Watchdog Reveals Enforcement Abuses

"Serious concerns about enforcement abuses along with documentation of those abuses have been brought to the county’s attention for years. Unchecked the abuses have continued to escalate and have become accepted practice and part of a culture of abuse. Citizens suffer and animals needlessly lose their lives because fines, punishment, extortion and forced surrender teach nothing to us except that the enforcement practices at MCAS  (Multnomah County Animal Services, Portland Or) are excessive and totally out of proportion to the crime committed.

Here is the point:

When non-compliance occurs, you have failed.  It is not citizens who have failed. The best systems have very low failed compliance rates. Non-compliance means you have failed to implement a meaningful and effective corrective action. And you have particularly failed low income neighborhoods where you provide no resource information and have no outreaches at all.

Punishment, disproportionate fines, manipulated consent and killing companion animals are not meaningful corrective actions. Nor is lying to gain custody of an animal, a not uncommon practice MCAS that is particularly predatory towards minorities and low income citizens. It
is conduct tantamount to racial and low income profiling.

Summary: In 2000, a broad based citizens’ task force recommended
progressive changes consistent with this community’s values. Oswald
rejected them dismissing the public’s recommendations as information
he was free to ignore and he did. He stated it was not a “mandate” His
was the only “will’ that mattered. And by silent acquiescence that is
the county government’s view."


  Gail O’Connell-Babcock, PhD

  Citizens for Humane Animal Legislation/Watchdog

  Telephone: 503.625.4563