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Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Not A Minute Too Soon
For those who thought A.C. Wharton was grandstanding.
At least 3 dogs starved to death at Memphis shelter
Puppy No. 199287 was admitted to the city animal shelter on Aug. 18. A later photo shows the same dog in an emaciated condition. A necropsy after it died Sept. 4 indicated that it hadn't eaten in at least 72 hours. Within three weeks, the female dog was dead, a victim of "non-accidental starvation," according to a veterinarian. She'd lost one-quarter of her body weight.
A search warrant released Tuesday shows that at least two other dogs recently starved to death while in the shelter's care.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office raided the shelter at 3456 Tchulahoma last week after a whistle-blower complained that animals were being mistreated.
Ten shelter employees and city animal services administrator Ernest Alexander were relieved of duty, and Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons said criminal charges are possible.
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said Tuesday that shelter employees are back on the job as he awaits an internal investigation about shelter operations.
"I can't say at this point whether they did everything right or did everything wrong until I get the results, which I will have at the end of the week," said Wharton, who added that shelter volunteers are providing an "additional layer of oversight" over the employees.
The warrant shows that deputies asked for a slew of shelter records, including computers and logs of care.
Deputies seized 17 boxes of documents, four computers, six CDs or DVDs, empty dog-food bags and two cell phones, among other things.
Detectives believed there was probable cause that laws were being violated by Alexander and shelter employees, the warrant says.
Among the potential charges are aggravated cruelty to animals, official misconduct and tampering with or fabricating evidence, which could result from dogs being held for court that were allowed to die, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Deputies also included in the warrant photos of puppy No. 199287.
The earliest photo shows the dog looking healthy just after arriving at the shelter. Later photos show it in an increasingly emaciated condition.
The animal was found dead in its cage Sept. 4, according to the warrant.
The photos were taken by the tipster, who repeatedly brought the dog's deteriorating condition to the attention of shelter employees, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Steve Shular.
Also included in the warrant were the results of a necropsy on the puppy done by veterinarian Melinda Merck of Gainesville, Fla.
The dog, wrote Merck, had little stored-up fat, including a 2.3 percent measurement of bone-marrow fat. Sixty percent or higher would be normal, she wrote.
Although the dog had partly digested food in its stomach, the doctor estimated the puppy hadn't eaten in at least 72 hours. The cause of death, she wrote, was starvation.
The warrant also indicates that volunteers had sent "numerous" e-mails to Alexander, now-departed Division of Public Services and Neighborhoods director Kenneth Moody and two employees, warning that animals were in poor condition.
Moody retired from the city in July.
Deputies discovered in the raid that some of the animals were sick or had been deprived of food and water.
Death rates of animals being kept at the shelter have risen sharply, from 75 in 2006 to 119 in 2007 to 193 in 2008.
Wharton said publicly accessible 24-hour surveillance cameras will be installed at the facility by week's end.
Candlelight vigil at animal shelter to honor abused dogs By Hank Dudding
Local animal rights advocates plan to hold a candlelight vigil Thursday night in honor of the animals at the City of Memphis Animal Shelter.
Animal shelter search warrant The vigil follows the publication of photos in the news media of puppy No. 99287, a pit bull-lab mix that starved to death at the shelter last month.
“You can’t see something like this and not honor the victims,” said animal-rights advocate Diane McManus, who’s helping organize the vigil. “We just felt that we needed to come together and say, ‘This is not right. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.’ “
The vigil will begin at the animal shelter at 3456 Tchulahoma at 6 p.m.
Deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office raided the shelter last week after complaints that animals were being mistreated.
Deputies seized 17 boxes of documents, four computers, six CDs or DVDs, and empty dog-food bags, according to a search warrant.
The warrant stated there was probable cause to believe laws were being violated by city animal services administrator Ernest Alexander and shelter employees.
Alexander and the shelter employees remain on the job while Memphis Mayor A C Wharton awaits the results of an internal investigation later this week, Wharton said Tuesday.
Deputies are still sifting through the evidence and won’t present an investigative report to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office for several weeks, sheriff’s office spokesman Steve Shular said today.
“We don’t want to rush this investigation because of the attention that’s been focused on it,” he said. “We want the information we present to the D.A. to … paint a complete and clear picture of the conditions we observed at the animal shelter.”
Mayor A C Wharton said he fired Memphis Animal Services director Ernest Alexander because animal shelter employees appeared unable to complete basic tasks, such as following procedures for euthanizing animals and completing paperwork.
Wharton’s decision to fire Alexander Thursday night, nine days after law enforcement authorities raided the shelter and shut it down, came after shelter employees improperly euthanized a dog this week and preliminary results of an investigation showed poor management by Alexander at the city-owned shelter.
“You’ve got a mayor now who, perhaps to a fault, likes to be hands on,” said Wharton during a morning press conference at the shelter. “I am not an expert on (animal shelters), but I can walk in there and tell you if there is enough food or water in the bowl, or if they followed our own procedures.”
Despite allegations of mistreatment of the animals he oversaw at a shelter in Albuquerque, N.M., Alexander arrived in Memphis in the spring of 2008 after former mayor Willie Herenton launched a nationwide search for an administrator who could improve conditions at the shelter, long a source of controversy for local animal rights activists.
In addition to Alexander’s termination, three other shelter employees remain suspended with pay until the city investigation is complete.
Wharton said Darrell Eldred, the former deputy director of the General Services Division, who returned to City Hall to work for Chief Administrative Officer Jack Sammons, will serve on a temporary basis as the operations manager at the shelter until a full-time replacement can be found.
Saying animals deserve treatment that is as caring and professional as that for humans, Wharton also hired Lucy Shaw, who once ran the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, as a consultant to assess standards at the shelter and how they measure up to other shelters around the country.
“The bottom line is, where are we now and where do we want to go?” said Shaw.
Public pressure for Wharton to take dramatic action on the shelter has been building since Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies raided the facility on Wharton’s first full day as mayor, culminating in a candlelight vigil outside the shelter last night where many attendees said they wanted Alexander and other shelter staff members fired. Authorities have said at least three animals starved to death while in the shelter’s care.
“I believe in doing things right instead of doing them fast,” said Wharton. “I see (the public reaction) as a strong sign that the city cares, that we have a conscience.”
Wharton said he was stunned to learn that a dog had been euthanized this week before its owners could be contacted and surprised to see how sloppy the record keeping at the shelter was, including important documents on the drugs used to kill animals.
“If you’re lax on these records that can send you to jail, heaven forbid, what are you doing with records on how much food or water they have?” said Wharton. “That’s why it disgusted me so much that a pet was put down under questionable circumstances.”
A search warrant delivered during last week’s raid stated that authorities believed Alexander and shelter employees had violated laws. District Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons has said criminal charges are likely.
At least 3 dogs starved to death at Memphis shelter
ReplyDeletePuppy No. 199287 was admitted to the city animal shelter on Aug. 18. A later photo shows the same dog in an emaciated condition. A necropsy after it died Sept. 4 indicated that it hadn't eaten in at least 72 hours.
Within three weeks, the female dog was dead, a victim of "non-accidental starvation," according to a veterinarian. She'd lost one-quarter of her body weight.
A search warrant released Tuesday shows that at least two other dogs recently starved to death while in the shelter's care.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office raided the shelter at 3456 Tchulahoma last week after a whistle-blower complained that animals were being mistreated.
Ten shelter employees and city animal services administrator Ernest Alexander were relieved of duty, and Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons said criminal charges are possible.
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said Tuesday that shelter employees are back on the job as he awaits an internal investigation about shelter operations.
"I can't say at this point whether they did everything right or did everything wrong until I get the results, which I will have at the end of the week," said Wharton, who added that shelter volunteers are providing an "additional layer of oversight" over the employees.
The warrant shows that deputies asked for a slew of shelter records, including computers and logs of care.
Deputies seized 17 boxes of documents, four computers, six CDs or DVDs, empty dog-food bags and two cell phones, among other things.
Detectives believed there was probable cause that laws were being violated by Alexander and shelter employees, the warrant says.
Among the potential charges are aggravated cruelty to animals, official misconduct and tampering with or fabricating evidence, which could result from dogs being held for court that were allowed to die, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Deputies also included in the warrant photos of puppy No. 199287.
The earliest photo shows the dog looking healthy just after arriving at the shelter. Later photos show it in an increasingly emaciated condition.
The animal was found dead in its cage Sept. 4, according to the warrant.
The photos were taken by the tipster, who repeatedly brought the dog's deteriorating condition to the attention of shelter employees, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Steve Shular.
Also included in the warrant were the results of a necropsy on the puppy done by veterinarian Melinda Merck of Gainesville, Fla.
The dog, wrote Merck, had little stored-up fat, including a 2.3 percent measurement of bone-marrow fat. Sixty percent or higher would be normal, she wrote.
Although the dog had partly digested food in its stomach, the doctor estimated the puppy hadn't eaten in at least 72 hours. The cause of death, she wrote, was starvation.
The warrant also indicates that volunteers had sent "numerous" e-mails to Alexander, now-departed Division of Public Services and Neighborhoods director Kenneth Moody and two employees, warning that animals were in poor condition.
Moody retired from the city in July.
Deputies discovered in the raid that some of the animals were sick or had been deprived of food and water.
Death rates of animals being kept at the shelter have risen sharply, from 75 in 2006 to 119 in 2007 to 193 in 2008.
Wharton said publicly accessible 24-hour surveillance cameras will be installed at the facility by week's end.
Candlelight vigil at animal shelter to honor abused dogs
ReplyDeleteBy Hank Dudding
Local animal rights advocates plan to hold a candlelight vigil Thursday night in honor of the animals at the City of Memphis Animal Shelter.
Animal shelter search warrant
The vigil follows the publication of photos in the news media of puppy No. 99287, a pit bull-lab mix that starved to death at the shelter last month.
“You can’t see something like this and not honor the victims,” said animal-rights advocate Diane McManus, who’s helping organize the vigil. “We just felt that we needed to come together and say, ‘This is not right. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.’ “
The vigil will begin at the animal shelter at 3456 Tchulahoma at 6 p.m.
Deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office raided the shelter last week after complaints that animals were being mistreated.
Deputies seized 17 boxes of documents, four computers, six CDs or DVDs, and empty dog-food bags, according to a search warrant.
The warrant stated there was probable cause to believe laws were being violated by city animal services administrator Ernest Alexander and shelter employees.
Alexander and the shelter employees remain on the job while Memphis Mayor A C Wharton awaits the results of an internal investigation later this week, Wharton said Tuesday.
Deputies are still sifting through the evidence and won’t present an investigative report to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office for several weeks, sheriff’s office spokesman Steve Shular said today.
“We don’t want to rush this investigation because of the attention that’s been focused on it,” he said. “We want the information we present to the D.A. to … paint a complete and clear picture of the conditions we observed at the animal shelter.”
Wharton fires animal shelter director Alexander
ReplyDeleteMayor A C Wharton said he fired Memphis Animal Services director Ernest Alexander because animal shelter employees appeared unable to complete basic tasks, such as following procedures for euthanizing animals and completing paperwork.
Wharton’s decision to fire Alexander Thursday night, nine days after law enforcement authorities raided the shelter and shut it down, came after shelter employees improperly euthanized a dog this week and preliminary results of an investigation showed poor management by Alexander at the city-owned shelter.
“You’ve got a mayor now who, perhaps to a fault, likes to be hands on,” said Wharton during a morning press conference at the shelter. “I am not an expert on (animal shelters), but I can walk in there and tell you if there is enough food or water in the bowl, or if they followed our own procedures.”
Despite allegations of mistreatment of the animals he oversaw at a shelter in Albuquerque, N.M., Alexander arrived in Memphis in the spring of 2008 after former mayor Willie Herenton launched a nationwide search for an administrator who could improve conditions at the shelter, long a source of controversy for local animal rights activists.
In addition to Alexander’s termination, three other shelter employees remain suspended with pay until the city investigation is complete.
Wharton said Darrell Eldred, the former deputy director of the General Services Division, who returned to City Hall to work for Chief Administrative Officer Jack Sammons, will serve on a temporary basis as the operations manager at the shelter until a full-time replacement can be found.
Saying animals deserve treatment that is as caring and professional as that for humans, Wharton also hired Lucy Shaw, who once ran the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, as a consultant to assess standards at the shelter and how they measure up to other shelters around the country.
“The bottom line is, where are we now and where do we want to go?” said Shaw.
Public pressure for Wharton to take dramatic action on the shelter has been building since Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies raided the facility on Wharton’s first full day as mayor, culminating in a candlelight vigil outside the shelter last night where many attendees said they wanted Alexander and other shelter staff members fired. Authorities have said at least three animals starved to death while in the shelter’s care.
“I believe in doing things right instead of doing them fast,” said Wharton. “I see (the public reaction) as a strong sign that the city cares, that we have a conscience.”
Wharton said he was stunned to learn that a dog had been euthanized this week before its owners could be contacted and surprised to see how sloppy the record keeping at the shelter was, including important documents on the drugs used to kill animals.
“If you’re lax on these records that can send you to jail, heaven forbid, what are you doing with records on how much food or water they have?” said Wharton. “That’s why it disgusted me so much that a pet was put down under questionable circumstances.”
A search warrant delivered during last week’s raid stated that authorities believed Alexander and shelter employees had violated laws. District Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons has said criminal charges are likely.
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