Goodbye frying pan, hello fire: The City of Memphis says it wants a second, outside look at the City Animal Shelter. Wednesday afternoon, City Chief Administrative Officer George Little, announced talks are underway with the Humane Society of the United States. Bloody hell. The HSUS evaluations have served places like Miami-Dade Animal Services so well, … Continue reading Jeffrey Dahmer Culinary Class – How Much Would You Pay?
Under No Circumstances
In looking at webcam grabs, two things strike me about the handling of pets at MAS - way too many dogs are on chokepoles and way too many cats are mishandled. The pound's policy on scruffing cats is clear: It's to be used sparingly, it means grabbing the skin on the back of the neck, … Continue reading Under No Circumstances
You want to adopt a pet from MAS? Whatevs.
Pop quiz: (No scrolling down in advance - that's cheating.) Your volunteer group helps out a high kill pound. The pound has a very limited web presence and no social networking presence at all - but your group does. The pound doesn't post its pets online - but your group at least posts a fraction … Continue reading You want to adopt a pet from MAS? Whatevs.
Pleading for Leadership in Memphis
At a meeting of the Memphis City Council today, members pleaded with Matt Pepper to remain as director of MAS. He declined. Meanwhile, back at the pound, it was another day of business as usual. Memphis, please - stop the killing.
Weigh In on MI Dog Mauling Case
An interesting case in MI: A couple engaged to be married, who between them owned three dogs, kept the dogs in their fenced yard with warning signs posted. A 6 year old neighbor girl and her friend wanted to come in the yard one day while the man's niece (also a resident) was home. The … Continue reading Weigh In on MI Dog Mauling Case
Meet the Gillie-Monster
Reader Christa works in Houston and met this little dog wandering the streets. Christa writes: I called her Gillie since I found her on Gillepsie street in 5th Ward. I paid for the vet to examine her and vaccinate. The vet said she looks to be pittie, lab, and maybe something else. She had fleas … Continue reading Meet the Gillie-Monster
Oh my stars…
Another one... Also, it’s been off-putting to see a group of Caucasian activists investing this much energy on dogs in a majority African-American city with 40% of its children living in poverty. Right. Because if you are white, and you object to pets being abused and killed in your community, you obviously are dancing a … Continue reading Oh my stars…
Memphis Paper’s Spine on the Back of a Milk Carton
Boy was I pleased to see the Commercial Appeal editorial entitled "An undeserved bludgeoning" coming down hard on the mayor's office for proudly promoting with a press release the security camera footage of dogs being beaten by a worker at MAS. Indeed, the doomed dogs did not deserve to be killed by the people paid … Continue reading Memphis Paper’s Spine on the Back of a Milk Carton
Memphis Animal Services Adopts Out 11% of its Pets in First Half of 2011
Below is a review of the stats for MAS for the first six months of 2011. I have rounded the percentages. MAS Stats for January - April 2011: Jan 2011/Feb 2011/Mar 2011/Apr 2011 Intake 1270/1033/1357/1233=4893 Adopt 130/183/168/107=588 Died 23/10/12/16=61 Euth 999/754/1150/612=3515 Foster/relocate/permit 2/2/2/5=11 Missing 40/?/?/? (not reported for Feb/Mar/Apr) RTO 82/57/78/63=280 Transfer 28/24/47/154=253 MAS Stats … Continue reading Memphis Animal Services Adopts Out 11% of its Pets in First Half of 2011
Leadership Changes at MAS
Matt Pepper tells the Fox affiliate in Memphis that he will be leaving MAS the first week of September and talks about his replacement: He said at least in the interim, Chelton Beamon, the shelter's operations manager will take over. These webcam grabs appear to show Mr. Beamon out of uniform in the stray area … Continue reading Leadership Changes at MAS
YesBiscuit! 