Annie Allison and her family have owned their beloved cat Doozie Bean for 9 years. He’s been missing since May 7, when he was reportedly trapped in a neighbor’s yard by the ACO for Hornell, NY. Prior to setting the traps in the neighbor’s yard, Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan states the ACO was supposed to knock on doors of area homes to alert residents. In addition, any cats trapped are supposed to be held for 5 days in order to give owners a chance to reclaim them. The ACO in this case, Gary Hadsell, appears to have not followed procedures.
After Ms. Allison brought her concerns to Mayor Hogan, the mayor denied any knowledge of traps being set. He says he talked with ACO Hadsell who reportedly admitted losing one of the cats he trapped. The ACO also apparently denied ever trapping Doozie Bean, claiming he has the ability to immediately distinguish feral cats from owned pets based on their behavior in the trap. The article doesn’t say if he also pulls rabbits out of hats or whether he’s available for kiddie birthday parties.
Mayor Hogan says ACO Hadsell has resigned. This too is clear as mud:
When reached for comment on his resignation, Hadsell said, “I don’t believe I did (resign). If you have any questions, call Shawn Hogan.”
Mayor Hogan also says that because of what happened with Doozie Bean, his city is getting out of the trapping business.
In the meantime, Ms. Allison and her family are heartbroken. She continues to search for Doozie Bean, driving around for hours, whistling for him and shaking cat treats out the window.
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In West Memphis, AR a dog named Blue got spooked during a thunderstorm Saturday night and got lost. A police officer took him to the West Memphis pound. When Blue’s owner inquired at the pound Sunday, he was relieved to hear his pet was there. But Blue’s cage was found empty. Pound director Kerry Sneed says she personally locked the gate on Blue’s cage Saturday night and that it did not appear that he had escaped on his own.
For several hours Sunday morning, Sneed said there was a window of opportunity for people on the property to steal the dog.
Well gee. Is that the sort of failure that taxpayers in West Memphis are supposed to accept? What is being done to actually shelter animals from harm once they arrive at the so-called shelter? Anything?
The owner, George Johnson, continues to walk the streets, calling for Blue. He has made his e-mail address public in an effort to get any possible leads on the whereabouts of his pet: rjhealthfirst@yahoo.com
(Thanks Clarice for the links.)
When the hell are we going to take severe action against Memphis Shelter? They have gone above and beyond what pet owners should endure! Their answer is always “oh well…” I hate these bastards from the bottom of my soul and wish we could close them down permanently!
Legislators don’t listen, so what can we do?
Just to clarify, this is not the Memphis pound in TN that has been the subject of many posts on this blog.
Where can i send you information about Greenbrier County, WV Animal Control Officer being judge and jury and sentencing a local business owners’ Weimeriner to death for nipping?A professional trainer was willing to take the dog and train it and even rehome the dog so it did not have to die. NOPE, ACO deemed the dog vicious and he will be killed in 7 days. He is a know dog hater.
My e-mail address is eiderdown@yesbiscuit.com
Amazing that he can tell the difference between a feral and a tame cat just by how they behave in the trap. I guess they just hand over their papers if they’re tame? Dumbass. You know he was trapping and killing without regard for anyone’s pets…
The missing dog in AK – sounds like they need cameras in there. Actually, ALL shelters (and hospitals and nursing homes and child care centers) should have cameras.
The loss of a pet and not knowing what’s happened to them, your mind imagines all of the worst things all the time. It’s a terrible thing.
Just to clarify, this is the West Memphis pound in Arkansas – not Alaska.
AR, right. Not AK. I get those mixed up all the time.
It seems like most local officials have no need to be accountable to the people. They certainly act like they have no problem doing things most people who voted for them probably don’t agree with.
Perhaps we need the equivalent of The Working Families Party. They don’t run candidates but will endorse the candidate who has worked/voted for policies that support working families.
We need a No Kill Party to parse politicians records and endorse the best on animal issues. Then get the voters attention on the issue, most people don’t go around kicking puppies as a hobby, most people care about animals. They just don’t know what goes on in their name.