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(US OH) Dog Pound workers armed with license to kill; animal abuse evident



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 11th 04, 05:32 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default (US OH) Dog Pound workers armed with license to kill; animal abuse evident

This is outrageous!

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?I...&userID=129612




Sunday, July 11, 2004 By MELISSA GRIFFY Repository staff writer

Repository / Scott Heckel
WAITING. Dogs face death at the Stark County Dog Pound unless they are
adopted within 72 hours of their arrival. Some dogs don't have that
long; county records show some dogs are put down before three days.







CANTON - The anticipation was almost more than Virginia Corning could
bear.

Sitting in a car for more than three hours, she wrapped her hands
around a photo of the chow-mix that would take the place of her Dingo,
a member of her family for 10 years whose name still plays on her home
answering machine.

Corning called the Stark County Dog Pound before leaving her Pittsburgh
home on a February morning. She and her husband, Michael, wanted to
ensure the new family pet would be there when they arrived.

But Corning's heart sank when she entered the pound at 1801 Mahoning
Rd. NE. The dog she'd planned to name Daisy was not in the cage she
was supposed to be in. A young lab-mix stood in her place.

Daisy was dead.

More than half the dogs impounded by the county meet Daisy's fate on
any given day. Last year, nearly 1,600 dogs, or at least 60 percent,
brought into the pound were euthanized, according to county figures.

Since 1990, nearly 30,000 dogs, or at least 70 percent, of those
impounded have been killed.

County officials say that's what goes on at a dog pound - the
philosophy is "round them up and kill them," said Marsha
Cimadevilla, personnel manager at the Stark County commissioners'
office, which oversees the pound.

Cimadevilla is one of two interviewing the replacement for Dog Warden
Jeff Wright, who is heading for the same job in Summit County.

Some hope the county will change its philosophy with its new hire.

They say healthy dogs that could be adopted get no chance.


'It's a slaughterhouse'

Jeanette Morris and Heather Rooney visit the pound at least once a
week.

They say they often find dogs with no food or water, and with feces in
their dishes. The smell of urine is pervasive.

A trip to the pound by The Repository revealed the same. Only two of
every 10 dogs had water in their bowls; while up to four employees
gathered in an air-conditioned office nearby.

Rooney started the Daisy Dog Rescue Web site in December when she and
Morris realized getting the dogs public exposure is often the only way
to save their lives.

The pound is a county-run facility and does little to advertise the
dogs. Ohio law only requires it keep a stray dog for 72 hours. After
that, it can euthanize the dog, sell it to a nonprofit research
facility or donate it to a nonprofit agency that trains service dogs.

Most are euthanized, said Rooney, who tracks when dogs enter and leave
the pound.

County records confirm her findings.

Dogs that bite are put down despite a state law that says it should be
quarantined for 10 days to observe the dog for rabies.

A few of those put down earlier include a pit bull that was destroyed
Nov. 19, 2002, the same day it entered the pound; a golden retriever
also was destroyed that day. A pit bull puppy was destroyed the same
day it entered the pound on Nov. 20, 2002.

The practice continued last year. On Dec. 27, a collie that was noted
as a biter was killed the same day it came in.

Sometimes, no reason is recorded for a dog's death. A dog described
as a "mix" and a pit bull were destroyed Dec. 19, the same day they
entered the pound. A Rottweiler and another dog also described simply
as a "mix" were destroyed upon entering the pound Nov. 25. The
Repository also found four puppies described as "mix" were
destroyed when they entered the pound April 2.

"It makes no sense why some are put down so quickly," said Rooney,
who volunteered at shelters in the Columbus area before moving to
Canton.

Morris of Osnaburg Township began working with Rooney after she tried
to rescue a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua from the pound. She arrived to
discover the two small dogs - an average of 2 to 7 pounds - had
been euthanized for cage space.

Wright hasn't been available for comment recently. He starts a new
job as Summit County's dog warden this month.

But employees say the Stark pound has no set day it euthanizes dogs.
Three days, or, until their cage space is needed - whichever comes
first.

At least two mass kills took place at the pound this year, according to
county records. On March 16, 15 dogs, including a Sharpei, a chow-mix
and an Australian shepherd, were destroyed, but only three dogs
replaced them in their cages. On Feb. 20, 11 dogs were put down but
five of those cages were filled.

"Some deaths are needless," Rooney said. "It's a
slaughterhouse. Once they are there, it's just like death row."


No room at the county inn

Wright became dog warden with no experience.

The county has a written job description that requires two years
experience as a chief deputy dog warden, but Wright had none. Before he
was put in charge of the pound in 2001, he worked mall and
amusement-park security, and listed no experience in any animal control
position.

"We didn't know that was important," said Commissioner Jane
Vignos. "He has a couple of dogs."

She said the county is looking for administration experience in the
nexxt dog warden; experience working with animals is secondary.

"The dog warden's job is to get dogs off the street," Vignos
said.

Some of it comes down to funding, she said. "We are an agency
designed to only keep animals for a period of time," Vignos said.

Wright echoed Vignos' comments.

"Primarily, my job is to pick up the strays," Wright said earlier
in response to criticism by rescue groups such as Daisy Dog Rescue.

He said he's tried to advertise the dogs; he has a laptop and digital
camera in his office. But "we don't have the staff to do it."

Neighboring Carroll County started advertising dogs on the Internet and
has been successful, said Carroll County Commissioner Bob Herron. The
pound has a full-time staff of two.

Wright's staff includes six full-time deputies, a poundskeeper and a
dispatcher, and his budget - derived from license fees - runs about
$600,000 a year.

Carroll County's budget is little more than $86,600, Herron said.

Wayne County has no pound. Its dog warden, Robert Fischer, said the
county contracts with the local Humane Society to take the 40 to 50
dogs it impounds monthly. Wayne County gives the Humane Society $80,000
a year to operate.

Tuscarawas County, which brings in twice as many dogs as Wayne County,
operates with less than $180,000 a year. The county impounds nearly
1,200 dogs; and euthanizes fewer than half, about 500 dogs.

Wright's new employer, Summit County, has a budget similar to
Stark's - just more than $600,000, said Craig Stanley, Summit
County's director of facilities. Last year, it impounded 1,600 more
animals than Stark did - 2,316 dogs and 1,869 cats. It euthanized
just less than 2,900 animals last year.

"We are euthanizing a lot more animals than we'd like to,"
Stanley said. "But ... we cannot keep stacking these animals on top
of each other."

Stanley said the pound contacts rescue groups on a continual basis; but
they are full, too.


Call for change

Lynda Marshall, a volunteer with Second Chance for Animals, wants to
see changes at the Stark pound.

"It's really sad and pathetic down there," Marshall said.

A hose, which she likens to a high-pressure fire hose, is used to clean
cages - the animals are not removed.

"They are left there dripping wet," Marshall said. "It is
pathetic."

Marshall also wonders why the pound refuses to let volunteers help.

She says no one answers the phone on Saturdays - the day most looking
to adopt would make a trip to the pound.

Plus, pound workers have turned people away when it is after 4 p.m.,
Marshall said.

"In the back of our minds we are always thinking we have to get to a
dog Saturday or it is going to get killed Monday," she said.

Martha Ickes, a volunteer for animal rescue group Diamonds in the Ruff,
said she was banned from the pound altogether.

She went to the pound every Saturday for five years before Wright
became dog warden. Then Wright refused to allow her in.

Why is unclear. Vignos said she thinks there may have been complaints
about the number of dogs Ickes housed.

"There were circumstances there that made us question (her),"
Vignos said, but she couldn't elaborate.

Even though Wright left, Ickes said she probably won't step foot into
the dog pound again. "And that's really sad," she said.

Much like Ickes, Corning finds the situation at Stark's pound a sad
one.

She and her husband have since adopted a chow-mix named Emma, but "I
often think of Daisy," Corning said. "She had such a sweet, sweet
face."

Corning doesn't regret the trip she and her husband made to Canton
that day - her only regret is she arrived too late.

You can reach Repository writer Melissa Griffy at (330) 580-8318 or
e-mail:




(subscription)
~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~ ~*+*~~~

Doctors who speak out in favour of vivisection do not deserve any
recognition in society, all the more so since their brutality is
apparent not only during such experiments, but also in their practical
medical lives. They are mostly men who stop at nothing in order to
satisfy their ruthless and unfeeling lust for honours and gain.
--Dr. med. Hugo Knecht, Ear, Nose, Throat and Chest Specialist, Linz,
October 5, 1909
/\ /\
' .'


  #2  
Old July 11th 04, 05:50 PM
Karen Chuplis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

That is just a plain disgrace. Euthanasia or not, it sounds remarkably ill
run and the people there sound like lazy trash!!! I hope somebody rallies
around in the city to do something about it. If they would even HOPE to
rehome any animal, it needs to be kept neat and the dogs taken care of. That
is just sad. Animal experience or no, it sounds to me like they have a CRAP
manager in charge. And that is truly suspicious about no volunteers. Someone
needs to be booted out, probably several somebodies.

  #3  
Old July 11th 04, 05:50 PM
Karen Chuplis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

That is just a plain disgrace. Euthanasia or not, it sounds remarkably ill
run and the people there sound like lazy trash!!! I hope somebody rallies
around in the city to do something about it. If they would even HOPE to
rehome any animal, it needs to be kept neat and the dogs taken care of. That
is just sad. Animal experience or no, it sounds to me like they have a CRAP
manager in charge. And that is truly suspicious about no volunteers. Someone
needs to be booted out, probably several somebodies.

  #4  
Old July 11th 04, 06:36 PM
Sherry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

That is just a plain disgrace. Euthanasia or not, it sounds remarkably ill
run and the people there sound like lazy trash!!! I hope somebody rallies


It's a disgrace, but it's not an isolate incident. There are others just as
bad. You can bet on that. Sorry to sound so cynical but it's true.

Sherry
  #5  
Old July 11th 04, 06:36 PM
Sherry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

That is just a plain disgrace. Euthanasia or not, it sounds remarkably ill
run and the people there sound like lazy trash!!! I hope somebody rallies


It's a disgrace, but it's not an isolate incident. There are others just as
bad. You can bet on that. Sorry to sound so cynical but it's true.

Sherry
  #6  
Old July 12th 04, 12:10 AM
JoJo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

They recently passed a law here, I'm not sure if it's for my county or for
the state, but all animal control places (those places that aren't in the
adoption business) now have a mandatory 72 hour hold on any stray dog they
pick up.

Come to think of it, I think it's for my county only, as my groomer lives in
another county, she found a stray turned it over to their animal control,
they called her back and said we've had the dog 24 hours if you don't want
it we're putting it down (she saved the dog.)

Sadly, there is no rule on the books for stray cats that are found roaming.
They barely survive 24 hours, and are usually put down immediately.

And if they do hold them - they usually don't supply much in regards to pet
care. The one shelter I foster for does a New Year's Eve Rescue from local
animal control places - any dog or cat slated to be put down on the first
day of the year is taken to the shelter for a new chance on life. One of
the rescued kitties had urine burns all over its feet.

They also make weekly trips to these places - say they have room for 5
dogs - they make a trip to animal control, where maybe there's 30 dogs, of
the 30 maybe 5 are unadoptable due to aggressiveness or whatever. That
leaves 25 dogs that have potential to make someone a great pet - but sadly
only 5 can be chosen, as there is no room for all of them. I don't know who
makes these trips, but I couldn't do it, walking out of there knowing
unwanted dogs are going to be put down. I would be bawling my eyes out
every time. What an absolutely awful job that would be. But trying to look
at it from the positive, those 5 now have a chance at a better life.

Sorry for the bleak picture! It breaks my heart to think of it!

JoJo

wrote in message
...
This is outrageous!


http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?I...ngEmail=yes &
external=&newCookie=yes&userID=129612




Sunday, July 11, 2004 By MELISSA GRIFFY Repository staff writer

Repository / Scott Heckel
WAITING. Dogs face death at the Stark County Dog Pound unless they are
adopted within 72 hours of their arrival. Some dogs don't have that
long; county records show some dogs are put down before three days.







CANTON - The anticipation was almost more than Virginia Corning could
bear.

Sitting in a car for more than three hours, she wrapped her hands
around a photo of the chow-mix that would take the place of her Dingo,
a member of her family for 10 years whose name still plays on her home
answering machine.

Corning called the Stark County Dog Pound before leaving her Pittsburgh
home on a February morning. She and her husband, Michael, wanted to
ensure the new family pet would be there when they arrived.

But Corning's heart sank when she entered the pound at 1801 Mahoning
Rd. NE. The dog she'd planned to name Daisy was not in the cage she
was supposed to be in. A young lab-mix stood in her place.

Daisy was dead.

More than half the dogs impounded by the county meet Daisy's fate on
any given day. Last year, nearly 1,600 dogs, or at least 60 percent,
brought into the pound were euthanized, according to county figures.

Since 1990, nearly 30,000 dogs, or at least 70 percent, of those
impounded have been killed.

County officials say that's what goes on at a dog pound - the
philosophy is "round them up and kill them," said Marsha
Cimadevilla, personnel manager at the Stark County commissioners'
office, which oversees the pound.

Cimadevilla is one of two interviewing the replacement for Dog Warden
Jeff Wright, who is heading for the same job in Summit County.

Some hope the county will change its philosophy with its new hire.

They say healthy dogs that could be adopted get no chance.


'It's a slaughterhouse'

Jeanette Morris and Heather Rooney visit the pound at least once a
week.

They say they often find dogs with no food or water, and with feces in
their dishes. The smell of urine is pervasive.

A trip to the pound by The Repository revealed the same. Only two of
every 10 dogs had water in their bowls; while up to four employees
gathered in an air-conditioned office nearby.

Rooney started the Daisy Dog Rescue Web site in December when she and
Morris realized getting the dogs public exposure is often the only way
to save their lives.

The pound is a county-run facility and does little to advertise the
dogs. Ohio law only requires it keep a stray dog for 72 hours. After
that, it can euthanize the dog, sell it to a nonprofit research
facility or donate it to a nonprofit agency that trains service dogs.

Most are euthanized, said Rooney, who tracks when dogs enter and leave
the pound.

County records confirm her findings.

Dogs that bite are put down despite a state law that says it should be
quarantined for 10 days to observe the dog for rabies.

A few of those put down earlier include a pit bull that was destroyed
Nov. 19, 2002, the same day it entered the pound; a golden retriever
also was destroyed that day. A pit bull puppy was destroyed the same
day it entered the pound on Nov. 20, 2002.

The practice continued last year. On Dec. 27, a collie that was noted
as a biter was killed the same day it came in.

Sometimes, no reason is recorded for a dog's death. A dog described
as a "mix" and a pit bull were destroyed Dec. 19, the same day they
entered the pound. A Rottweiler and another dog also described simply
as a "mix" were destroyed upon entering the pound Nov. 25. The
Repository also found four puppies described as "mix" were
destroyed when they entered the pound April 2.

"It makes no sense why some are put down so quickly," said Rooney,
who volunteered at shelters in the Columbus area before moving to
Canton.

Morris of Osnaburg Township began working with Rooney after she tried
to rescue a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua from the pound. She arrived to
discover the two small dogs - an average of 2 to 7 pounds - had
been euthanized for cage space.

Wright hasn't been available for comment recently. He starts a new
job as Summit County's dog warden this month.

But employees say the Stark pound has no set day it euthanizes dogs.
Three days, or, until their cage space is needed - whichever comes
first.

At least two mass kills took place at the pound this year, according to
county records. On March 16, 15 dogs, including a Sharpei, a chow-mix
and an Australian shepherd, were destroyed, but only three dogs
replaced them in their cages. On Feb. 20, 11 dogs were put down but
five of those cages were filled.

"Some deaths are needless," Rooney said. "It's a
slaughterhouse. Once they are there, it's just like death row."


No room at the county inn

Wright became dog warden with no experience.

The county has a written job description that requires two years
experience as a chief deputy dog warden, but Wright had none. Before he
was put in charge of the pound in 2001, he worked mall and
amusement-park security, and listed no experience in any animal control
position.

"We didn't know that was important," said Commissioner Jane
Vignos. "He has a couple of dogs."

She said the county is looking for administration experience in the
nexxt dog warden; experience working with animals is secondary.

"The dog warden's job is to get dogs off the street," Vignos
said.

Some of it comes down to funding, she said. "We are an agency
designed to only keep animals for a period of time," Vignos said.

Wright echoed Vignos' comments.

"Primarily, my job is to pick up the strays," Wright said earlier
in response to criticism by rescue groups such as Daisy Dog Rescue.

He said he's tried to advertise the dogs; he has a laptop and digital
camera in his office. But "we don't have the staff to do it."

Neighboring Carroll County started advertising dogs on the Internet and
has been successful, said Carroll County Commissioner Bob Herron. The
pound has a full-time staff of two.

Wright's staff includes six full-time deputies, a poundskeeper and a
dispatcher, and his budget - derived from license fees - runs about
$600,000 a year.

Carroll County's budget is little more than $86,600, Herron said.

Wayne County has no pound. Its dog warden, Robert Fischer, said the
county contracts with the local Humane Society to take the 40 to 50
dogs it impounds monthly. Wayne County gives the Humane Society $80,000
a year to operate.

Tuscarawas County, which brings in twice as many dogs as Wayne County,
operates with less than $180,000 a year. The county impounds nearly
1,200 dogs; and euthanizes fewer than half, about 500 dogs.

Wright's new employer, Summit County, has a budget similar to
Stark's - just more than $600,000, said Craig Stanley, Summit
County's director of facilities. Last year, it impounded 1,600 more
animals than Stark did - 2,316 dogs and 1,869 cats. It euthanized
just less than 2,900 animals last year.

"We are euthanizing a lot more animals than we'd like to,"
Stanley said. "But ... we cannot keep stacking these animals on top
of each other."

Stanley said the pound contacts rescue groups on a continual basis; but
they are full, too.


Call for change

Lynda Marshall, a volunteer with Second Chance for Animals, wants to
see changes at the Stark pound.

"It's really sad and pathetic down there," Marshall said.

A hose, which she likens to a high-pressure fire hose, is used to clean
cages - the animals are not removed.

"They are left there dripping wet," Marshall said. "It is
pathetic."

Marshall also wonders why the pound refuses to let volunteers help.

She says no one answers the phone on Saturdays - the day most looking
to adopt would make a trip to the pound.

Plus, pound workers have turned people away when it is after 4 p.m.,
Marshall said.

"In the back of our minds we are always thinking we have to get to a
dog Saturday or it is going to get killed Monday," she said.

Martha Ickes, a volunteer for animal rescue group Diamonds in the Ruff,
said she was banned from the pound altogether.

She went to the pound every Saturday for five years before Wright
became dog warden. Then Wright refused to allow her in.

Why is unclear. Vignos said she thinks there may have been complaints
about the number of dogs Ickes housed.

"There were circumstances there that made us question (her),"
Vignos said, but she couldn't elaborate.

Even though Wright left, Ickes said she probably won't step foot into
the dog pound again. "And that's really sad," she said.

Much like Ickes, Corning finds the situation at Stark's pound a sad
one.

She and her husband have since adopted a chow-mix named Emma, but "I
often think of Daisy," Corning said. "She had such a sweet, sweet
face."

Corning doesn't regret the trip she and her husband made to Canton
that day - her only regret is she arrived too late.

You can reach Repository writer Melissa Griffy at (330) 580-8318 or
e-mail:




(subscription)
~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~ ~*+*~~~

Doctors who speak out in favour of vivisection do not deserve any
recognition in society, all the more so since their brutality is
apparent not only during such experiments, but also in their practical
medical lives. They are mostly men who stop at nothing in order to
satisfy their ruthless and unfeeling lust for honours and gain.
--Dr. med. Hugo Knecht, Ear, Nose, Throat and Chest Specialist, Linz,
October 5, 1909
/\ /\
' .'




  #7  
Old July 12th 04, 12:10 AM
JoJo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

They recently passed a law here, I'm not sure if it's for my county or for
the state, but all animal control places (those places that aren't in the
adoption business) now have a mandatory 72 hour hold on any stray dog they
pick up.

Come to think of it, I think it's for my county only, as my groomer lives in
another county, she found a stray turned it over to their animal control,
they called her back and said we've had the dog 24 hours if you don't want
it we're putting it down (she saved the dog.)

Sadly, there is no rule on the books for stray cats that are found roaming.
They barely survive 24 hours, and are usually put down immediately.

And if they do hold them - they usually don't supply much in regards to pet
care. The one shelter I foster for does a New Year's Eve Rescue from local
animal control places - any dog or cat slated to be put down on the first
day of the year is taken to the shelter for a new chance on life. One of
the rescued kitties had urine burns all over its feet.

They also make weekly trips to these places - say they have room for 5
dogs - they make a trip to animal control, where maybe there's 30 dogs, of
the 30 maybe 5 are unadoptable due to aggressiveness or whatever. That
leaves 25 dogs that have potential to make someone a great pet - but sadly
only 5 can be chosen, as there is no room for all of them. I don't know who
makes these trips, but I couldn't do it, walking out of there knowing
unwanted dogs are going to be put down. I would be bawling my eyes out
every time. What an absolutely awful job that would be. But trying to look
at it from the positive, those 5 now have a chance at a better life.

Sorry for the bleak picture! It breaks my heart to think of it!

JoJo

wrote in message
...
This is outrageous!


http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?I...ngEmail=yes &
external=&newCookie=yes&userID=129612




Sunday, July 11, 2004 By MELISSA GRIFFY Repository staff writer

Repository / Scott Heckel
WAITING. Dogs face death at the Stark County Dog Pound unless they are
adopted within 72 hours of their arrival. Some dogs don't have that
long; county records show some dogs are put down before three days.







CANTON - The anticipation was almost more than Virginia Corning could
bear.

Sitting in a car for more than three hours, she wrapped her hands
around a photo of the chow-mix that would take the place of her Dingo,
a member of her family for 10 years whose name still plays on her home
answering machine.

Corning called the Stark County Dog Pound before leaving her Pittsburgh
home on a February morning. She and her husband, Michael, wanted to
ensure the new family pet would be there when they arrived.

But Corning's heart sank when she entered the pound at 1801 Mahoning
Rd. NE. The dog she'd planned to name Daisy was not in the cage she
was supposed to be in. A young lab-mix stood in her place.

Daisy was dead.

More than half the dogs impounded by the county meet Daisy's fate on
any given day. Last year, nearly 1,600 dogs, or at least 60 percent,
brought into the pound were euthanized, according to county figures.

Since 1990, nearly 30,000 dogs, or at least 70 percent, of those
impounded have been killed.

County officials say that's what goes on at a dog pound - the
philosophy is "round them up and kill them," said Marsha
Cimadevilla, personnel manager at the Stark County commissioners'
office, which oversees the pound.

Cimadevilla is one of two interviewing the replacement for Dog Warden
Jeff Wright, who is heading for the same job in Summit County.

Some hope the county will change its philosophy with its new hire.

They say healthy dogs that could be adopted get no chance.


'It's a slaughterhouse'

Jeanette Morris and Heather Rooney visit the pound at least once a
week.

They say they often find dogs with no food or water, and with feces in
their dishes. The smell of urine is pervasive.

A trip to the pound by The Repository revealed the same. Only two of
every 10 dogs had water in their bowls; while up to four employees
gathered in an air-conditioned office nearby.

Rooney started the Daisy Dog Rescue Web site in December when she and
Morris realized getting the dogs public exposure is often the only way
to save their lives.

The pound is a county-run facility and does little to advertise the
dogs. Ohio law only requires it keep a stray dog for 72 hours. After
that, it can euthanize the dog, sell it to a nonprofit research
facility or donate it to a nonprofit agency that trains service dogs.

Most are euthanized, said Rooney, who tracks when dogs enter and leave
the pound.

County records confirm her findings.

Dogs that bite are put down despite a state law that says it should be
quarantined for 10 days to observe the dog for rabies.

A few of those put down earlier include a pit bull that was destroyed
Nov. 19, 2002, the same day it entered the pound; a golden retriever
also was destroyed that day. A pit bull puppy was destroyed the same
day it entered the pound on Nov. 20, 2002.

The practice continued last year. On Dec. 27, a collie that was noted
as a biter was killed the same day it came in.

Sometimes, no reason is recorded for a dog's death. A dog described
as a "mix" and a pit bull were destroyed Dec. 19, the same day they
entered the pound. A Rottweiler and another dog also described simply
as a "mix" were destroyed upon entering the pound Nov. 25. The
Repository also found four puppies described as "mix" were
destroyed when they entered the pound April 2.

"It makes no sense why some are put down so quickly," said Rooney,
who volunteered at shelters in the Columbus area before moving to
Canton.

Morris of Osnaburg Township began working with Rooney after she tried
to rescue a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua from the pound. She arrived to
discover the two small dogs - an average of 2 to 7 pounds - had
been euthanized for cage space.

Wright hasn't been available for comment recently. He starts a new
job as Summit County's dog warden this month.

But employees say the Stark pound has no set day it euthanizes dogs.
Three days, or, until their cage space is needed - whichever comes
first.

At least two mass kills took place at the pound this year, according to
county records. On March 16, 15 dogs, including a Sharpei, a chow-mix
and an Australian shepherd, were destroyed, but only three dogs
replaced them in their cages. On Feb. 20, 11 dogs were put down but
five of those cages were filled.

"Some deaths are needless," Rooney said. "It's a
slaughterhouse. Once they are there, it's just like death row."


No room at the county inn

Wright became dog warden with no experience.

The county has a written job description that requires two years
experience as a chief deputy dog warden, but Wright had none. Before he
was put in charge of the pound in 2001, he worked mall and
amusement-park security, and listed no experience in any animal control
position.

"We didn't know that was important," said Commissioner Jane
Vignos. "He has a couple of dogs."

She said the county is looking for administration experience in the
nexxt dog warden; experience working with animals is secondary.

"The dog warden's job is to get dogs off the street," Vignos
said.

Some of it comes down to funding, she said. "We are an agency
designed to only keep animals for a period of time," Vignos said.

Wright echoed Vignos' comments.

"Primarily, my job is to pick up the strays," Wright said earlier
in response to criticism by rescue groups such as Daisy Dog Rescue.

He said he's tried to advertise the dogs; he has a laptop and digital
camera in his office. But "we don't have the staff to do it."

Neighboring Carroll County started advertising dogs on the Internet and
has been successful, said Carroll County Commissioner Bob Herron. The
pound has a full-time staff of two.

Wright's staff includes six full-time deputies, a poundskeeper and a
dispatcher, and his budget - derived from license fees - runs about
$600,000 a year.

Carroll County's budget is little more than $86,600, Herron said.

Wayne County has no pound. Its dog warden, Robert Fischer, said the
county contracts with the local Humane Society to take the 40 to 50
dogs it impounds monthly. Wayne County gives the Humane Society $80,000
a year to operate.

Tuscarawas County, which brings in twice as many dogs as Wayne County,
operates with less than $180,000 a year. The county impounds nearly
1,200 dogs; and euthanizes fewer than half, about 500 dogs.

Wright's new employer, Summit County, has a budget similar to
Stark's - just more than $600,000, said Craig Stanley, Summit
County's director of facilities. Last year, it impounded 1,600 more
animals than Stark did - 2,316 dogs and 1,869 cats. It euthanized
just less than 2,900 animals last year.

"We are euthanizing a lot more animals than we'd like to,"
Stanley said. "But ... we cannot keep stacking these animals on top
of each other."

Stanley said the pound contacts rescue groups on a continual basis; but
they are full, too.


Call for change

Lynda Marshall, a volunteer with Second Chance for Animals, wants to
see changes at the Stark pound.

"It's really sad and pathetic down there," Marshall said.

A hose, which she likens to a high-pressure fire hose, is used to clean
cages - the animals are not removed.

"They are left there dripping wet," Marshall said. "It is
pathetic."

Marshall also wonders why the pound refuses to let volunteers help.

She says no one answers the phone on Saturdays - the day most looking
to adopt would make a trip to the pound.

Plus, pound workers have turned people away when it is after 4 p.m.,
Marshall said.

"In the back of our minds we are always thinking we have to get to a
dog Saturday or it is going to get killed Monday," she said.

Martha Ickes, a volunteer for animal rescue group Diamonds in the Ruff,
said she was banned from the pound altogether.

She went to the pound every Saturday for five years before Wright
became dog warden. Then Wright refused to allow her in.

Why is unclear. Vignos said she thinks there may have been complaints
about the number of dogs Ickes housed.

"There were circumstances there that made us question (her),"
Vignos said, but she couldn't elaborate.

Even though Wright left, Ickes said she probably won't step foot into
the dog pound again. "And that's really sad," she said.

Much like Ickes, Corning finds the situation at Stark's pound a sad
one.

She and her husband have since adopted a chow-mix named Emma, but "I
often think of Daisy," Corning said. "She had such a sweet, sweet
face."

Corning doesn't regret the trip she and her husband made to Canton
that day - her only regret is she arrived too late.

You can reach Repository writer Melissa Griffy at (330) 580-8318 or
e-mail:




(subscription)
~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~ ~*+*~~~

Doctors who speak out in favour of vivisection do not deserve any
recognition in society, all the more so since their brutality is
apparent not only during such experiments, but also in their practical
medical lives. They are mostly men who stop at nothing in order to
satisfy their ruthless and unfeeling lust for honours and gain.
--Dr. med. Hugo Knecht, Ear, Nose, Throat and Chest Specialist, Linz,
October 5, 1909
/\ /\
' .'




  #8  
Old July 12th 04, 12:19 AM
Cheryl
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.anecdotes", "JoJo"
artfully composed this message within
on 11 Jul 2004:

They also make weekly trips to these places - say they have room
for 5 dogs - they make a trip to animal control, where maybe
there's 30 dogs, of the 30 maybe 5 are unadoptable due to
aggressiveness or whatever. That leaves 25 dogs that have
potential to make someone a great pet - but sadly only 5 can be
chosen, as there is no room for all of them. I don't know who
makes these trips, but I couldn't do it, walking out of there
knowing unwanted dogs are going to be put down. I would be
bawling my eyes out every time. What an absolutely awful job
that would be. But trying to look at it from the positive,
those 5 now have a chance at a better life.


Purrs for those who do do this. I couldn't either, but know many
who do and they get their hearts broken all the time. They also
rotate the people who make trips to the shelter to pick the
adoptables (oh and what a responsibility that is, who lives and who
dies). This time of year there aren't many being pulled out by the
local rescue groups. I pray for a day when they don't have to
put any down.

--
Cheryl
  #9  
Old July 12th 04, 12:19 AM
Cheryl
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.anecdotes", "JoJo"
artfully composed this message within
on 11 Jul 2004:

They also make weekly trips to these places - say they have room
for 5 dogs - they make a trip to animal control, where maybe
there's 30 dogs, of the 30 maybe 5 are unadoptable due to
aggressiveness or whatever. That leaves 25 dogs that have
potential to make someone a great pet - but sadly only 5 can be
chosen, as there is no room for all of them. I don't know who
makes these trips, but I couldn't do it, walking out of there
knowing unwanted dogs are going to be put down. I would be
bawling my eyes out every time. What an absolutely awful job
that would be. But trying to look at it from the positive,
those 5 now have a chance at a better life.


Purrs for those who do do this. I couldn't either, but know many
who do and they get their hearts broken all the time. They also
rotate the people who make trips to the shelter to pick the
adoptables (oh and what a responsibility that is, who lives and who
dies). This time of year there aren't many being pulled out by the
local rescue groups. I pray for a day when they don't have to
put any down.

--
Cheryl
  #10  
Old July 12th 04, 10:26 AM
polonca12000
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

That's terrible!
Purrs,
--
Polonca & Soncek

wrote in message
...
This is outrageous!


http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?I...&userID=129612
snip


 




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