WARNING: This post is hidden behind a jump for good reason. It contains text and photos of shelter pet abuse which will disturb you. Not may disturb – not some of you – this post will disturb all of you. None of the images are gratuitous and they all are from a file maintained by the Texas Department of State Health Services. All the images and documents are a matter of public record, available via FOIA request. If you share the story online, please link to this post and not directly to the page below the fold so that readers can decide whether they want to proceed before they actually see any images. There will be an additional warning on the page itself. This material is not appropriate for children.
There is no shame in choosing not to look. If you feel unable to proceed, trust your judgment. We all need to take care of ourselves first so that we can continue to care for others.
Regular readers are familiar with the abuse allegations at the Klein Animal Shelter in Texas which I have covered here, here and here. The text and photos from the Klein facility which I’m posting today are far worse than what has previously appeared on the blog about Klein. I wrestled with the decision about which photos to publish and even whether to publish at all. I lost sleep over these photos. I wished I could “unsee” them and had to carefully consider subjecting my readers to the horror they depict. I ultimately decided to publish because I believe there is significant value in sharing this story. My hope is that it will bring greater awareness to a subject covered regularly here but too often ignored by media and, if it reaches local taxpayers, will motivate them to take action and demand justice for the crimes alleged in these documents and photos. This is why I blog.
(Thank you Stephen Pope for sending me the docs and photos obtained via FOIA request.)