KC DOG BLOG

Memphis: More change is needed

Last week, many in the animal welfare world celebrated when Animal Services Director, Matthew Pepper, resigned from his position. Pepper resigned amongst a ton of criticism from activists and the public alike over the failure of the shelter. Pepper cited "uncertainty that engulfs my current position as well as the organization in general" as part of the reason for his resignation.

Let's make no mistake, Pepper has earned the criticism.

And while I won't pretend to have the full breadth of knowledge of the Memphis shelter situation, it certainly appears as if the problem runs deeper than Matthew Pepper.

Pepper took over a shelter that just months before he started, was raided by the Shelby County Sheriff's office, and the then-shelter director, Ernest Alexander (who was appointed to the position by then-mayor Willie Herenton), was arrested for animal cruelty. Pepper inherited that situation, along with a shelter that was killing 81% of the animals it impounded.  And reportedly, Pepper has complained on several occassions about an inability to discipline employees (which isn't terribly uncommon in areas with union staffs).

Under Pepper's reign, there was little improvement.  YesBiscuit! has pulled the numbers and it appears as if MAS adopted out only 11% of the animals in its care through the first 1/2 of 2011 - and 71% were killed.

In spite of this obvious failure, Mayor AC Wharton did not call for improvements at the shelter -- but instead blamed the irresponsible public, boutique shelters and even people from Arkansas and Mississippi  (who were clearly not to blame), for the high kill rates.  The same city allowed for the Memphis Advisory Board to meet behind closed doors (a violation of the state's public meetings laws), and is seeking to prosecute a former employee (and ex felon)who falsified city records and was responsible for the death of a dog that died in her truck as she hid from officials. Another dog that she confiscated from a home is still unaccounted for. This is the same city that in spite of all its problems, and animal control officers who are awaiting trial, agreed to not install webcams in their next shelter...because the poor animal control officers should not have to be subjected to such scrutiny.

The reality is, that for Memphis to make a real change, they're going to need civic support for making the change.  They're going to need leaders who will demand better from their new shelter director instead of blaming the citizens and people in different states. They're going to have to allow for the firing and disciplinary actions against employees who are failing. 

Without a change in attitude, real, positive change will be nearly impossible to achieve. And an attitude adjustment is just what is needed.  Because it hasn't been "the public" that has been failing the Memphis Shelter, it's been the leadership. And that goes up even higher than Matthew Pepper.

In an Open Letter ot the People of Memphis, YesBiscuit! writes:

"What are your expectations Memphis?  Do not be contrained by the learned helplessness that comes from years of being told "it can't be done here." Do not accept the low bar set by the city politicians who proudly send to the media a video of inept MAS workers mishandling dogs and beating them with steal poles on their way to the kill room saying. "Hey look, they we're involved in organized dogfighting -- huzzah! Yay us!"

Yogi Berra once said, "When you get to a fork in the road, take it."

The ironic and funny statement I think is very insightful. Because sometimes when there is a clear fork in the road, it is up to you to take it. It is up to you to determine the direction to go, or pave your own direction, because the path isn't chosen for you.  And this is Memphis' fork in the road. 

There is ever opportunity for them to change shelter management and keep their same attitude and continue down the same failing path. Or, they can choose a new attitude, a new direction, and fix the problem.  But this is the time for the the residents of Memphis to make their voices heard, and let the leaders in the community know that this is important. And it's too important to not make the changes needed for success. This doesn't mean just changing shelter directors -- it means changing what is expected.

Memphis -- here's your fork in the road. Your chance to change your direction, your future. Take it.

Related: Got a Prayer in Memphis?  - Ryan Clinton

 

Taking responsibility vs assessing blame in Memphis

Eighteen months ago, a puppy was starved to death at the Memphis Shelter.

Last week, an animal control employee, an ex-felon, was arrested on two counts of animal cruelty, including the death of one dog, and the mysterious disappearance of another.

The shelter has continued to kill 77% of the animals that enter the shelter (well above the national average which is close to 50%), even though the shelter impounds 24 animals per 1,000 in population (which is slighly less than average).

Last fall, in spite of the wealth of evidence that shows its ineffectiveness and the total lack of support from national animal welfare groups, Memphis passed a law mandating the spay/neuter of all pets.  The law is predictably failing, and has led to an 8% increase in impounds in just its first few months of existance.

So, amid all of the criticism, the city's animal control workers requested that observation cameras not exist at the new shelter (they were installed to give a sense of transparency) -- this request was granted.  So there will be no more transparency at the failing shelter -- even though almost everyone thinks removing the cameras is a bad idea.

Amid all of this, guess who is to blame for the shelter's bad hiring practices, bad managment and bad laws.

The public.  At least according to Mayor A C Wharton. Here are a few diddies from quote machine Mayor Wharton based on an interview with WMCTV:

"When are they (the public) going to take responsibility by coming down hard on spaying and neutering?"

Again, I note, that Memphis' impounds per capita are really quite average - if not slightly below average.

"We take everybody," said Wharton.  "These little boutique shelters around the country that have all of these rules: We won't take three-legged dogs, we won't take dirty cats, don't take unless you live there.  If an animal shows up, we take it."

There are a lot of shelters that do this - -and most do not kill 77% of the animals they impound.

"The conduct is changing and will change inside the shelter, but the more important question is what are we going to do as a society to change the way we are abusing these animals and then dumping them," said Wharton.

This was the promise made 20 months ago when a new shelter manager was hired. Not only has it not happened, the city has decided that it no longer thinks cameras in the shelter to show transparency is a good idea.  What is it that you're trying to hide? Oh, that's right.

No, the important question is whether the city is really going to make the changes it needs to fix the problem. If they were to embrace the public, it would be their surest way to get the support they needed to make an impact -- but as they continue to put a divide between the shelter and the public that is most in a situation to help them, they are definitely setting themselves up for more failure.

But it has quit being about trying to fix the problem in Memphis (if it ever was about that). It's now about hiding reality and deflecting blame. 

Now is probably not the time to ask for privacy

Eighteen months ago, a healthy puppy entered the Memphis Animal Shelter.  Eight days later, the puppy was dead, having starved to death.

In response, the city fired the director of animal control. And to give the shelter transparency to the public, the city installed cameras in the animal shelter.

Through the help of the cameras, and with the due diligence of Shirley over at YesBiscuit!, public discontent over the lack of improvements at the shelter is growing.

The public is upset over being shut out of Shelter Advisory Board meetings. They're upset about the misuse of choke poles, dogs being dragged on choke poles, skinny dogs, dogs being lifted 5 feet high with choke poles, and cages being sprayed down with dogs still in them.

They're even more upset that an animal control officer (and ex felon), Demetria Hogan, stole a dog, went virtually uninvestigated for nearly 3 weeks before finally being arrested, and is being charged with 2 counts of animal cruelty and is suspected in being involved in a case involving a missing dog (there is a $6000 reward for finding Kapone).

The public is also trying to increase awareness to push for change with a new billboard along a heavily traveled highway in Memphis.

So in response to the shelter killing 77% of the animals it impounds, and questionable actions at the shelter, and an ACO killing at least one dog and being held as being involving in another dog that is missing, what would you guess the shelter staff would do:

A) Appologize to the public for the failing of the shelter

B) Express remorse about the dead dog and the missing dog (and all the dead dogs) and promise to help find Kapone and do better at saving lives

C) Ask that the cameras be removed so they can operate without public scrutiny.

If you answered "C", you are correct. After all of the talk, all of the outrage, all of the cruelty, their solution is to NOT make it better or even appologize for the actions of a coworker. Their solution was to hide, because if no one can see it, it must be ok, right? (as of right now, 91% of the Commercial Appeal voters are saying that cameras should not be removed from the shelter).

When the cameras were installed, Mayor Wharton said it was the "ultimate transparency" and that he wanted to "dispel the image that the animal shelter is a despicable place where all these horrible things go on."

It actually ended up proving that it was.

Folks, if you want to end the criticism, HIDING is not the answer. Doing it right is. The status quo is not good enough.  And hiding it won't make it so.  And asking for privacy now, at what (we hope) is your lowest moment, doesn't ring of sincerity.  It rings of desperation.

Another ill-informed, well-meaning person pushes for MSN in Memphis

So, earlier today, I noted that the city of St. Louis is currently looking at Mandatory Spay/Neuter.

 On Sunday, a different well-intentioned, but poorly informed animal welfare person wrote a letter to the editor pushing for the same law in Memphis.   The writer says that not only should the city pass Mandatory Spay/Neuter (MSN), they should enforce it and force people to pay a 'huge yearly fee" to breed a dog. She promotes this as "the only solution for the problem".

However, the writer seems to not know that:

a) Memphis passed MSN 9 months ago

and

b) it has led to an 8% increase in impounds since it was passed

There is no excues to not understand the impact of MSN laws. The information is readily available to you. And virtually no animal welfare organization supports MSN any more.  Because it doesn't work.

 No one is going to inform you, and it's easier than ever to inform yourself. But the days of pushing for something that has been tried elsewhere and hoping for the best are over.  Or need to be.

Dear Memphis: The status quo isn't good enough

Eighteen months ago, there became a firestorm of media controversy regarding Memphis Animal Services after a young puppy was starved to death at the shelter.

Upon reveiw, Memphis fired their director of animal services and hired someone with a less than spectacular track record, Matthew Pepper, to run the shelter. They also inserted web cams at the shelter so people could keep an eye on what is going on at the shelter.

Well, in the months that have followed, Memphis passed a law that increased impounds into their high-kill shelter and their kill rate continues to be around 70%.

For the last couple of months, Shirley over at YesBiscuit! has been doing a magnificent job of covering the exploits at the shelter -  with many screen grabs from the webcams of ACOs hoisting animals into kennels with their catch poles, dragging animals through the shelter via catchpole, killing animals that never make it to the adoption floor or onto pet finder, killing treatable animals immediately upon impound because of fairly minor injuries -- that sort of thing.

Through the process, Shirley has been collecting donations that are going toward helping particular animals at the shelter.

Now, let's say you worked at a shelter with limited funds and a 70% kill rate -- and someone from South Carolina began raising funds to help out some of the animals at the shelter.  Would you:

a) Send a note to thank her

b) Realize how big of a mess your shelter has become and work hard to fix the problems that she is exposing

c) Sue her for violating a South Carolina law that you have no power to enforce

If you guessed "C", you are now qualified to be in Memphis City Government.

Yes. Seriously.

In a strange act, the Memphis City Attorney, Herman Morris Jr, sent a note calling for a cease and desist for her donation drives because it is violation of a South Carolina code that prevents you from raising funds on someone else's behalf without written consent to do so because it apparently gives the impression that your actions are endorsed by that party.

Now, I can't speak for everyone who's read Shirley's blog over the past 2 months, it I can assure you I never once would have assumed the city was endorsing her activities. In fact, I can safely say that I assumed that the city cared so little about animals that even if they were grateful, they still would have been too lazy to say so.

But here's the deal Memphis. Your shelter is broken. Animals are needlessly dying and there is seemingly little attempt to improve the situation. And your attempts to squash the voice that is making it public, and your attempts to cut off support from people who want to help the animals is the wrong approach.

Instead of having someone sift through pages and pages of South Carolina public code, why not spend that time doing something productive -- like working to fix the problems?  Because the status quo isn't good enough. And it's not just one blogger in South Carolina that is upset -- it is a whole nation of animal lovers who think animals deserve better than the outdated catch and kill sheltering models.

If you're tired of the very fair criticism. Fix it.

And residents of Memphis -- these are your elected leaders and your tax dollars at work. You are paying for this. And you also have the power to influence change.  Take it. Run with it. And make the change happen.

And for Shirley, congratulations on getting their attention. You are getting a standing ovation from over in my corner. 

More from: Raised by Wolves and the Pet Connection

 

Reforming Animal Control

Last week, I posted about the recent failings with the Memphis Animal Care and Control (with all hat tips to Shirley at YesBiscuit!)

And several people asked (rightfully) in the comments "what can we do?"

It's a great, and honest question.

It's great -- because these readers not only recognized that something needs to be done -- but also realized that sitting on the internet, complaining, wasn't going to solve the problem. You have to actually DO something to fix it.

But what?

If you live in Memphis, or any other city that has a failing animal control, and has not expressed a desire to fix it (or, in many cases, expressed a huge desire to keep it the same) you owe it to yourself to watch the video below.  The video is of a presentation given by Ryan Clinton of Fix Austin.  I wrote about this after listening to Ryan's presentation last year at the No Kill Conference -- now it's available to you in its entirety. For free. Take advantage of it.

 Six years ago, the shelter in Austin, TX had no foster programs, no off site adoptions, no desire to quit killing and a stated GOAL of saving 50% of the animals they've taken in. With the help of Ryan -- and a few other animal welfare advocates in Austin, they changed the perceptions in Austin - -and the shelter has now seen a 90%+ save rate for 5 consecutive months and a new shelter director with a history of no kill success. 

It was hard work. It was a struggle. It took fighting a whole lot of people with a lot more power and clout than they started with. It took overcoming a lot of barriers from people saying "it can't happen here".  And it is. The video is a little over an hour long -- but this presentation is the best resource I can think of for anyone facing a situation like Memphis (and there are many situations like it out there) that could use a change in attitude.

Many of the programs Clinton recommends work (we've been doing many of them in KC with equal success - our failures have come in the areas where we have fallen short with what he's talking about.)

So if you are at all serious about changing your shelter -- you owe it to yourself to watch.

Reforming Animal Control from Animal Ark/No Kill Advocacy Cent on Vimeo.

H/T to Animal Ark for posting the video.

Increasing the power to kill (and the story of a failing shelter)

In November, 2009, news began to trickle out about a horrifically abusive situation in the Memphis Animal Shelter.  The incident involved a puppy that was dropped off at the shelter on August 18.  A mere three weeks later, the puppy was starved to death at the shelter.

This wasn't the only problem at the Memphis shelter mind you. It was just a single story of that brought to life the story of a shelter that was failing on many levels -- including having an attrocious adoption rate.

The city of Memphis responded by firing the shelter directer -- and eventually hiring Matthew Pepper -- who also had a questionable track record of shelter management. 

In October of 2010, the city was still struggling with high impounds and a high kill rate -- with about 16,000 pets a year being killed at the shelter. So they passed a law that required all dogs and cats be altered. I noted at the time that it was doomed to fail, because, well, it always does -- but it was a particularly bad idea in Memphis.

See, most people spay/neuter their pets -- and for the ones that don't, they list price as the #1 factor why they don't. Memphis' problems are even worse, with over 25% of the population living below the poverty line.  Mandatory legislation in this case will do little except create a reason for more animals to be impounded -- and taken to a high-kill shelter. 

Meanwhile, the shelter is still failing. And over the last few weeks, Shirley over at Yesbiscuit! has done a phenomenal job of covering the shelter situation in Memphis.  Stories include a lot of visuals from the recently installed webcams and include visual footage of puppies being brought to the shelter and killed only a few days later -- having never even been put on petfinder, ACO's dragging dogs to the kill room on choke polls, failed pleas for help, dogs apparently lifted five feet in the air to be put in a kennel via their neck on a choke poll, cages being sprayed down with dogs in them, noting that 357 dogs died in their cages last year (a 40% increase) -- you get the idea -- all leaving Shirley with a lot of good, unanswered questions.

But today's post has a lot of numbers, even beyond the horrible anecdotal stories. 

Based on numbers she received from the shelter -- here are the Jan-April stats for 2010 and 2011:

MAS stats

Jan 2010/Feb 2010/Mar 2010/Apr 2010

Intake 877/996/1358/1290=4521

Adopt 133/165/142/109=549
Died 43/28/23/19=113
Euth 562/654/1083/1007=3306
Foster 4/1/4/22=31
Missing 2/0/20/57=79
RTO 50/55/95/96=296
Transfer 12/6/17/36=71

January – April 2010 rates:

Adopt 12%
Died 2%
Euth 73%
Foster less than 1%
Missing 2%
RTO 7%
Transfer 2%
———————————————————————-

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

January – April 2011 rates:

Adopt 12%
Died 1%
Euth 72%
Foster less than 1%
Missing (not reported for Feb, Mar or Apr)
RTO 6%
Transfer 5%

------

It should be noted, that Matthew Pepper has been talking about the improvements going on at the shelter -- because of their very modest 7% increase in adoptions this year vs the last.  It should also be noted that the shelter has had a 6% increase in euthanasia.

There are a lot of things I could highlight here:  a horrible 12% adoption rate, a worse 6% Return-to-owner rate, virtually no attempt to work with rescues with a mere 5% transfer rate, no use of foster homes, and more than 100 animals dying in their shelters.

But I want to also note the increase in impounds. 

In October of 2010, the city passed a law mandating spay/neuter -- a law that has almost always led to an increase in impounds. In the first four months of this year, vs 2010, had an 8% increase in impounds from 4521 to 4893.

This goes back further than just the first four months of this year. If you look at the shelter's 2010 anual report, on page 3, you'll note that for the first 9 months of 2010, the shelter intake numbers were pretty consistently lower than the year prior -- with impound levels below the previous year's impound levels in 7 of the 9 months (and the two higher months were barely higher). Then, in October, the number went from three consecutive months of lower impounds by 200-300 animals, to almost even numbers, and then higher impounds (by 200-300 animals) in November and December 2010 vs the year prior.  The numbers are virtually identical for euthanasia as well (slide 5). 

So, almost like a spicket that got turned on, as soon as the MSN got passed in October, the shelter went from lower intake to higher intake -- now going on 6 consecutive months.  And this is higher intake at a shelter that is killing over 70% of the animals it impounds.  A little math shows about 700-750 incremental animals that have been killed in Memphis (beyond the normal high kill rate) since the introduction of Mandatory Spay/Neuter just 6 months ago.

It's results like this that is the reason a growing number of organizations -- including the AVMA, ASPCA, Best Friends, American Humane, No Kill Advocacy Center and many other local, no kill organziations are opposed to Mandatory Spay/Neuter laws - because they increase impounds, and increase killing.

And it's a shame that so many people still support such laws, in spite of their documented failure.

Memphis' shelter is failing. So is their law. And it is time for the city to undergo an extensive overhaul of all of its animal services...and fix this mess.

And it's time for the few of your who are not on board yet with promoting low cost/voluntary low cost spay/neuter programs over mandatory ones to learn from the failures of others and get on the bus FOR voluntary programs and AGAINST mandatory ones. 

Memphis passes mandatory spay/neuter (and why it's doomed to fail)

Last week, the Memphis City Council passed a new law  requiring that all pets be spayed or neutered.  The bill exempts dogs used for law enforcement, animals registered with the AKC and Cat Fancier Associatoin, and those that based on a veterinarian's recommendation should not be altered for health reasons. It also allows owners who want to keep their animals intact to pay a one-time $200 fee to get a permit to do so.

After the meeting, the crowd was split on whether this was a good law or not - but many animal welfare advocates were excited with the new law because they felt like it would help control the 'pet overpopulation' problem that they say led to the killing of over 16,000 pets a year and called this a progressive solution to the problem.

It's not. The law is destined to fail like it has elsewhere, and may be even worse in Memphis.

Research consistently points out that one of the primary reasons people don't have their pets altered is because of cost. For low income pet owners, the cost of spay/neuter is cost prohibitive, and many are not aware of low cost spay/neuter options in their communities.

Unfortunately, Memphis has a huge problem with poverty -- with over 26% of the entire city population living below the poverty line -- and 12.5% living below 50% of the poverty line (both more than double the national average).  Tack on the city's unemployment rate of 11% (also well above the national average) and it seems reasonable to believe that cost is even more of a factor in Memphis than it would be elsewhere.

We know that there is demand for low-cost spay/neuter, and fortunately there is a low cost option in Memphis -- however, when a reader of this blog called the Mid South Spay/Neuter Service last week she was told it that if she made an appointment she would not be able to get a large male dog altered until October 20 and for a large female dog 'sometime in December'.   I'm not pointing this out criticize MSSNS, only to point out that there is already excess demand in the community for low cost spay/neuters than there are the resources to provide them.

Yesterday, I wrote about how we need to help people with low incomes to find ways to retain their pets -- and providing low cost spay/neuter is part of this. However, by creating a law to MAKE them do what we want (vs providing services to help them do it), we make it even harder for people who are struggling to keep their animals in the first place to keep their pets.

That recipe will lead to failure -- and more dogs and cats seized from homes and thus, dead in the shelter.

 As Donna wisely said in a blog post this summer, "To decrease euthanasia rates and curb irresponsible ownership, we need cost effective solutions to embrace the human-animal bond, rather than tear it down."

And as the animal welfare community continues to try to punish people into compliance, instead of HELPING them to do the right thing, we, as a community continue to tear down the human-animal bond, by ripping animals from homes from people who cannot afford to comply with the law.

The end result in Memphis is sadly predictable. Similar laws have led to increased killing in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Little Rock and even led to greater intake in Asheville, NC.  Because of these failings, Mandatory Spay/Neuter is not supported by the AVMA, ASPCA, Best Friends,  American Humane, or the No Kill Advocacy Center.

Voluntary spay/neuter efforts still work best. And helping people to be better pet owners is still better than trying to punish them into being better pet owners.

It's a shame the animals in Memphis will be the victims of yet another ill-advised law.

For more: Memphis: Killng 16,000 Pets a Year Isn't Enough - from YesBiscuit!