Detroit ACOs, whom you may remember from such exploits as Dragging Dead Dogs Whose Guts are Falling Out in Front of Neighborhood Children, are once again dazzling the kiddies with their animal handling skills.
Last week, local media reported that a friendly stray dog who was beloved by children and teachers at the school where the dog had been hanging out, was captured and hauled away by Detroit ACOs while the kids pleaded for the dog they named Jenga to be spared. The incident was so upsetting to everyone who witnessed it that a fifth grade class is writing a letter to Detroit AC to express their feelings.
Teachers at the school immediately began making calls to various city offices to try to keep Jenga from being killed but all they got was the runaround. One teacher offered to adopt Jenga outright or at least place her name on the dog as an interested party but AC refused, citing the 4 day holding period. And she won’t be allowed to adopt Jenga from the pound after the holding period either:
[Harry] Ward [head of AC] said the department must keep stray dogs without identification for four business days. If they are unclaimed, animal control evaluates the dog. Dogs fit for adoption are made available to the Michigan Humane Society; the rest are put down.
The Humane Society visits Detroit Animal Control weekly and decides which dogs to accept into its adoption program, Ward said. The animal control department does not run an adoption program, he said, conceding that an outdated website says otherwise.
Oh swell. Also, shame on those kids and their teachers for falling in love with a stray dog and caring what happens to her:
Ward suggested those concerned about Jenga’s fate adopt a dog from the Humane Society to make room for more dogs in the adoption program.
“Do something for all the dogs, instead of getting focused on the one dog,” Ward said.
[…]
“I know to the world this one dog is important. I want the world to know there are 38 other dogs that will come in over one or two days,” Ward said. “People need to pull back and look at the bigger issue.”
The bigger issue is that the head of Detroit AC doesn’t understand that dogs are not interchangeable widgets. Pets are family. Humans bond with them. It’s actually the kind of thing AC should be encouraging, especially with children.
Unfortunately for Jenga, her only hope at this point seems to be a transfer to another pet killing facility. Perhaps media attention will help save Jenga from the fate of so many other stray dogs in Detroit whom rescue groups say they try to help but must battle AC in order to do so.
(Thanks Clarice and Karen for the links.)