How Can Portlanders Continue to Tolerate Animal Cruelty By Their POUNDS?

On Sun, Mar 30, 2014 at 12:23 PM, gocbwatchdog@aol.com <gocbwatchdog@aol.com> wrote:

I have to write a coherent essay if I can today. I can't sleep and I can't find the language to express how shocking MCAS behavior in this incident has been, all of it was.

 

I have written before about Carla  Couperthwaite and her two dogs impounded at MCAS  (Multnomah County Animal Services Portland Oregon) since mid January taken on alleged neglect charges.

 But Carla who is a senior citizen living on $700 a month is poor and fell into a hard financial spot. She did the best she could and Jack really had only minor concerns: flea dermatitis and a mild ear infection The veterinarian estimated his age as 8. He is 12. Vincent at 14 had a severe ear infection that had not responded to treatment Carla could provide. No one told her of PAW Team.

 

She takes very good care of her dogs, I have known her a long time. They come before her needs.The neglect, such as there was for Vincent, was secondary to her increasing  poverty worse lately so she now qualifies for PAW Team. Jack is a Golden rottie; Vincent  is a rottie. It was wholly fixable without taking her dogs to prison and a hearing..  

 

Carla has been visiting Jack at MCAS since his impoundment in January ( Vincent was placed in foster care where she cannot see him) every day permitted. She was  going out to MCAS by bus and walking the rest of the way: allowed  only the restricted time any visitor is allowed, 15 minutes inside the kennel while monitored by a staff person.

Carla and her dogs are very bonded. When she had to leave, Jack would cry and try to follow her.  They did not allow her to walk him: no staff available was the excuse; hundreds of small humiliations but she went anyway.

Carla noted his depression to staff and concerns about his well being. They just put a sheet over his kennel to stop his barking at passer bys. He wanted to get out  .But not even exercise is allowed.So just stop him from seeing: make his world even smaller.

 

Last Wednesday  Jack collapsed in the kennel . MCAS took him to VCA NW for diagnostics. At first they forbade her information about him. That was reversed by legal intervention.

 

On Thursday I drove her out to see him at NW.. The diagnosis  concerned  some unidentified problem causing brain swelling and the prognosis was judged to be likely poor.

MCAS did not want to spend $1000 for an MRI given the likely  poor prognosis..The specialist said there was perhaps a 5% chance of something curable.

After spending  an hour with  him reluctantly Carla agreed to his euthanasia. For two months he had been kept in jail: no exercise, no outings to the park, no affection; just solitary confinement.  

I had driven Carla  out earlier to VCA to learn the findings and to be with him.. What a beautiful dog! His tail thumped  wildly when he saw her: a big headed Golden with curly fur and  Rottie markings and a huge smile when he saw her.

You could see the love between them and I saw no signs of severe neglect. He always slept on her bed when he was home .Her home is very tidy and well kept. The dogs slept in her bedroom with her. 

 

During the time she was with him at VCA Carla began to speak of suicide. Her dogs are her whole life. Her depression severe especially without them.  

 

I told her we would take Jack and arrange a private cremation at  Dignity Pets where she could spend all the rest of the time she needed to say good bye. Dignity Pets said they would stay open late, no after hours charge, given the circumstances. 

 

What happened next was unbelievable .

MCAS called and said a truck was on its way to claim Jack's body.

They wanted to take him from her even in death and they wanted a necropsy to exonerate themselves. Had they wanted to know what he had they should have conducted an MRI while he was alive and had a chance. 

So Jack's body was held hostage while Carla was so distraught  the staff at VCA and I were afraid  for her life, concerned if hospitalization should be considered .

 

It was 4 PM. I  called the Department of Community Services and  said no way. 

You are not doing  this.

Oswald told them when they called him to explain that it was so Carla could get a free cremation and learn what Jack had died from and wouldn't she like to know?.

But that was a disingenous lie. The lawyer told Reb they wanted a signed release from liability or they were keeping Jack's body.

So a negotiation occurred while we sat in the parking lot at VCA and the animal control truck was on its way ordered by Officer Michelle Luckey. MCAS said they would only release Jack's body to Carla if she agreed to sign away her rights to sue them over his death.

So Carla signed. It was the only way to get Jack back.

I said never mind we have Jack and it was signed  under duress. I know he died of a broken heart. I know he had only minor problems: a bit of flea dermatitis and a mild ear infection when he went into MCAS under their "prison" care,

It was stated in the record. Jack died of a condition they never noticed until it was too late caused or exacerbated by their neglect.

They never pay attention and hold dogs in appalling social isolation and no or minimal care.

That's it. No exercise, no happy talk, just pacing back and forth in an isolated cell day after day after day: a tidy maximum security prison camp where animals are regarded as disposable nuisances, pests and potential liabilities.

 

All they cared about when Jack died was how to hold onto his body to get out from under any potential liability lawsuit. If Carla died of grief and so did Jack, who cares. They only cared about skipping out.

 

I have no words to express how anguishing this has been; how Carla now can barely make it through each day, I call every night to make sure she is alive  and how sinful and evil they are.

The hearing has been postponed to April 8 but Jack is dead and Vincent kept away in foster care with a foster whose behavior, another subject, is hugely inappropriate and insensitive.

 

How can this ever be stopped?

This is life at MCAS behind closed doors, day after day, the gulag, the jack booted Nazis, the cold hearts, the hurt,  and the harm done, the lies told, the betrayal of trust, and no one who could do something about this, no one with power or authority, who sees or cares.

 

Gail

 

Hold Shelters Accountable

From: Scott Bartlett [mailto:wascobar@efn.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 8:34 AM
To: 'Beverly Trover'; board@green-hill.org; director@greenhill.org; 'carey.li'; 'boardpresident'; lchsac@co.lane.or.us; mayorcouncilandcitymanager@ci.eugene.or.us; Pat.FARR@co.lane.or.us; Pete.Sorenson@co.lane.or.us; Faye.Stewart@co.lane.or.us; Sid.Leiken@co.lane.or.us; Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us
Cc: billlundun@bicoastalmedia.com; editor@eugeneweekly.com
Subject: RE: Greenhill Humane Society REFUSING to release VERY friendly, nice, Rottweiler to highly qualified Rottweiler Rescue -

If these accounts have validity and there are rescuers ready, willing and able to take on these dogs, then I am becoming increasingly disappointed with Greenhill and concerned that something seriously amiss is going on out there.

 Why is there this upsurge in euthanasia? And why has Greenhill eliminated the successful and considerate policy of LCAS to issue “Red Alerts” which indicated that unless adopters and rescuers were to step up, a euthanasia is imminent or increasingly likely? That “Red Alert” policy gave these rescue operations notice that they could rally to save these dogs. Now Greenhill says they do not wish to issue these because they will be bad for ‘public relations’? This is troubling.

I rarely weigh in and comment on these matters, but this is beginning to appear as if there is potential malfeasance and neglect. If that is the case, it is unacceptable.

NOTE:    Scott is part of the lchsac@co.lane.or.us list.  He sits on the Animal Services Advisory Committee for the County.  He is one of the two or three good guys on that committee. 

Shelters will keep moving the bar and not publish their criteria for Rescues, when one hurdle is met, another is presented, until finally they sadly say that no rescue could be found so better dead than rescued...

Eugene, Oregon Vigil at Animal POUND To Save Lives & Promote Awareness

No animals are safe in Greenhill's "care". 

Join us to Free Rhett and many other animals kept captive by Greenhill's arrogance and idiotic temperament testing.  We will be parking next to Office Depot in the spaces along Chad Drive, Eugene.   Saturday Feb 22nd, beginning at 11 am.

https://www.facebook.com/events/285163181635213/

Help make animal lovers aware that their contributions are used to kill dogs, not find them new homes!

Animal Lovers Guard your Resource$$$$$$$$

Shelters Use Absurd Dog/Cat Aggression Tests, Your Dog Would Also Fail!

TO ALL INVOLVED WITH GREENHILL HUMANE SOCIETY AND FIRST STREET SHELTER and those who should be monitoring what goes on at these shelters:

Sadly, this group, which is a non-profit (Greenhill Humane Society and First Street Shelter), but under contract to the cities of Eugene and Springfield, Oregon and Lane County, Oregon, is using absurd behavior testing and dooming a dog called Rhett, to possible euthanasia because he is deemed aggressive.  This apparently is not the first dog to be lethally labeled by such testing at this shelter.  

They throw a stuffed dog or cat toy to the dog and because he shakes it and pulls the stuffing out, he is labeled as dangerous and can only go to a rescue that has an IN-HOUSE animal behaviorist/trainer.  My dogs whips his toys back and forth in his mouth, pulls out the stuffing and he would not hurt a flea!  This is normal play.  Very few rescues have the financial resources to have a fulltime animal trainer or behaviorist on staff.

One of the best Rottweiler rescues in the country, Happy Tails Rottweiler rescue, out of Goldendale, Washington, has offered to take Rhett, but was eliminated for not having an in-house trainer (they have one on call) and for having "too many other dogs." (No evidence given that Rhett is dog aggressive or doesn't do well with other dogs.) 

When many of us who know and support Happy Tails for the excellent work they do called First Street/Greenhill animal shelter in support of this being a wonderful option for Rhett, the calls were deemed "harassment" and Happy Tails was eliminated as a possible resource to take Rhett.  Now the shelter refuses to answer questions, does not answer phone calls - but apparently has no other appropriate rescue for this dog. 

When I read this posting on Facebook, I see another nice dog named Otis, awaits the same fate!   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Rhett/1456320297918278   

The word is now out that Greenhill and First Street Shelter have a high kill rate but will not answer any questions or release information on the dogs they have and what becomes of them.

I urge you to look in to this matter.  Since Greenhill is under contract with the cities of Eugene, Springfield and Lane County, I would think their operations should be completely open to the public, since they are funded, via contract, by taxpayer dollars. 

Thank you.  It is time for animal shelters to live up to the concept of "shelter" and rehabilitation, not mislabel and kill.

Sincerely,

Beverly Trover

Portland, Oregon

FREE RHETT - Animal Lovers Please Guard Your Resource$$$$$$$$$ To Save Lives

https://www.facebook.com/notes/save-rhett/urgent-greenhill-in-humane-society-refus
ing-to-release-very-friendly-nice-rottwe/1456331357917172

Hello fellow animal lovers:

Sadly, this group, which is a non-profit (Greenhill Humane Society and First
Street Shelter), but under contract to the cities of Eugene and Springfield,
Oregon and Lane County, Oregon, is using absurd behavior testing and dooming this
dog, Rhett, to possible euthanasia because he is deemed aggressive.

This apparently is not the first dog to be lethally labeled by such testing. They
throw a stuffed dog or cat toy to the dog and because he shakes it and pulls the
stuffing out, he is labeled as dangerous and can only go to a rescue that has an
IN-HOUSE animal behaviorist/trainer. My dogs whips his toys back and forth in his
mouth, pulls out the stuffing and he would not hurt a flea!

One of the best Rottweiler rescues in the country, Happy Tails Rottweiler rescue,
has offered to take Rhett, but was eliminated for not having an in-house trainer
(they have one on call) and for having "too many other dogs." (No evidence given
that Rhett is dog aggressive or doesn't do well with other dogs.)

When many of us who know and support Happy Tails for the excellent work they do
called First Street/Greenhill animal shelter in support of this being a wonderful
option for Rhett, the calls were deemed "harassment" and Happy Tails was
eliminated as a possible resource to take Rhett. Now the shelter refuses to
answer questions, does not answer phone calls - but apparently has no other
appropriate rescue for this dog.

Here is info on Rhett: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Rhett/1456320297918278


Please voice your concern; email: board@green-hill.org ;
<director@greenhill.org>; carey.li <carey.li@greenhill.org>; boardpresident
<boardpresident@greenhill.org>

Call: First Avenue Shelter
3970 W. 1st Avenue
Eugene, Or 97402
(541) 844-1777

Thank you. It is time for animal shelters to live up to the concept of "shelter"
and rehabilitation.

~ Bev

Wolf Rescue Letter To Portland Oregon

On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 3:36 PM, Lake Tahoe Wolf Rescue, NV <pamelajowolflady@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Marissa Madrigal, Liesel Wendt, Loretta Smith, Judy Shiprack, and Diane McKeel,

 

Many of us in Rescue do not understand why MCAS refuses to take responsibility for being humane caretakers of their dogs and are not responding to calls or emails from recognized Rescues and behaviorists.

 

 Responsible Rescues and Sanctuaries have offered to take Mozart but they are being stonewalled. Mozart is being kept locked up with no exercise nor enrichment of any kind. He has become ill due to the poor care and lack of exercise and will only continue to deteriorate further both emotionally and physically. He does not understand why he has been abandoned to this horrible treatment. 

 

This is cruel and inhumane and the deed does not warrant the punishment. I feel that MCAS needs to be scrutinized carefully by their superiors and those in power about their methods and protocols.

 

I was surprised to see that you are all women, and am hoping that from a woman's standpoint you will show compassion and strength and act on Mozart's behalf. As a Canine Behaviorist I have worked with many dogs that have bitten only to rehabilitate them and find them safe sanctuary.

 

This is not brain surgery!

 

This boy needs to be transported to a secure Rescue or Sanctuary where he can be trained and rehabilitated. It is the human that that doesn't understand how canines think or behave that often condemns these animals to a lifetime of sadness, pain and terror - and often death. Please don't allow MCAS to condemn Mozart this way and do the right thing. I'm sure you would not allow this treatment if it was your own dog or cat.

 

Thanks you for your consideration and action!

 

Sincerely,

 

Pamela Jo - Executive Director

Lake Tahoe Wolf Rescue - NV

Phone (775) 833-2066

http://www.laketahoewolfrescue.com/

Until One Has Loved an Animal

A Part of One's Soul Remains Unawakened

Portland Shelter Animals Misevaluated

To: Michael Oswald 

      John Rowton

      Multnomah County Commission

CC: Kim Peoples

CC: David Blankfeld, County Counsel

CC: Robert Babcock, Attorney for James Herbold

Sirs:

Neither Mr. Rowton nor Mr. Oswald have responded to or acknowledged Mr Herbold's request for humane options for Mozart. Nor have they acknowledged our identified rehabilitation plans for Mozart after WAMAL's failed due diligence in its poor placement ( a 10 day thoughtless adoption) of Mozart.

Instead on page 18 of the current records ( attached)  we see WAMAL's efforts to bury their mistakes, efforts seconded by MCAS kennel care technician Stephanie Collingsworth's "evaluation" and MCAS management.

First, Ms, Collingsworth is not a behaviorist and is not qualifed to make the judgments she has made.

Secondly. WAMAL is contested as the owner and their behavior: conflicting reports, false and highly misleading statements and disingenousness would give any one pause.

I will address each of the misleading comments WAMAL provides for requesting and agreeing with euthanasia of a dog they hardly knew. Let me remind you that their evaluation of Mozart involved, according to Mr. Herbold, a 45 minute "viewing" of him from a distance ( as one might view a herd of wild elephants or water buffalo).

• " Bite to new owner who was an experienced Malamute owner with three previous Malamutes over the past years. New owners were in their 50's and 60's with no kids or other pets":.Owning three Malamutes over the years hardly qualifies one to own another Malamute. That is not the standard. Each dog is an individual. What WAMAL did not report was that the female owner was partially deaf  -- meaning she could not hear growls or perceive normal warning signs of animal discomfort. In the WAMAL ads ( I will forward them to you) , it clearly notes Mozart, like many malamutes and other similarly assertive breeds, does not like being patted on the head ( commonplace)  and is food protective ( correctable; not a death sentence).
•  
•  The new owners ignored all cautionary statements. The  bite incident occurred on the second pat to the head by the partially deaf female partner who ignored explicit cautions noted even in the adoption advertisement. One cannot cure failure to abide by instructions. It was her failing as an owner. The owner should be smarter than the dog. The owner was bitten on the hand on the second pat. Surprisingly there is no picture of the bite at all. Why not?

• "Assessment at the shelter by Luana who is a long time- volunteer for CAMEO who is the Oregon affiliate for WAMAl" How is that a qualification: friends of friends? No one with any credentials offers a :"shelter" evaluation by a rescue as a qualification.Luana has no credentials. Mozart has been confined to small space without exercise for a month now.No fair evaluation is possible.

•  " Assessment at the shelter by Stephanie Collingsworth, CPDT-KA Behavior and Training" Ms. Collinsworth is a kennel care technician. CPDT-KA is a certificate in dog training in private settings. It does not qualify one to conduct shelter assessments.

• "Case review by Christopher Pachel,DVM, DACVB, Animal Behavior Clinic, Animal Behavior Clinic 809 SE Powell Blvd, Porland, Oregon,97202." What records did Dr. Pachel review? Did he interview James Herbold, a normal expectation? Was he informed of a rehabilitation rescue plan? I have requested the report.

• "New conversations with James outlined below that says ( sic) had several previous human bites that were not disclosed ot WAMAL during our home assessment [the 45 minute vigil] or on his signed Owner Listing document."' Provide the documentation: quarantine notices, dates, persons, times.  Mr. Herbold vehemently denies the allegation.

WAMAL indicates" As you know, we have been contacted by other groups interested in Mozart..."  Indeed several qualified groups interested in helping Mozart have contacted WAMAL including one of WAMAL's own partners. WAMAL has not responded or, at best, responded dismissively as in the case of Thunder ridge Rescue, an MCAS  long term qualified rehabilitation rescue partner stating without ever speaking to the rescue director that Thunder ridge "didn't know malamutes" but then never called the rescue. Thunder ridge knows dogs, all breeds.

WAMAL will have to provide their  evidence of the reported "horrible conditions" at Songdog. That is a patently false statement that could easily be considered libelous and prosecutable  Songdog is a reputable  501(C)3 with multiple recommendations from shelters and rescues. Most dogs are in foster care. What sort of "evidence" does Ms. Bailey think having 67 dogs listed on Petfinders means?

 It certainly is not evidence that the dogs are overcrowded.  One documented incident several years ago involved a caretaker who was successfully criminally prosecuted by the rescue, the responsible action. Ms. Bailey is no research or fact finding expert. That is slander,easily construed as an aggressive efforr to interfere with and damage a rescue's work. When I asked for documentation Ms. Bailey provided none, an indictment of WAMAL.

This case will not be resolved behind MCAS's and WAMAL's closed doors. It is an appalling example of rescue malfeasance and government collusion .

Gail O'Connell-Babcock, PhD

Citizens for Humane Animal Legislation/Watchdog

Sherwood OR 97140

Telephone: 503.625.4563

Brief background

.Mozart's owner James Byrd Herbold of Byrd Guitars ( He has a guitar website;so does Kelly Herbold his ex wife, ceramics, sells Mozart tiles for $18 each)  was in an accident and became crippled and went on disablity. His life changed in a terrible way. He asked Washington Malamute Rescue League to help find Mozart a new home. They did a careless adoption and although the new owners were told not to pat him on the head, the partially deaf partner ignored the caution and the second time she did Mozart bit her hand. It was not a catastrophic bite; a few stitches, back to work that day. No picture of the bite . 

 

The 10 day owner signed Mozart over to be killed on November 29. Then he said it was up to WAMAL. WAMAL I don't think wanted him to leave alive .They knew but never contacted MCAS until we contacted them 2 days before the MCAS scheduled euthanasia date.We put together a rescue proposal; the long term owner Herbold wants a humane option: that he to go to rescue ; he does not want him to be killed, he loves his dog and feels betrayed by WAMAL. Mozart still remains in limbo. I have no idea where MCAS stands and what games or cards they are playing but ownership is legally disputed. 

 

Mozart is on U Tube too. Vibrant videos . Just google Mozart the malamute Kirkland WA and multiple videos come up.

 

WAMAL's adoption fee was $300. No screening (no home visit with this dog etc; WAMAL just came and stood 12 feet away and watched Mozart according to owner as the eval). That is an irresponsible rescue not an irresponsible dog. There was no due diligence.

 

Gail O'Connell- Babcock, PhD

Watchdog/Citizens for Humane Animal Legislation

Telephone 503.625.4563

Why We Won't Adopt Animals To Multnomah County (Portland Or area)

To: Michael Oswald

To: John Rowton

To: Kim Peoples

 

What interventions do you plan to put in place so this tragic but not uncommon event does not occur again ( and I use the term tragic  its full sense:  meaning caring so little for a dog with wholly correctable problems that on surrender without informing or telling the owner, you obviously planned all along to kill him in three days)

 

MCAS knows well that Thunder ridge rescue and a few others take and "rehabilitate" MCAS dogs labeled" unadoptable" often accomplishing that goal within 24 hours because the dogs were only reacting to a stressful agency environment.. Ample documentation  is available that MCAS dogs deemed "unadoptable";  are often wholly and inaccurately mis classified.

 

There was no compelling reason to kill Teddy. Teddy had no bite history, a history of reactivity on leash, good with family, wary of strangers, terrified at MCAS ( a quite common experience for most dogs). When MCAS  took him into the agency his family was told be might be euthanized as all dogs might .

 

Three days and no effort to calm or seek options reveals the agency's real intention. Whi is going to know?  Ms. Collingsworth had him killed in 3 days with no effort to find resources at all. Ms. Collingsworth knows of options. But misdeeds are rationalized away at MCAS not corrected so they happen again and again. 

 

Above are the options for leash reactive dogs; not an uncommon problem, and a caution about over classification baaed upon minimal data  from a legitimate credentialed behavior specialist lableing, making, Teddy treatable but dead anyway.

.

The community and  frightened homeless pay a heavy price; the animals,pay with their lives, for government absent standards and cursory indifference.

 

Teddy had nothing compelling in his  history that required death as an only option. He never even had training. False and/or incorrect diagnostic and prognostic assignations are an alarming problem at MCAS (and I will be bringing them up with Maddie's Fund and other groups that rely on the Asilomar Accords):

 

MCAS has:

 

• A mission that claims to protect pets but policies contrary to that mission: MCAS  is run  more like an animal processing plant. The statement made to me by a senior staff person that the goal of temperament testing was "To decide which ones to kill" confirms the view that MCAS abuses the purpose of temperament testing.
• No checks and balances: Usually just one  kennel care technician/ staff person does a 15 minute non-standardized "test" on an often distressed or injured or ill dog ( all confounding stressors that preclude temperament testing), then decides if an animal lives or dies.
•  
•  Any collaboration " is  cursory or collegial, a form of predetermined agreement (Did you see that? Oh I did too!. It is not independent) No baseline systematic behavior data collection records are kept any more. MCAS ended all transparency when it removed all the standard data collection behavior forms,making them optional, up to staff. Records that elsewhere are retained as part of accountability are eliminated or destroyed at MCAS. Final cursory impressions are recorded and sometimes not. 
•  
• Sometimes the entry is just BA completed or private code" Multiple Tier 2 behaviors: ER)MCAS is a public agency not a private club. Ms. Collingsworth is not the only person that has dispensed with behavior assessment forms altogether, just the most frequently inclined, an unusual privilege extended to employees at a publicly funded agency. Now one just records one's beliefs in one's head. 
•  
• Clearly that makes review impossible and reduces diagnoses and prognoses to magical thinking . It has also led to what one might anticipate and expect: deterioration in assessment quality that again effectively costs animals their lives. Here is the record for part of an "assessment" of a dog that was bleeding from an abscess,( the dog was "tested" before going for medical care when pain is a recognized  stressor that confounds temperament evaluation; medical care should precede temperament testing but att MCAS the order is almost always reversed):" Nice girl! Stinks like a dog who spends a lot of time outside!!" 
•  
•  I use that to note over generalization from limited data ( overgeneralization from limited data is common) and it also has no place in a temperament testing evaluation. It is just personal/prejudicial about the owner. Perhaps the odor came from the abscess not owner life style. 
• No oversight, no review, and rationalizations of poor decisions that cost animal their lives instead of corrective actions that change the future.

Many homeless animals have been misdiagnosed as "unadoptable" at MCAS. The evidence is that they recover as soon as they leave. MCAS does not follow "Open Paw" shelter  missions as advertised. 

 

A few Open Paw programs are adopted but not Open Paw philosophy. The overall policy and programs at MCAS deliberately create significant stress causing healthy animals to deteriorate in kennels where they are left day after day. Mr. Oswald's excessive unnessary zealous pursuit of "public safety"concerns far beyond ehat is needed generate the hostile prison like stress environment in which homeless animals are kept. Previous directors did not have these policies and there was no increase in public danger.

 

Intake doors are closed to the public and many staff are excluded creating a locked prison; many capable staff , once allowed to socialize with animals are specifically prohibited from interacting with the animals. 

 

They should be; animals are very often not permitted "potty walks", exercise, games, play or social engagement out of misplaced "public safety concerns." Every shelter worker should know how to engage a scared or timid dog or just don't work in sheltering. Terms in records referring to a homeless animals as "inmates" or "prisoner" property confirm the prison not shelter model adopted by the county.

 

• Unhealthy/untreatable, a preferred MCAS designation used to misclassify many killed animals: It is clear from records review that this term is used when nothing about the animal suggests "unhealthy/untreatable" i.e a young cocker spaniel who did very well at the intake veterinarian; and at the agency  but Ms. Collingsworth ordered him killed because she believed his reaction to one dog  gender in one  leash encounter  made him "unhealthy/untreatable at least 50% of the time ( assuming 50% percent of the world is the other gender: an ideal projection) Personal reactivity, impatience, whim, not responsible professional engagement guides many of these decisions.

I am sorry Teddy was killed, anguished really because his life had a value and no one cared. 

 

Having found options for little cattle dogs and others like him before it is very distressing.Working dogs need training and work .He deserved a careful review, a second chance, instead he was treated like disposable refuse. He is not "unhealthy/untreatable"  an agency preferred designation for every dog that doesn't go to rescue or adoptions.  It is a neat way to dispose of animals, take no responsibility while claiming awards.

 

The entire process of assessment must be independently reviewed as well as the current frankly cruel prohibitions on activities critical to support the mental health of animals. You are creating the distress you label.

 

The solution isn't just to care enough to alert rescues that might help. It is to create a healthful emotional social environment for stray animals, not a prison, so they aren't distressed and misclassified to begin with and to reach out into the community. As an example recently one 20 pound 8 month old dog was kenneled without exercise or companionship for 75 days labeled "severely undersocialized". 

 

Deprived of appropriate engagement, kept in solitary, his stress increased, No rescue would take him. No effort was made to reduce his stress ( public safety concerns). A rescue finally took a chance on him when the rest had declined. Within 24 hours of exit, he was playing with other dogs, walking on leash, soliciting attention from people and dogs, going to dog day care where he is very popular and if anything likes to party too much ( after midnight he still solicits play, maybe making up for lost time).

 

Improper diagnosis/prognosis and MCAS exaggerated misplaced public safety policies serve  only to aggressively increase not reduce shelter stress  and cost animals deserving a second chance their lives. Rescues can do nothing to correct this. That is an agency problem; not a dog problem. And it has to change. MCAS has to become an open shelter.

 

 

Gail O'Connell-Babcock

Telephone: 503.625.4563

 

---Original Message-----
From: John ROWTON <john.m.rowton@multco.us>
To: gocbwatchdog <gocbwatchdog@aol.com>
Cc: Jill Cameron <thunderidge@gmail.com>
Sent: Thu, Nov 7, 2013 5:35 am
Subject: Re: Teddy: MCAS 553515: status and options

Hi Gail

He was euthanized November 4th.

John M. Rowton

Shelter Manager

Practice active listening..

An Open Paw Shelter

An AAHA accredited Veterinary Hospital

www.MultcoPets.org

john.m.rowton@multco.us

503 988 7387 x 25247

Potentially Dangerous Dog Signs

This is the absurd sign that must be posted on homes where Multnomah County Animal Services has deemed the dog of the house to be potentially dangerous.  How many dogs with red eyes have you ever seen?

Why is the dog black?

Bite statistics favor the tiny dog terrorists as being those most apt to bite, none of which are black.

The truly ludicrous real life scenario will often show a normal, large, black family dog surrounding by kids, playing with other neighborhood children, blissfully unaware that he/she is potentially dangerous.

Potentially dangerous?  Every dog is potentially dangerous if you consider their sharp teeth, every human is also potentially dangerous, considering the flawed thought process that created this image and enforces it's requirements with your Multnomah County (Portland, Or) taxes and public contributions.

Perhaps we should have PDH, Potentially Dangerous Human signs to be posted where appropriate?  Graphics anyone?

SB6 The Warrantless Search Issue