The long troubled Companion Animal Alliance in Baton Rouge, LA has killed owned pets before under suspicious circumstances. But even for this disturbing group, the killing of an owned pet named Bow Wow represents a new low.
Eighteen year old Bow Wow escaped his yard on May 11, 2013. His owners, Patrick and Kimberly Morris, searched for him, put up fliers around the neighborhood and visited the local pound several times. Pound workers refused to allow Mr. Morris to walk the kennels to look for Bow Wow himself, instead telling him on 3 separate visits that his pet wasn’t in the facility. In fact, AC had picked up Bow Wow the day he got lost and chokepoled the elderly dog into the pet killing facility on May 11. He was there every day the owner was turned away after inquiring about him.
Finally after one week of runaround, Mr. Morris convinced CAA to allow him to walk the kennels to look for his dog. He found him immediately and Bow Wow began going crazy with excitement. CAA refused to give the dog back without the ransom fee, even though they had held the dog for a week unnecessarily while turning the owner away multiple times. CAA forced Mr. Morris to go to an ATM for the cash to bail Bow Wow out. While the owner was getting the money, CAA oops-killed the dog.
Mr. Morris was devastated:
“I can tell you it was like losing a child.”
Patrick’s wife Kimberly says she would like to see a system overhaul at the shelter.
“There is nothing that can replace him,” said Kim Morris.
“No monetary gain. I don’t want this to happen again.”
Sadly, Bow Wow was “again”. CAA has killed people’s pets before and will undoubtedly kill more in future. CAA is in the pet killing business and they don’t discriminate between those whose owners are looking for them and those in need of new owners. And the local government backs them 100%.
Shame on Companion Animal Alliance again, and the local politicians and killing apologists who enable them to continue their reckless actions which hurt pets and people. Pets are family. CAA has no right being in the family services business. I hope local advocates will organize and demand the government kick CAA to the curb, replacing them with a group committed to no kill. It’s long overdue. And the pets in Baton Rouge can’t afford to wait.
(Thank you Joni for the link.)
I think there is a letter missing from their acronym. It should be CAKA for “Companion Animal Killing Alliance.”
There is simply no excuse for this! There is no possible justification for this “oops” killing. The only possible reason for killing this old boy is that they kill because they either enjoy the power it gives them or they kill because they can (to show the irresponsible public who is in charge). DISGUSTING!
We need more vocal people like you db – people who refuse to accept OOPS as an explanation for the killing of owned pets. The basis for this excuse lies with the premise that these “shelters” function primarily as pet killing facilities and when pet killing is your main thing, you’re going to have some pet killing oopses. We need to reject that premise entirely. They should be doing their jobs and providing true shelter to pets in need. That way, if they “oops-shelter” a pet, at least nobody ends up dead.
Just sent an email to the facility – maybe if everyone on here who is so upset about these killings would do the same, they might start to listen. Couldn’t hurt!
I am so sad for this family and hope they sue. I have come to the conclusion that being a sociopath is a prerequisite for working in one of these “shelters.”
Oh, but according to the link, the director feels soooo bad for “euthanizing” this old guy. She said she didn’t want this to tarnish their reputation ~ BAH! First of all, it happens all too regularly there, and second, this dog was not euthanized. HE WAS KILLED, pure and simple. And everyone involved needs to be fired! and prosecuted, far as I’m concerned.
Let me play the tape again: “If it would be a No Kill shelter that would have never happened”.
This is absolutely inexcusable. I can’t imagine this happening in a ‘civilized’ country. They destroyed a life, they destroyed a family, they destroyed personal property, but they can’t destroy the love. This should go before the courts, and that house of horrors shut down. My thoughts and prayers for the grieving family.
What’s their excuse for not allowing the owner to walk the kennels the first three times he visited? Shame on the facility for not allowing the owner to positive ID his OWN DOG!!! An 18-year-old lifelong companion, excited to see his family one last time, then walked down the hall to receive his horrible fate. I can’t imagine the devastation they must be feeling for their dog. :(
I find it reprehensible that a family who loved and cared for a dog for 18 years had their companion murdered by moronic cretins who worked under the guise of animal shelter personnel. The family should sue everyone involved in both their “professional and personal capacities.” This episode is truly disgusting!
I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the video, I only read the WAFB-9 story. The intake photos you published above so upset me that I wrote to Melvin L. “Kip” Holden, Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge:
mayor@brgov.com
http://brgov.com/dept/Mayor/
I asked that he insist on the passage of a local No Kill law so that the pound could be held accountable to clear standards, and I shared the brochure “Dollars & Sense: The Economic Benefits of No Kill Animal Control”:
http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/dollars.pdf
This oops-killing sounds more like a malicious,calculated on-purpose killing. An 18 year old dog on a choke pole? The said dog gets excited seeing his owner after being scared in the shelter then he is killed the minute the owner steps outside to get money? In the real world (non-shelter world) people get fired (or sued) everyday for lesser offenses. I am to the point where I think nothing will change until people show up on the lawn of their local shelter with pitch forks and torches screaming that we wont stand for the incompetence any more.
That is so devastatingly sad.
This is TOTALLY UNEXCEPTABLE CALL ALL WHO ARE IN CHARGE. DEMAND SOME ANSWERS! SOME HEADS NEED TO ROLL!
This is a horrifying episode. A dog who has been in the family for 18 years is a family member pure and simple and the love that the owner had for him must have been as for a child. That Bow Wow was killed as the owner stepped out almost seems malicious in intent. I feel close to tears thinking about it.
There’s no ‘oops’ about this, they knew the owner would be returning with the ransom fee. This was a deliberate act of thumbing these poor people. Apower game!!
“One Companion Animal Alliance manager was suspended for three days and three other workers received written reprimands after a dog was accidentally euthanized at the parish’s animal shelter Friday, alliance officials said.”
http://theadvocate.com/home/6039667-125/animal-shelter-workers-disciplined-after
And now everybody is committed to no kill and suddenly compassionate and doing their jobs. Swell.
I’m so sorry for your loss. A few months back these same MURDERERS murdeed a blind supposed feral cat that had a minimum of 3 rescues lined up to take him. I hope that this story as well as that of Kodak is circulated and I pray that we can all together be the voice for the voiceless and make sure these bastar*s don’t do this again. I do believe there is a special place in hell for these MURDERES. RIP BowWow and again I’m so sorry for your heartbreak…hugs
And then lied about it:
http://yesbiscuit.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/was-it-in-writing-why-yes-it-was/
What is wrong with you “people??????????????”
Ok folks, here is where we voice our opinion for this disgraceful act. These people should be put out of business. Now, how do we start the process to get this done? Simply to say “they have done it in the past, and will probably do it again…”, is to accept them and what they do. Now, again, how do we get rid of them? Not another petition to sign, real feet on the ground action. If ANYBODY has a real solution, PLEASE email me! It could have happened to YOU!
If you are local, here is a game plan:
http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=6472
You raise some valid question that are asked again and again. In my opinion, online petitions don’t always work because people from outside the City/County sign them and then the petition will become worthless to the cause. The Commissioners or City Council will look at it and say “this people don’t even live here” and in the trashcan it goes.
If you are local, gather some friends and people that are willing to help you. Attend public City/County meetings and speak up. Educate the public in your community about the ongoings in your shelter and at the same time provide the information for a better way. You will find lots of useful material here:
http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/
CAA is right now (7 pm EST on Thursday 5/23/13) complaining on their Facebook page about being criticized. Someone should run a contest on how long it takes a “shelter” to start playing the victim after they’ve killed someone’s family member.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Companion-Animal-Alliance/135515159858324?hc_location=stream
*10p pm EST*
It’s incredibly annoying how you have to log into Facebook to even view their pages… got any screencaps?
I’m not even on facebook so I couldn’t see anything. But, let me tell you, if they don’t like the feedback then maybe they need to change what they are doing! No sympathy for them from here . . .
I don’t have screencaps, unfortunately. But this is how CAA, on their page, presents what they did to Bow Wow:
“CAA is devastated by what happened with Bow Wow. We understand why some may judge us harshly. But the truth is that we are here to save animals. We love animals and we do jobs that few have the heart to do. This was an awful mistake. We have taken steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. There are 28 employees at CAA taking care of around 400 animals. We are getting them vetted, temperament tested, and off to rescues, adoption events, foster families, etc. We have achieved much success since we began operations. Events like this are a horrible set back. Please, before you judge us and what we do, come and volunteer. Support our efforts. We are trying so hard. We always welcome the help.”
Supportive comments are being left up and an unknown percentage of critical comments are being taken down. Knowing that CAA is deleting comments, I copy-pasted one in particular from Thursday night that haunted me. I felt it should be preserved to honor what the woman in question — and the dog she saw — went through. I’m glad I did it because, sure enough, today the comment is gone.
The commenter was evidently a local person and she wrote:
“I disagree with your statement [that is, CAA’s self-pitying Facebook post]. I rarely speak up on public issues, but it does not surprise me as to what happened to this poor dog. Before I purchased my two puppies, I came by to adopt one from you. As I was in the lobby waiting to view the dogs, a lady brought in a small dog that was in need of medical attention and you could tell she had not had anything to eat or drink in a while. The guy at the front desk told her to take the small dog (maybe about 5 pounds) to the back and they would have the vet look at it the next day. After waiting about 30 min. or so I was led along with a group of others who wanted to adopt and shown different groups of dogs that were in kennels filled with dog waist and very unclean. Then I came up on the pen where the poor little white dog was placed. She could not even hold her head up, could barely breath while she was being mated (Basically what I called grouped or raped) by a much larger dog. When I brought this to the C.A.A. Employee/Volunteer, what ever his stats was he just laughed and said, “Well looks like we are providing other services here as well. The dogs do this all the time! It’s animals, that’s what they do”….. I left feeling helpless, came home and cried for that pup! I knew she never stood a chance. I wish I could have taken here then and there. I tried to contact the director with no response. I think there is a strong lack of compassion, authority, respect and management at this site. Someone needs to take some sort of responsibility for what happens or for the sake of all the animals who are forced to be at this site, give the responsibility to someone who cares about what goes on there.”
I don’t know what I can add except that, after reading this, I had trouble sleeping.
“…we do jobs that few have the heart to do.”
Thankfully.
Oh yeah, the “shelter” is clearly the victim here. Poor little dog ~ and the idiot who thought that was funny. BULL$HIT!
Holy shit. What the hell is wrong with people?
I just posted a scathing comment on CAA’s Facebook page about the murder of Bow Wow! Wonder how long it’ll take till it disappears? Disgraceful!!!!
What CAA did to BowWow is disgraceful and it’s certainly not the first time. After Kodak’s killing they assured the public it would never happen again, steps would be taken, blah,blah, blah. The employees and the director were more upset at having to take time to answer to the public over what they did. They are so over worked and under paid and it’s the public’s fault of course!
If I see one more volunteer saying if only BowWow was microchipped or it was the owner’s fault…I’m going to puke!!
CAA volunters- you are enabling them by making excuses. You have given CAA a “free pass” on what they did. In a couple of weeks everything will go back to the way it was done before. It’s not their fault, right?
God help the animals at CAA!!