O’ Lakes. They don’t seem to care that animals are abused and neglected on how dime. People who work in animals shelters should be held accountable for their actions or sometimes inaction. If they can’t do their job right then they need to go find another one that doesn’t involve helpless animals. Shameful !
Well, if the news people won’t publish anything, hopefully those that post these atrocities on FB will send them to “public” instead of just their “friends”, like I did.
Why don’t you show your face and work with the animals at HCAS before you decide to make comments on something you have me clue about!!!!!
What a warm invitation. How could anyone say no?
Your comments are not adding anything new to the conversation at this point. You’ve expressed your opinion, please be respectful and leave it at that. You are a guest here.
Did anyone click on the heading above?, “Killed on December 31, 2012”? I did, and saw on the kennel card, this dog was noted to have been given 1 can of food and one dose of each medication at 1600 (4pm), 4 hours AFTER this dog’s demise. Also, at the same time the NEXT DAY, Jan 1st, the same medications were again given at 4pm! Yet, this dog was killed, on their report, 28 hours earlier!!! Further proof of incompetency, here. Looks like a New Year’s party took precident, here. Tax dollars at work…but for whom?
OMG.. are you serious.. Shirley…. Jump on this! OMG.. I wonder who really got the food and PAIN MEDS ?
Now if you would have seen the full medical page your dumb ass would have seen that it is set up for 10 days of medication. The records don’t show that the animal was given meds after it was euthinized. Don’t always trust what you read if its not from the authorized source. Also if your worried about your Tax dollars being wasted, please contact Ken Hagen!!!!!!
When are these shelters going to start hiring compassionate people instead of these inbred morons?
Have you ever stepped foot in that shelter? If not I suggest you do so. If you believe the B.S you see on this blog, you are the inbred moron!!!!!!!
Are you implying Hillsborough Co provided falsified records for this dog? Because otherwise, the records are not “B.S.” and you are out of line.
first of all just how did someone get a hold of this animal’s medical records? That is not a kennel card. Someone had to send it to you. Second of all, don’t post something unless you have been there!!!!!!!
Oh dear.
+1.
It is the 5th entry on the original story. Click on it for yourself.
Maybe YOU were the one who KILLED this dog. You sound very defensive of their practice. Just makes me want to wonder…
Yeah, right MORON!. Actually, I think it was you. You seem to be so stupid with your comments…kind of like the imbecile ruling the country.
Have you ever noticed there is a particular stench in the air when all those who hold the power over life and death of an innocent animal get caught and then circle the wagons? The smell is overwhelming in this one Hillsborough!!
BTW, why did the dog come in from a vet clinic in this condition?? Why was the dog not stabilized? Says a lot about the “humanitarian” get clinic- NOT!!
Have you ever noticed there is a particular stench in the air when all those who hold the power over life and death of an innocent animal get caught and then circle the wagons? The smell is overwhelming in this one Hillsborough!!
BTW, why did the dog come in from a vet clinic in this condition?? Why was the dog not stabilized? Says a lot about the “humanitarian” vet clinic- NOT!!
My MY. It must be lonely up there in your ivory tower. I didn’t know there were perfect people in the world. How about that?
Not sure anyone on here is really intersted in the truth unless it fits your agenda but just in case there is someone open to the it, HERE is the truth … I am a volunteer and I was there at the time of this incident. The kennels had just been cleaned and I was speaking with the 2 volunteers who had cleaned them. They were telling me how they had been trying to get him to come around but he was still terrified. And yes, it was breaking our hearts (we are not the cold monsters you people want to believe). We walked over and stood in front of his kennel looking at him and it terrified him so much just having us standing there looking at him that he came off his bed (yes imagine that he DID have a bed in there, the pic only shows the corner of his kennel) and went to the back of the kennel and pooped himself out of fear and then turned his body and laid in it. It was very heart breaking. Shortly after is when someone came and snapped a plc and posted it. This was on a sunday, one of the busiest days of the week so no I am sorry there cant always be someone to clean the kennels the minute a dog poops. And frankly this poor guy was so terrified, I didnt think it was right to go in and mess with him right at that time anyway. Anyone who actually goes into shelters and gets their hands dirty will know that if poop is left in a kennel all day, it will be smeared all over the floor – and I mean all over. Notice that is not the case here. Hmmm, wonder why that is??
And as far as the records I have no idea what you think is so “damning” about the records He was held for a 5 day stray hold and due to having been injured and his temperament he was not selected to be held over for adoption any longer. Sadly hard choices have to be made, the intake at this shelter for the month of December was 797 dogs. I dont know where you people think we can put all those dogs but at this time there simply is not a place for them all to go. However, that being said, this shelter – thanks to the hard work of both volunteers and staff – had record adoptions/transfer to rescue last month. So did you mean to belittle the efforts of all the people who generously gave of ther time to save all those lives? Posting this without doing any research on this shelter was very irresponsible posting. We got a new director about 6 months ago and guess what? He came from no kill Austin. Imagine that! At this time many changes and improvements are being made – as they have been over the last several years. So while there are some shelters who do need shamed, this bashing and ridiculing of a shelter that is working hard to save as many lives as possible is not the way to encourage further improvement. All you have done is upset dedicated volunteers who have made such a difference. When people are working hard to make things better you work WITH them, you do not criticize and bash them.
And to the geniuses who think the records say this dog was given his Rimadyl and a/b AFTER he was gone and obviously think someone is pilfering meds, you have no idea how to read that kennel card. What you see is a task pane. It is there to ensure that every day this dog was here he received his meds and canned food. It is filled out for 10 days in advance. So what you see are meds that were NOT given to him. But if you think you can somehow bring a case against this shelter for it, by all means go for it. I would find that amusing. And let me just say I run a fb page for this shelter. We work our butts off to save lives (which is why I am up at this crazy hour when I have worked all day and have to work tomorrow) and the shelter works WITH us on the page. We have saved hundreds of lives this way. So if you vewant to blast and bash, go find a shelter that deserves it. If you think this post and the uneducated comments have helped the animals at this shelter, you are sorely mistaken. HCAS is known as one of the cleanest kennels around. Go take a look at some of the pics on our fb page, Rescue Me Tampa – Shelter Dogs. Does that look like a shelter that doesnt clean kennels or take care of the dogs?
I wasn’t there, I don’t know what happened so I can’t comment on that at all. But there are no-kill/low-kill communities happening all over the country so I don’t accept the “not enough homes” rationale. With that said, did anyone consider moving this guy into a foster home? Some dogs (and cats) do very poorly in shelter situations and when placed in a calm, safe environment do very well. It’s also possible that whatever caused his injuries and pain caused him to be fearful, on top of being in a scary place. I long for the day when these precious animals are helped and not killed for these kinds of reasons.
We are BEGGING for foster homes. Anyone who can foster PLEASE COME TO THE SHELTER!!! Had anyone stepped up to foster him, he could have been saved. Does that answer your question? Its your opinion there are “enough homes”, its my opinion there are not enough GOOD homes. AGAIN, CHANGES ARE BEING MADE AND ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY!!!
Obviously begging hasn’t worked. What else have you done? Have you looked at the successful no-kills to see how they accomplish what they accomplish? If something is not getting the desired result, then maybe you need to try something different.
And, for this precious dog, because there wasn’t anything done, he is now dead and will never have a chance to live his life out in a “good enough” home. My guess is that he would have chosen life over death, given the choice.
It’s not easy, but it is possible, but my understanding is that the first decision that needs to be made is to stop the killing.
I wish you all the best in accomplishing this goal.
db, you asked if we have looked at “successful” no kills?? Maybe you missed the part where I said the new director came from no kill Austin? I know you people consider Austin a success. I myself think there are good things and bad things about it but not going to get into that. I cant seem to make you people understand CHANGES ARE BEING MADE RIGHT NOW! We are working our asses off to save lives. I am really getting appalled that people who say they want no kill want to just criticize, you should be applauding the improvements and changes that have been made and the lives have been saved and encouraging more but instead you seem to want to tear us down and DISCOURAGE us. I dont get it. But I am done here I have no more time for this.
I’m sure that your efforts are vast and impressive, but I still have to ask two questions –
why no x-rays on this obviously injured dog? (I know they cost money, but did anyone reach out to rescue groups or start a chip-in to engage the public over the five day hold to help cover that? No Lab rescue in your area that might be willing to help?)
why is an obviously injured dog being assessed for behavior at all?
Good questions.
I dont know what is the situation with x-rays or medical call them and ask. I think I heard recently the x-ray machine is not working but I could be wrong. You will have to call and ask I am just a volunteer. Resources are so limited (no one wants to pay taxes!) You all sit on your computer judging and I am exhausted from being up all night trying to save lives (we pulled 8 cats and 1 dog off the euth list just last night alone). Every dog that comes in gets an assessment as to whether they are safe to visit or not. Of course the dog was timid because he was injured and scared. But if he bit someone that would not have mattered and would certainly have caused whomever got bit to not want to adopt a shelter dog would it not?? Many dogs are scared when they come and after a day or 2 then they are reassesed. As I stated, some hard working volunteers had been working with this dog to try to get him to come around. What you dont seem to realize is that every minute, intakes just keep on rolling in. All this judging, bashing and criticizing is only making things worse. We need HELP, not these snide and accusatory comments. Once all the dogs I have posted get resolved, I wont be posting any new dogs for awhile because I am so done, tired, and burnt out. Its hard enough, our hearts get broken every day by the dogs, and then we get kicked around by people like everyone here too. I get called an a*hole and executioner on my own fb page just because I post dogs to try to save their lives. By people I bet never even stepped foot in a county shelter!
It’s tough, heart breaking work, for sure. What you may not understand is that many of us are already working with rescues and shelters in our own areas. So we aren’t just sitting at computers bashing others (although some of that does go on, too).
I am glad that there is improvement, and hope that you all continue to work hard to get the animals out into good enough homes.
One thing to consider – sometimes the good folks are put off by the “negative” vibes at a high kill facility. It’s hard to work with animals knowing that most of them won’t make it out alive.
As far as those nasty homes – they are everywhere. Sometimes it’s a matter of education, sometimes they just shouldn’t have animals. I agree with that and would never place an animal in a known abusive situation. But once they are dead, they are dead forever without ever having a chance for a better life.
It’s tough!
Well gee, maybe not the kind of homes that would leave a hit by car dog to lay in his own shit for 5 days before killing him but yeah, GOOD ENOUGH homes.
Yeah tons of great homes like the home a young hound mix went to and was returned 2 hours later because he killed their cat and chewed up their couch. Or the multitide of people whose dogs who were never vetted, are HW+ and are dumped because the people have “no time”, are moving, cant bother to train or the dog is sick and they dont want to vet. We have so many seniors who are dumped after 12, 14, and even 16 years with the same owner because they are now old. I wonder what their life was like if they lived with someone who could dump them at a county shelter after that many years, And you might be interested to know we do offer help with behavior and medical problems (if it can be done) but very very few people ever take us up on it.. They just dont want to be bothered. yes of course there are good homes out there. But there are lots of crap homes too and shoving them out the door into a crap home is not the answer. Not that just about anyone cant adopt, they make it very easy to adopt. But whether or not the poor dog ends up in a good home is a crapshoot. We see so many returns for such stupid reasons. ONCE AGAIN, changes are being made which are saving more and more lives, instead of just constant bashing how about some HELP???
Tamar-
You sound like you need a day of a deep breath as burn out of heart and soul is just beneath the surface.
This dog needed medical stabilization-
Yes it costs money. Please answer me this. Was a chip in asked for? Was the news media
Contacted? I mean a Christmas story for an injured dog if I ever heard one. Could have netted at least medical costs and some left over for boarding in a vets office.
No one is saying YOU or any of the volunteers are not doing all you can.
But leadership failed this dog. This dog died not because of his injuries but because he was not deemed worthy to live.
I don’t care if the new director is from Austin or walks on water- he/she screwed up. As did others in positions of leadership at this facility.
BTW- sorry for the biggest obstacle you have- FLORDUH!! Something is seriously wrong with that whole state.
I agree.. some very good questions and points..
All you complaining people are good at one thing…complaining….you have no clue what it is like to live in this county and work at this shelter….this shelter took in over 22000 animal in 2012…how do you find homes for 22000 animals? You can’t. There are triple the amount of people dumping animals at this shelter than people/rescue/volunteers/employees/use your imagination that want to find these animals home….It is a community problem….it cost lots and lots of money to handle this amount of animals….the budget for animal services is no where near where it would need to be to save 75 percent of the animals…let alone 90 percent. Of course we accept donations monetary or otherwise…of course we have literally hundreds of volunteers housing animals for us….of course we have dozens of rescues that pull animals from us….of course we move animals to other shelters so they do not have to be euthanized….YOU FOOLS SAW ONE PICTURE OF ONE DOG AND MADE ALL KIND OF ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HOW THIS PLACE IS RUN….IT CAN NOT BE RUN ANY BETTER UNLESS YOU WANT TO DONATE ALL OF YOUR TIME AND MONEY TO SAVE EVERY DOG HERE….WE PRACTICALLY GIVE DOGS AWAY AND THEY ARE RETURNED WITHING DAYS FOR STUPID UNEXCEPTABLE REASONS….WE ARE A GOVERNMENT FACILITY…WE CAN NOT TURN AWAY ANY ANIMALS AT ANY TIME….YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IT TAKES TO HANDLE 22000 ANIMALS A YEAR…NO CLUE…MAKE ALL THE ASSUMPTIONS YOU WANT….STOP WASTING YOUR TIME SPEWING HATE ON US, OUR DIRECTOR, OUR EMPLOYEES, OR VOLUNTEERS…you time is better served making a difference in your county or other counties….IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I WOULD STERILIZE ALL THE IDIOTS WHO DROP THEIR DOGS AND CATS OF AT THIS SHELTER BUT THAT IS IMAGINARY….foster more animals…spend more money on shelters…..donate your time….make a difference….all this hate spewing reminds me of the inconsidate uncaring people who cause us to have to euthanize all these animals in the first place.
“It is a community problem”
And it is a community SOLUTION. No shelter can do it alone – reaching out to the community, making low cost/free s/n programs happen, working with people on pet retention, fosters, rescue groups, networking, volunteers…
You tell me that you didn’t fail this one dog. There was no chip-in started to get x-rays done for him. There was no one reaching out to Lab rescue groups to get him pulled. There was no plea to the public for sponsorship. He was photographed looking miserable in his own waste, labeled (no visitors) based on his behavior (with injuries that were not properly assessed), given abx and pain meds, then killed.
So while you’re busy judging us for judging you, it might do well to remember that today, right now, this dog is cold and dead in a landfill. Every savable animal that is killed in a shelter is that shelter’s failure.
You still don’t understand….we have a low cost spay neuter program…$10 to get your dog fixed, rabies vaccinated, and licensed….$10. We have fosters…ANYBODY CAN FOSTER ANYTHING FROM THIS SHELTER…..Rescue has access to any animal from our shelter and we allow them to adopt them for $10…they didn’t want the dog….we network with local media, local rescues, we televise…we put ads in the paper…we list on facebook…all our animals are available for viewing on petharbor.com….yes that dog is cold and dead….today many more in this shelter and every other kill shelter will utanize today…thousands….not because we want to….because we have to….you do not get the concept of limited space…limited hold times….we understand that the next day we are going to receive more animals…and more animals…..do you understand the concept of more animals…everyday…..365 days a week…do you know what it costs to house these animals…to feed these animals ….to medicate these animals…do you have any concept of “shelter medicine”….no one wanted that dog…it did not suffer once it got here….it was fed…medicated for pain….advertised…and the public was made aware that it would be euthanized if not adopted by a certain date….NO ONE WANTED THE DOG…NO ONE WANTED THE DOG….WE CAN NOT HOLD DOGS FOREVER…do you understand the concept of more dogs being giving up that people want…what would you do? We hear everyday “man if I had 10 acres I would adopt them all.”…great…adopt all 200 dogs…guess what…there will be 300 more dogs withing 1 WEEK…DO YOU UNDERSTAND…XRAYS COST MONEY…THE VETS DO NOT PERFORM VETERINARIAN SERVICES FOR FREE….YOU DO SPEND ALL YOU MONEY XRAY INJURED DOGS, OR FEEDING THE HEALTHY ONES….PLEASE TELL ME YOU UNDERSTAND.
Hey, *one who deals with reality*…I think I understand, but nobody can really walk in anybody else’s shoes. I hear your frustration and your pain. I also hear burn-out, anger, judgement and a healthy dose of fear.
Are you related to educated employee? Or Tamar?
I’m not related to any of the other posters on this thread. Although we are all brothers and sisters of the soul.
Each of us in involved in helping animals in whatever way we can.
Dog #1500385 will live forever in the hearts and minds of caring animal people as an error. A mistake.
Some facilities choose to stop posting photos of pets to avoid us seeing these images.
Others work harder to make sure the photos don’t have poop in them, and then they work even harder to ensure that somebody can and DOES tell the story of how this dog survived. You don’t have that choice anymore. I’m really sorry about that. But getting angry at us won’t help. We did not kill this dog! Someone like us could have maybe, probably SAVED this dog, but it doesn’t look like anybody tried to reach out on behalf of this animal to help that to happen.
Perhaps you, or others, could do better with the next one?
I have several dogs currently in foster care that are/were WAY more shy that this fellow probably was. No, I don’t need you to ship me a dog here in Alaska! (I can get plenty more right here close to home, thanks anyway.)
Yes I volunteer with local Animal Control. Yes I network with rescues and the general animal loving public in our community to help domesticated creatures live a better life.
I understand when your job includes killing animals, that your brain and your heart fries itself a little bit every day. That’s why I choose NOT to include unnecessary death in my job or my life. I hurt badly enough when I choose or participate in the death of an animal that NEEDS to die.
All this anger, frustration and angst seen on this blog and elsewhere is simply a byproduct of the fact that people CARE! Don’t be mad. Be grateful. Our caring is our humanity. I love you just as much as I love dog #1500385.
Take care of yourself, make life better for others, be they human or canine or anything else. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. You matter. Just like every other person who reads or comments on this blog.
Do you understand me?
-lynn
Very good post, Lynn, I could not have done better, myself.
Lynn – Humbly and gratefully I understand you. Thanking the heavens for people like you. “Our caring is our humanity.” Now that sums it up..might have to put that on a mug or something…a daily prayer and reminder.