A beloved family dog named Rosco got lost last month in Colbert Co, AL. Owners Mary and Keith Bullington began looking for him immediately, including bringing his photo to the local pound to inquire about him. Colbert Co pound staff told the Bullingtons that they didn’t have Rosco and had not seen him. Staff did not scan Rosco’s photo or take a lost dog report.
The next day, the Bullington’s son saw Rosco’s picture on the pound’s Facebook page and alerted his parents. The owners again visited the pound and told the staff Rosco was there because his photo was posted on Facebook and they wanted to take him home. Instead of being given their pet, the Bullingtons got the runaround from staff for a full hour. One worker got upset, saying she couldn’t talk to them right now and left. Another told them Rosco had been placed in a foster home. The Bullingtons refused to give up and finally pound supervisor Richie Michael showed up. Mr. Michael told them their dog had been killed less than 24 hours after impound:
“He never said I’m sorry that was the wrong thing to do, we apologize, he just never apologized, he never admitted they did anything wrong,” Keith said.
A TV news reporter spoke with Mr. Michael who admitted the pound was in violation of state law when Rosco was killed before the required 7 day holding period expired. He said it was a mistake and the shelter will investigate itself in the matter. Oh and they are starting a lost and found log book, now.
Goodbye Rosco. I’m sorry the very system intended to shelter you in your time of need failed you in the most violent and horrific way possible. I’m sorry no one at the Colbert Co pound could be bothered to do their jobs or tell the truth. And I’m sorry that they are apparently going to be allowed to sweep the whole thing under the rug. Local taxpayers need to demand better of the Colbert Co pound.
(Thanks Clarice for the link.)
I am so sick of these stories.. Shelter workers are just plain and simply lazy and heartless… and then try to lie about it..”Too Little, Too Late for “Rosco”.. I am so sorry for the family’s loss. How many other loved/lost pets have they murdered? Why is breaking the law tolerated?
That was my first thought as well – how many other owners left after being told their pet was in a foster home or some other lie, never to know the awful truth? How many pets were killed whose owners didn’t know to look on the FB page and simply believed the staff when they said they didn’t have the pet and hadn’t seen him? And how many pets in need of new owners were killed within 24 hours of impound and no one found out b/c there was no one to claim them?
Da fuq?!
What POSSIBLE reason could they have for killing a dog in less than 24 hours? Except that killing is so easy for them, so “normal” that it’s just like pouring a cup of coffee.
You know, I’m so tired of the shelter workers talking about how very hard it is to kill pets. You know what? IT SHOULD BE HARD. It should be so damn hard, you work your ass off to avoid doing it. It should be like chopping off your own fingers kind of hard.
But clearly it’s not hard for some. It’s easy. So easy. Just another day at the office.
I honestly believe that, contrary to all the “nobody WANTS to kill animal” protestations, many, many pound workers actually like killing. That’s how Ingrid Newkirk got started … she worked at a pound and came to believe that so much that killing was a GOOD thing. So she started going to work early in order to kill without interruption. So many pounds have policies designed to make reclaiming or adopting pets so difficult, and I seriously think it’s because the people who run them and work there believe that killing the animals is the best outcome. Maybe they think that if the kill enough of them they will stop coming in? The catch-and-kill system of “sheltering” creates a killing-is-good mindset.
The manager of our local pound absolutely believes that death is better. They have a 80% + kill rate for cats, yet won’t adopt cats out to any home that will declaw or all them outside. They don’t adopt out to any home that doesn’t have a complete vaccination history for every animal they’ve owned.
I’m against declawing, full stop…but it is better than death. I keep my own cats indoor only…but going outside and the risks that come with it are better than the certainty of death. Because I keep them inside, we made the considered choice not to vaccinate after kittenhood…so we’d be turned down if we tried to adopt despite frankly being what most would consider excellent owners.
She truly and honestly thinks she’s saving these animals by killing as many as possible.
They are all serial killers. Isn’t that the first step to people who murder other people, they start with pets. So the state is employing serial killers, keeping them off the streets and giving them an outlet for their murdering ways.
We have a story similar to that here. A brindle pit who lived with a homeless man in Detroit was shot several times. Rescue got involved, got him treated and the owner signed him over so he could become a service/therapy dog. The dog was brought to this area for training and jumped the fence the first day he was here. The rescue workers and foster parents mounted a huge, well publicized campaign to find him and bring him home. There were many sightings and they got close several times, but the dog bolted. These people did all the right things ~ posters, media, notifying vets, shelters, visiting facilities to look for him, calling places daily. Yesterday I found out that my local animal control (who I have supported) got him on July 10 and killed him on July 17. They did wait the “legal” amount of time, but his people were told over and over that he wasn’t there and when they walked through the facility the day before he died, didn’t see him. I am just sick about this . . . and all the others who met the same fate.
What can we do to stop the carnage?
db – Maybe I should put up a post dedicated to this topic. The answers seem so simple and straightforward that I never thought a post was warranted. But maybe I should reconsider.
I think that might be a good idea, but the trick is to get the people who need to read and implement these procedures probably won’t read or implement.
HA – like that’s ever stopped me before…
You really have to wonder…just how much money does the pound (shelter, etc) get for killing an animal, be it a pet or a stray, versus actually rehoming it or adopting it out? From the looks of things, I think they get paid a LOT of money just for the sheer pleasure of killing.
not to be an ass, but they said “when he didnt come home they went looking for him…” sorry, but the owners have a BIG part in this…. who lets a big ass dog like Rosco run the neighborhood…. as much at fault is the shelter for taking him out in such a short time and this DOES WARRANT AN INVESTIGATION, the owners are just as responsible for his untimely death…. sorry Rosco, you were beautiful and I would have taken better care of you,,, ask my dogs.
I guess if I posted such a heartless and assholey comment I’d hide behind a fake name too. Banned.
Victim blaming. Classy.
REading this when I”m literally going to lose my aniamsl in the next few days because of the BS life has thrown at me this year was a bad bad idea. HOw can these people not care at all? I simply cannot undertsnd the mindset thehy must be in.
Find a rescue to take your pet many of them even help give you food and veterinary care look on the internet there all over the place don’t take your animals to a shelter they charge a large amont of money to surrenderand they could be dead within 24 hours as a volunteer I seen seen this happen to many times
Thus far I haven’t found anyplace that will take on all my animals, not to mention the fact that they are pretty much the only thing I have left to live for. They are in boarding, because I refused to give them up when my house burnt, but right now the situation is bleak.
I’m sorry to hear about your house catching on fire…I hope you have insurance doesn’t insurance companies cover for the expenses of your pets like staying at a pet friendly Motor Lodge ?
@Nancy. The insurance was cancelled because they tried to run it through my recently deceased husband’s account instead of mine. I should have made more certain they switched it, but I foolishly assumed that when I was paying them it was for both the vehicles and the home. So that is a total bust. The Red Cross paid for 3 nights in hotels and gave us $75, and nothing else.
I’ve contacted every tv, radio, and newspaper to see if I could get featured in some way, and not gotten a single response from any of them. I’ve tweeted, Facebooked, blogged, emailed all 1300 or so of y contacts, and tapped out everybody in my family. I’ve been asking every rescue organization I can find if they know of a way to help spread the word about my fundraiser, or any other alternatives. I don’t have anything viable to sell (water and smoke damage etc), both my vehicles are broken down, and I[‘m currently several states away from my critters staying on a friend’s loveseat. I’m applying for ever job opening I see, and for any assistance I can get from the govt.
I’m pretty much tapped out for ideas on what else I can do.
PS. call local television stations you be surprise how when your story gets out there how many come forward to help you in the area they will come to your aid. I wish you all the best!
Go to Care 2 petitionsite they will walk you through starting your own petition I have signed many petitions for people in similar circumstances and within a week I get information from care 2 that companies have changed their mind they don’t like to piss off the rest of their customers…in the meantime are any of you associate it with a church to possibly help where you’re at there’s got to be people that are willing to help it just need to get to word out because I would really love to see you get you ‘re pets in the same state you are in even call a lawyer to go after the insurance company that’s wrong what they did to you ! Again I wish you all the best god bless , you will be in my thoughts and prayers.
you are ALL fiends, there is nothing human about those who deliberately kill family pets out of greed! I pray GOD’S vengeance will be swift affecting your families! You don’t even have the decency of feigning an apology. DISGUSTING heathens!
These holding period laws were put into place to prevent things like this from happening, yet we see this happen all over the country time and time again. They kill the pet BEFORE the holding period is even over, sometimes using the excuse that a friendly pet was aggressive (like cops do when they shoot innocent family pets); they fail to even look throughout the shelter because the pet was put in the wrong area; the pet was injured, so they don’t bother (leaving a suffering pet who needs veterinary help but fails to get it); it’s close to closing time, so they won’t look; it’s not visiting time, so again, they won’t look; the family doesn’t have enough money, so they tell them to come back, then kill the pet; they fail to put a hold on the pen where the pet is being held; they get them mixed up; the list goes on. There are more excuses for killing family pets taken into ‘shelters’, but the bottom line is that it’s incompetence and a lack of concern for the pet that causes this. If you look at dogs and cats as things, then you treat them that way. If you think they’re all the same, then you won’t take the care necessary to make certain something like this never happens. In short– there needs to be a MASS turnover of staff at any facility where this happens.
Sounds like they are in need of a major overhaul in personnel.Fire the misfits and find people who actually care about the animals.So sick of hearing these types of stories.It’s bad enough that we have to deal with the neglect and abused babies,we have a society that just doesn’t care and I’m hating humans now.
This problem is epidemic, how can the “world” be educated that animals have feelings too, their lives should not be taken away, as “part of the job”. I’m floored sometimes, that our tax dollars are going to provide food, clothing, and shelter for humans (if he can be called that) like Ariel Castro for the REST OF HIS LIFE and they can’t find a way to spare the lives of loving caring, innocent animals and pets!! I guess I’m not from this world, because I seriously don’t understand the logic!!!
R.I.P Roscoe. I cried wen i read this. Ppl are so cruel and he did not deserve this, that is flat out abuse ,not only to the dog but to the owners. I pray for the family of Roscoe !
Investigate itself? Wonder how that investigation will turn out? Reminds me of an article I read about the FDA asking a drug company who made a generic of an anti-depressant medication, to investigate the efficacy of the drug they had received hundreds of complaints about. Right. Ask the criminal if he’s guilty or not while we’re at it.
Reblogged this on Sherlockian's Blog and commented:
Yet another family is let down by the regressive animal shelter system. Their pet dog is killed within 24 hours, much before they could have saved him.
this is so disheartening, my deepest sympathies to the owners. They must be devastated. And as a ‘heathen’ let me just say, religious insults are really not to the point although it really isn’t my place to complain, it’s not my page and I’m just a guest. But most of my heathen and pagan friends are good to animals, and I doubt the shelter workers and bosses responsible for this did it for some strange religious reason. Sorry, it’s a sore point.
I’m so disgusted! There is no SHELTER for animals….just a bunch of kill-happy idiots! They are the minority. Why can’t we settle this problem in our Country?
We should be able to band together and form temporary assistance for one another’s pets. Maybe this will catch on and we can replace shelters! Let people who care give our pets the love and care they deserve.
SUE THEIR A*****!!! MONEY TALKS!!! CLOSE THE PLACE AND THEN THERE WON’T BE ANYBODY LEFT TO KILL THE FURBABIES! PERIOD!!!
I think the only way to stop this is to have the threat of a law suit over their heads- obviously money (or the loss of) is the only thing that will force these government taxpayer elected or appointed parasites to change.
Currently there are a lot of unemployed attorneys from fairly large law firms-
Open request to all attorneys in this position- band together- and go after these government entities.
Update: The Colbert Co pound director has resigned.
http://www.waff.com/story/23129045/colbert-co-animal-shelter-director-resigns
Hooray! Progress at last!