Memphis Animal Services got a new director this summer. Dogs labeled as pitbulls at the facility would not notice.
MAS continues its long tradition of discrimination against any dog labeled pitbull or pitbull mix by staff – regardless of how inaccurate the labels might be. And it’s not because of any terrible law on the books – it’s a choice made by the pound, because they can. These dogs are largely kept behind locked doors in “stray”, away from the areas where the public is allowed to look for a new pet. Even if an adopter knew MAS had more dogs in the “stray” cages and was able to get an employee to unlock the doors and escort them through the area, they wouldn’t be allowed to take home a pet they fell in love with because MAS discriminates against pitbulls. Adopters are required to submit to background checks and to a fence inspection by MAS staff (if they get around to it before the dog is killed) before being allowed to save a dog labeled pitbull.
And if all of this doesn’t convince you of breed discrimination by MAS, take a look at the 17 dogs on the “disposition list” for Friday. These dogs all appear to be young and healthy, most of them have been tested for heartworm and come up negative, and all of them were labeled pitbull or pitbull mix by MAS staff before being locked away in the stray area. Yesterday afternoon, rescuers received emails from MAS notifying them that all these dogs have until 4:45pm Friday.
There are a number of 3 – 6 month old puppies in the bunch and many beautiful adult dogs as well. All photos were posted by Memphis Pets Alive on social media:
(Thanks Jenn.)