New horrific allegations surrounding the San Bernardino City animal shelter (Photos)

New horrific allegations surrounding the San Bernardino City animal shelter (All about the animals)

 

August 18, 2013

 

Ex-shelter worker comes forward with some serious allegations regarding the San Bernardino City animal shelter. This worker states that, “Dogs were hung by leashes” and that “animals were given a third of the required euthanization drugs and suffered a slow death.”

 

This worker goes on to say that, “animals were kicked and punched; animals were and are killed under the guise of being sick, when they were or are actually healthy and adoptable. At least one member of staff involved in this abuse is thought to be still working at the shelter.” This same worker also stated that, “the RVT had no license and had not a license in over 10 years!” 

 

Click here for link to photos and interview with source.

 

These are not the only allegations surrounding this shelter. On Saturday, May 11th, 2013, Maria Sanchez, an animal advocate, was at the shelter when a man surrendered a box of underage puppies (A446036). Per Facebook post, “After taking photos and video, she spoke with Ryan Long, the kennel supervisor, and told him she was going to network for a rescue for the pups. Ryan told Maria not to bother; that she would be wasting her time. That's when she learned of the new policy - and the deaths of the babies."

 

This new policy is being called the shelter’s “most callous” and “hateful move to date”. They go on to explain, “shelter supervisors’ have declared that they will no longer allow staff or volunteers to contact rescues to save underage puppies or kittens dumped at the shelter without their mothers. If a rescue is present at the time the babies are impounded the rescue can take them, but if no rescue is there the puppies or kittens will be taken to the back and immediately killed.” 

 

Animal advocates say that when they question this new policy that they are told it’s because there is no one to bottle feed these new babies, but there are tons of rescues and fosters that would bottle feed puppies if they were given the chance.

 

Another problem animal advocates are upset about is about animals that were not deemed aggressive by their former owners or by volunteers, but the shelter states that they are aggressive and uses that as an excuse to kill them. In addition, they are also killing animals before they are even available for rescue or adoption, thus eliminating any chance of them being rescued or adopted.

 

 For example, two dogs named Combat (ID#A446861) and Shakira (ID#A446862) were killed (PTS) on May 29, 2013 at 8:35 and 8:36 a.m., two days before their available date. Click here to see the video.

 

Other problems that have animal advocates very concerned are about the shelter’s uncleanliness and their problems with disease. These seem like things that would be easily corrected by properly cleaning and vaccinating animals as soon as they are brought into the shelter: both things they should be doing anyways. 

 

For instance, a photograph taken by another animal advocate shows a Saint Bernard that was brought in with no ticks and within 24 hours, the dog has ticks that are clearly visible on the photographs. In another picture, an animal advocate states, 

 

“You can see four Terrier puppies. They were placed in the same kennel that a puppy died from parvo in just hours earlier after the staff simply hosed it down with water.” Click here for video.

 

On Friday, June 21, 2013, a healthy puppy named Oliver was brought into the San Bernardino City animal shelter. Oliver was not given his vaccinations as required by law right when he was brought in. Instead, Oliver died of parvo four days after being adopted out from the shelter. The treating vet stated that Oliver would most likely still be alive had he been given the proper vaccinations as soon as he was brought into the shelter.

 

On Saturday, August 10, 2013, Sanchez released a video taken from the San Bernardino Shelter. The video is nothing less than heartbreaking, as it “shows an older female dog lying in her own urine dying as her mate frantically paces and shakes ... all while a kennel attendant, Bridget, was within a few feet away.”

 

 Sanchez stated that she had to plead with the kennel attendant to get her to look at the dog to see what was going on. She states the dog was later put to sleep (PTS – killed) and her “poor mate was left to grieve alone waiting to be rescued.” Click here to see this video. The dog's mate was found dead a few days later. Click here for that video.

 

These allegations are on top of so many others made against this same very shelter. Earlier this year, two Pit Bull Terriers arrived at the San Bernardino City animal shelter, one of them having a collar badly embedded in their neck. That poor dog was left that way and allowed to suffer for six long days until a volunteer took a video and put it on Youtube and that video quickly went viral. 

 

Another problem, made obvious in the report by the 2011 California Local Rabies Control Activities Annual Report, shows large numbers of cats and dogs dying in the San Bernardino City animal shelter from unknown causes and of animals missing. According to cdph.ca.gov, 1310 dogs died of other causes and 98 are listed as stolen, escaped, or unknown and 631 cats died of other causes and 241 were stolen, escaped, or unknown.

 

 How do you lose animals?

 

 How do so many disappear or die there without any explanation? 

 

To read another Examiner article on missing animals please click here.

 

Today, on August 18th, 2013, in an exclusive interview with Sanchez, she said she I met a Yorkie yesterday on August, 17, 2013, and that he “had huge swollen balls that looked like had an open sore. I asked both Francisco a kennel staff worker and Debi Shuker to look at him. They both said he had already been looked at and they put ointment on it. Debi claimed it was like that from him biting at it from flea allergies. He never saw a yet. 

 

Watch the video, the skin on the bottom looks necrotic.” Click here to watch the video she took. 

 

While she is unsure what exactly caused this, this same type of injury has been seen on dogs in other shelters also where it was caused by the kennel not being rinsed out properly after they use chemicals to clean the kennels out. In one shelter, a male dog had to be neutered because the chemicals had caused a huge infected wound on his testicles. While we are unsure if that is the case here, it would certainly explain it. 

 

These latest allegations have animal advocates everywhere in an uproar. One animal advocates states, “animals are not supposed to be abused in shelters or killed when they are adoptable and can be adopted or rescued, if the shelter would just give them the chance and not just kill them.” 

 

Sanchez along with other animal advocates are reporting all of these things constantly to everyone they can. They are begging for the public’s help in complaining about these problems and demanding that they are corrected. Please contact Chief Handy by emailing him at handy_ro@sbcity.org to demand these things change.

 

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