Somorah, a HW+ dog’s plea for help!

Somorah is a 1-2 year old Jack Russell who is currently at Sumter Humane Society, in Americus, Georgia. This is a kill shelter, and according to the staff at Sumter, she is VERY scared and shy and they believe she would not be adopted out without a rescue. Furry Monsters Rescue, a relatively new rescue based in Sterling, Illinois, told the shelter that they’d like to pull her, but that was before she tested positive for Heartworms. Heartworms aren’t as common in Illinois as they are in GA (it’s spread by Mosquito’s), and the treatment is not only costly, but requires weeks of kennel rest in a foster home. For a new rescue, this is a lot to take on, and the folks at Furry Monsters don’t think it would be right to back out on her because of that, but the rescue does not have the funds to cover her treatment.

Buzzard’n BigDog Pet Transport is picking up a load of dogs from Americus, GA to transport to Furry Monsters in a few days, and we really want Semorah to join them! Please help by making a contribution to her ChipIn to help cover the cost of her Heartworm treatment so Furry Monsters can confirm her spot on this transport, and she can get out of the high-kill shelter that she’s at now, and into a foster home to undergo treatment before being adopted out. Any amount is appreciated!

How Heartworm Happens: The Life Cycle
First, adult female heartworms release their young, called microfilariae, into an animal’s bloodstream. Then, mosquitoes become infected with microfilariae while taking blood meal from the infected animal. During the next 10 to 14 days, the microfilariae mature to the infective larval stage within the mosquito. After that, the mosquito bites another dog, cat or other susceptible animal, and the infective larvae enter through the bite wound. It then takes a little over 6 months for the infective larvae to mature into adult worms. In dogs, the worms may live for up to 7 years. Microfilariae cannot mature into adult heartworms without first passing through a mosquito.

His photo was on the Columbus Animal Care & Control website as ADOPTED, but this beautiful pit bull mix is not living happily in his new home. Instead, his body has been taken to the landfill, along with countless others.

“This adorable and highly adoptable dog was adopted from Columbus Animal Control yesterday, and then owner surrendered back to the shelter today. He was immediately killed without ever making it to the website or adoption floor… sad thing is, I had an adopter from North GA lined up for this guy, but he was adopted yesterday before I could get down there” - Happy Homes

According to a CACC volunteer, the dog was surrendered the following day, because the adopter claimed he “attacked” their dog. Then without putting his photo back on the website, without contacting any rescues or any of the many animal advocates that are constantly trying to save them, and who will often intercept owner surrendered dogs if temporary placement can be found, he was taken straight back to the “euthanasia” room, and this healthy dog was killed.

I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about the city of Columbus’ Save A Pet Program. Columbus Mayor, Teresa Tomlinson, will be quick to tell people that it is modeled after the No Kill Equation, which was submitted to her by the local nonprofit organization, No Kill Columbus GA. She rejected the No Kill Equation because, let’s face it, she’s way too smart for that…

“Instead of jumping into something that sounded very good, we decided to take a more thorough approach and develop the save a pet program, that we’re quite proud of,” said Mayor Tomlinson in this “investigative” report.

“She adds that in a perfect world, Columbus Animal Care and Control would not put any animals down, but stresses not only is it virtually impossible, but has also been proven to actually be harmful to animals.”

From Nathan Winograd’s No Kill Equation: Adoptions are vital to an agency’s lifesaving mission. The quantity and quality of shelter adoptions is in shelter management’s hands, making lifesaving a direct function of shelter policies and practice. If shelters better promoted their animals and had adoption programs responsive to the needs of the community, including public access hours for working people, offsite adoptions, adoption incentives, and effective marketing, they could increase the number of homes available and replace killing with adoptions. Contrary to conventional wisdom, shelters can adopt their way out of killing.

A TRUE comprehensive adoption program would include, among other things, great photographs to catch an adopters attention, a great adoption profile so potential adopters can get an idea of their personality and temperament, and the shelter should have a staff person or volunteer available to talk to adopters so they have a realistic idea of what they’re in for, including an adjustment period for a new pet to acclimate to their home and other resident pets.

Columbus’ Save A Pet Program includes what they call a Comprehensive Adoption Program. However, CACC can’t find the time to upload the photos that volunteers are taking of the shelter pets, they provide no notes about the animals available for adoption on their website or on PetFinder.com, and there is no screening process whatsoever for adopters. The city promised cage/kennel cards, listing the date adoptable, and notes about the pets. Cage card placards were ordered, but cage cards are rarely, if ever, displayed. There have never been any cage cards on any of the cat cages.

The white dog above was adopted for one day, ONE DAY, before being returned to the shelter. Because he was then considered an owner surrender, he did not need to be held for the 5-day legal hold period, and he was walked straight to the kill room. They didn’t bother looking into the fact that there were others originally interested in this dog, somebody would have happilly given this dog a home for the rest of his life.

From Nathan Winograd’s No Kill Equation:
While some of the reasons animals are surrendered to shelters are unavoidable, others can be prevented—but only if shelters are willing to work with people to help them solve their problems. Saving animals requires communities to develop innovative strategies for keeping people and their companion animals together. And the more a community sees its shelters as a place to turn for advice and assistance, the easier this job will be.

The Save A Pet Program also include a Pet Retention. A TRUE pet retention program would include sitting down with somebody that has come in to surrender their pet, and discussing their options, the issues they’re having, be it health or behavior or welcoming a new baby into the home, and working with them to keep their pet out of the often deadly “shelter”, thus reducing intake and cutting down on the number of animals that would then need to find new homes. It means helping pet owners KEEP their pets. They should offer advice for pet owners BEFORE their pet’s behavior issues progress to the point where they consider giving them up. CACC does not do any of these things.

It’s time for Columbus’ Mayor to admit defeat. The Save-A-Pet Program DOES NOT WORK. Not only was it never even a good idea in theory (the No Kill Equation is the only method that has proven to increase open admission municipal facilities save rate to 90% and better), but it isn’t even being implemented in it’s entirety, and it’s been almost six months since it’s official launch. It has failed this dog, a dog that had somebody ready to adopt him, a dog that didn’t need to die, he didn’t deserve to die. When you have staff that don’t value life, that don’t care about saving these animals, this is what happens. They kill them. Instead of doing what needed to be done to find this dog a home, they killed him.

Other parts of the Save A Pet Program that do not exist include a Foster Care Network, Feral Cat TNR Program, Medical/Behavior Programs, and High Volume, Low Cost Spay/Neuter (CACC releases unaltered pets to adopters). Six of the nine parts to the Save A Pet Program currently do not exist.

The Atlanta Humane Society is in deep doggie doo doo, for failing to report parvo cases to the Department of Agriculture.

What is Parvo?
Parvovirus is a highly contagious, and often fatal viral illness that affects dogs, especially puppies 6 weeks to 6 months old. Parvovirus attacks rapidly reproducing cells, such as those lining the gastrointestinal tract. It basically eats away at the insides of puppies, and without antibiotics and intensive veterinary care, they often die of dehydration, or septicemia and other bacterial complications. And the smell… you will never forget the smell.

From WebMD, “The disease is transmitted by oral contact with infected feces. Parvo can be carried on the dog’s hair and feet, as well as on contaminated crates, shoes, and other objects. When the dog licks the fecal material off hair, feet, or anything that came in contact with infected feces, he acquires the disease.”

“Parvo is an extremely hardy virus that resists most household cleaners and survives on the premises for months. The most effective disinfectant is household bleach in a 1:32 dilution. The bleach must be left on the contaminated surface for 20 minutes before being rinsed.”

In the investigative report below, they say that not reporting a confirmed case of Parvo is actually a misdemeanor.

The report sparked controversy, to which the Atlanta Humane Society responded on their website with, “It is our hope that the perspectives of former employees do not overshadow the exceptional work that our team performs every day”. Their attempt to cover-up their obvious failure to comply has caught the attention of No Kill advocates, including YesBiscuit! who says, “The “perspectives” of your former employees come with proof, Atlanta HS.  Your “exceptional work”, not so much.”

Columbus, Georgia’s  Animal Care & Control recieved some backlash after I wrote this blog, about the highly adoptable young dog seen here, that they killed. No effort was made to get this dog adopted, and the shelter didn’t use the beautiful photos that were sent to them multiple times by a volunteer photographer. I urged Columbus residents to contact their local Animal Control to get to the bottom of it.

Now, my sources are telling me that CACC is saying that this guy had parvo, and that’s why he was put down. I can assure you, he was not tested for parvo… they don’t waste money testing dogs for parvo, they had only assumed that to be true. The photographer said he was fine and hyper and playful about a week before. Yes, I know a dog can crash fast with Parvo… but IF he had parvo, as they claim that he had, where is the documentation saying so? If documentation exists (as it should, if he was killed because he had parvo, which by law, must be reported), then the Department of Agriculture should have been notified. If they DON’T have it on record… well, then the city of Columbus is breaking the law. Did he, or did he not have Parvo?

Last Summer, hundreds of puppies died at CACC or shortly after being adopted. We were even keeping up with an album of them that we knew of. All were confirmed cases by Veterinarians. The Department of Agriculture was notified by the public, but nothing was done. Maybe it’s time for CACC to be investigated like Atlanta Humane Society was. I would hope that it would force them to step up their record-keeping, and also improve their cleaning policies to save hundreds of future puppies from contracting parvo and dying/being killed in the “care” of our city.

     
These puppies all contracted Parvo last year, and died shortly thereafter. RIP little babies.

Currently, CACC uses the same disgusting Diarrhea mop bucket to spot clean (bleach, which is in the mop bucket, is inactivated by organic matter, i.e. poop, so the bleach isn’t disinfecting crap – get it?), with a mop head that is attached to the handle (non-removable, and therefore impossible to disinfect), spreading potentially fatal diseases from one run to the next. They do not thoroughly scrub kennels and they don’t let the disinfectant sit for the time needed for it to kill the bad stuff, so they are putting dogs in runs and exposing them to any potential diseases the dog before them may have had… and the dog before that, and the dog before that. Then, despite having a designated “puppy room”, they still but very young puppies into the large runs in general population. And the Department of Agriculture doesn’t seem to have a problem with this? Not cool.

Do you want to Department of Agriculture to look into this matter?
What could it hurt, if CACC is doing everything “by the books” then they should have nothing to hide. The mere fact that they are shrouded in secrecy, they won’t release information without an Open Records Act Request, and then still don’t provide the information, tells us that something isn’t right.

Click on the underlined link to view the complete list of Reportable Animal Diseases in Georgia, and well as Reporting Requirements (page 3). You can also contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture using this page from their website.

Not reporting these cases of Parvo is illegal. So this year, as kind-hearted folks start adopting these little babies from CACC, only to find themselves at the Emergency clinic with a dying family member, I hope they will not only fight for their new dogs life, but also the lives of future parvo puppies. REPORT PARVO. Document parvo cases with your veterinarian, and contact Columbus Animal Care & Control and the Department of Agriculture.

Parvo doesn’t have to mean certain death.
Austin Pets Alive! is leading the charge towards No Kill by energizing the public and breaking down myths about sheltered pets.  APA believes that actions speak louder than words and is backing up the No Kill rhetoric with lifesaving programs designed to save the animals most likely to die at kill shelters. One of those programs, is their Parvo Program.

“Signs of parvo-virus infection once meant immediate and absolute euthanasia  for puppies and dogs at the city shelter.  The city now calls in Austin  Pets Alive and gives a same day deadline to pick up the puppies and  start treatment.”

Columbus does not HAVE to kill these dogs and puppies. The city leaders choose to kill, instead of implementing the Programs and Services of the No Kill Equation. The Save A Pet Program does not count. Not only does it not include Proactive Owner Redemption, or a Compassionate Director (the most important of all), but in reality, most of the nine steps of the Save A Pet Program do not even exist, besides on paper.

Isn’t this just the cutest little free-spirited dog? He looks like some kind of jack russel mix, with sort of a longer snout, maybe a young adult, I don’t know, I never met him, but he looks like a cool dude, chasin’ after that ball… I’d like to take a moment to personally thank Holly Matthews Photography, Antevasin Photography, and T&C Pet Photography, and any other photographers that have donated their time to help save the pets from Columbus Animal Care & Control in Georgia.

This dog was killed yesterday, because nobody saw the beautiful soul that we see above. How could that be, with volunteers taking such beautiful photos and the Mayor’s wonderful Save-A-Pet Program? Well, these photos never made it to the website. They were taken over a week ago, and according to the photographer, were sent to Animal Control at least 4 times. Instead of using any of the photo’s she had taken, here is a screenshot of what the city had on their website:

Note, there is no sex listed, and there is no age listed. Now… I can tell an approximate age of a dog or cat by looking at their teeth, and I hope that the staff is trained to do that as well. Ok, maybe the dog was acting “aggressive” (I highly doubt it, and believe the staff often mistakens fear for aggression, but I’ll play this game), then fine, you couldn’t get an age. But sex? You can’t even tell what SEX the dog is? This dog doesn’t have long or matted hair blocking your view, anybody could tell what sex the dog is, even standing 10 feet away. I swear, I’m going to make a very detailed poster, like the diagrams in the doctors offices of boy parts and girlie bits… but for dogs. In the meantime, I will call the city’s contracted vet tomorrow, and request that she hold a course for the staff on how to identify the difference between a boy dog and a girl dog. Most of the time the staff will at least GUESS, often incorrectly, but this time they didn’t even bother guessing, and just left it blank. Way to go save a pet.

And here, we’ve all been thinking “Great! They’re asking for photographers!”, how wonderful! It would seem as if they’re doing that just to shut us up, because it certainly isn’t so they can use the beautiful photos that are being taken! In fact, they even go so far as to tell the photographers that they can’t share their own photos on any social networks, until the shelter gets around to updating their own website with them. In this instance, that never happened. Sure, that violates all sorts of rights, but we’ve seen plenty of evidence to prove… if you question their authority, you will only create a hostile environment, and if you keep it up you will be “fired”. Intimidation, retaliation, contempt… it doesnt create a pleasant atmosphere, and it certainly doesn’t encourage future volunteer participation.

Guess what folks, things are NOT ok at Columbus’ Animal Control, and these animals do not have to die. The staff is still doing hardly anything to get them out alive, and hardly anything has, and will continue to be enough, if unless something changes and we make the decision to stop killing. This is not good enough. Columbus could be saving a LOT more animals, we are capable of so much more. If this city had a compassionate director, this laziness would not be tolerated because it is costing lives. It cost this dog his life. He was healthy, and he was highly adoptable, and they chose to kill him. Rest in peace, little guy.

No Kill Advocates continue to keep pressure on the city to implement the No Kill Equation in it’s entirely. It is the only method proven to end the uneccesary killing of homeless pets, it IS a solution, and it has worked in over 30 communities in the US alone. No Kill News tracks and reports on successful No Kill Communities and those that are striving for a No Kill status, by saving 90% or more of their homeless pet population. It is possible to save them, and it can be done anywhere, yet despite Columbus’ growing support for life-saving changes, city officials choose instead, to kill. There is no accountability, and there is no transparency.

I encourage you to ask for answers. Why arent the photos being uploaded? Why arent they providing even the most basic of information about their impounded animals? Why aren’t they utilizing DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS that continue to donate their time, energy, and emotional well-being getting to know and trying to save these animals? Why do they continue to kill, when saving them is well within our reach?

Columbus Animal Care & Control Website
706.653.4512
Location: 4910 Milgen Road
Columbus, Georgia 31907
animalcontrol@columbusga.org
Drale Short, Special Enforcement Division Manager (Animal Control Director)
DShort@columbusga.org

This dogs photo has now been added to the RIP album on facebook.

Columbus, Georgia residents will have a chance to support the city’s No Kill efforts is all sorts of ways tomorrow, Saturday April 14th, by heading over to BodyBe1 where Weems Rd meets Whittelsey Blvd near Lowe’s and the North Columbus Country’s BBQ! No Kill advocates will be there to answer any questions you may have about the No Kill Equation, or how your city can and should be saving EVERY healthy, treatable, and adoptable pet from Columbus Animal Care & Control!

• Stop by and have your car “groomed” by some bikini clad animal lovers at Columbus’ first “Details for Tails” car wash event!
• No Kill Columbus’ FIRST BUMPER STICKERS will be available for sale! $5 each – We don’t want to save-A-pet, we want to save them ALL! Help us show everybody that Mayor Teresa Tomlinson’s Save-A-Pet Program is NOT what we want, the city is still killing far more than they need to! Ask the girls to slap on a bumper sticker after they get your car all squeaky clean!
• And just as they do almost every Saturday, Animal Ark Rescue will have available animals for adoption for you to love on while you wait for your car!

That’s right folks, in all her wisdom, the esteemed Mayor of Columbus, Georgia has managed to piss off a large majority of her constituents releasing this blanket statement in a recent article in the Ledger-Enquirer.

In a city with an Animal Control facility full of pit bulls, it’s no surprise that the Mayor has refused every attempt to save ALL the city’s homeless pets. No Kill Columbus, Ga first approached Mayor Tomlinson in May 2011, with an Action Plan including the full implementation of the No Kill Equation, which has successfully resulted in a 90% or higher save rate in well over 30 open admission municipal facilities across the country. Because of this, the Columbus nonprofit organization and it’s supporters are branded as “radicals”, and after public outcry for the safe release of Elijah to the rescue that saved him, it has now been taken to a whole other level.

The story, if that’s what it can be called, made the front page of the Ledger-Enquirer and can be found at “Animal rights activists attack city over pit bull Elijah”. What is very interesting, is that shortly after releasing the article online, the Ledger RE-RELEASED it with the new headline, “‘Radical’ animal activists using smear campaign against city, Mayor Teresa Tomlinson says”, and then again, with “Mayor Teresa Tomlinson says pit bull Elijah in good health despite activists claims of abuse at city’s center”, this time with a new photo of Elijah, without his ribcage showing and looking much less emaciated.

The Ledger has really done it this time, with their completely one-sided excuse for investigative journalism. One citizen posted on facebook, “Just cancelled my 7-day per week subscription to LE. Been a loyal customer for 9 years but no longer will subscribe to a newspaper that only allows one side of a story to be told”, and another shared, “Just put my last copy of the Ledger-Enquirer on the floor for the dog to crap on”! The Mayor’s statement has inspired the creation of a new facebook page, Pit Bulls against Mayor Teresa Tomlinson (follow the link to like and share!) where pit bull owners are encouraged to post photos of their “very aggressive” pitties and pittie mixes with kids and especially other animals! Its a positive page to show the Mayor that she’s wrong, DEAD WRONG, about this loyal, loving race of dog. It’s embarassing that her PR handler doesn’t do something to shut her up.

In a letter to Rodney Mahone, the president of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, a friend wrote “I find it very interesting that the very day your newspaper and specifically Mike Owen gets called out in an editorial questioning why your newspaper has denied repeated requests to do a news story on the ever growing citizen based No Kill movement in Columbus, you choose instead to do a rushed hack job of an article attacking local citizens.” “You did nothing but repeat the lies perpetuated by the Mayor once again in her effort to silence her opposition.” and ”Your news paper has proven itself to be nothing more then a propaganda machine and a liberal mouth piece for the Mayor.”

The article is filled with the Mayor’s blatant lies and exaggerations, as if she wrote it herself. The so-called “journalist” made absolutely no attempt to research any of the misinformation that the Mayor provided, including this gem, “When the woman went to feed the three dogs, the pit bull attacked and nearly killed the beagle and bit the woman when she tried to intervene, Tomlinson said.”. Nearly killed the beagle? Really Mayor Tomlinson? The adopter herself stated that her “beagle”, who is actually a mix weighing twice as much as Elijah, was not even harmed. She wrote “I’m proud to report (name of other dog) checked out fine at the Vet. He has one small scratch on his right ear and other then that… he is perfect.” What a joke. The Mayor is a joke! It would be bad journalism NOT to say it!

But in all seriousness, how many pit bulls will be killed, as a direct result of her comment?

I think it was said best by Georgia Attorney, Alison Buzzotta, who explained, “The situation became escalated due to a lack of transparency at the shelter. Animal Ark simply wanted to ensure that Elijah was being treated medically if necessary and that he would not be killed. AA was denied visitation and any information. In fact the city gave misinformation stating publicly he had already been transferred to another facility which was not the case. The reason for the concern is this is a high kill shelter (under the guise of being something else), that kills for convenience and arbitrarily, provides no medical care whatsoever in a majority if not all other cases, and that does not volunteer any information, even in regard to how many  pets they intake a month, without a legal open record request. This is an editorial and not an article as it has no substantiation of all the crucial facts.”

The Ledger article goes on to say, “Tomlinson said at first she hadn’t paid too much attention to the phone calls and letters exclaiming the abuse going on at the shelter, until she received unsolicited letters from national organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Georgia Humane Society, which warned her that the city was under attack by radical elements of the animal rights movement. Lisa Martin of the Georgia Humane Society wrote Tomlinson to tell her that, in her research of animal rights activists, she’d become aware of the campaign against Columbus and warned the mayor of their tactics: “Their method of operation, nationwide, appears to be to create negative media publicity and stir up public outrage against the local animal control facility – and then begin ‘demanding’ the firing of the current director and/or staff and then… it appears they are somehow able to get no-kill affiliated persons hired into key shelter positions.”

Kat Poteat, who was also mentioned in the article, contacted the Georgia Humane Society, whose mission states specifically, to ”Eliminate the killing of healthy animals in Georgia by implementing and promoting the no-kill equation throughout the state.” because, well, that just didn’t make any sense. In her response, the Founder of the Georgia Humane Society said, “I want to assure you that the statements made by Lisa Martin (a volunteer) do not reflect the views of the organization as a whole. I’m currently trying to get to the bottom of when and why she would make such a statement using our organization as her platform.”

I’ve already shared my opinion on the relationship between Tomlinson and PETA, but the Ledger article goes on to say, “Tomlinson also received a letter from PETA headquarters in Washington, D.C., warning her of the tactics she could expect. “On a daily basis, our office receives reports of shelters pressured to lower their euthanasia numbers by individuals and groups unfamiliar with the inner workings of animal care and control facilities (or the daily challenges and heartaches that shelter workers face), or, in some cases, efforts by volunteers or staff members to implement troublesome policies that are not in the animals’ best interests.””

Naturally, our Mayor believes that implementing “troublesome” programs like a Comprehensive Adoption Program, High-Volume/Low-Cost Spay Neuter, Foster Care Network, Working with Rescues, Pet Retention Programs to prevent Owner Surrenders, Proactive Owner Redemption to increase lost pet reclaims, Utilizing Volunteers, Public Relations/Community Involvement, providing Medical and Behavior Programs, and actually hiring a Compassionate Director (which are precisely the programs and services in the No Kill Equation) is “not in the animals’ best interests“.

She has lost her damn marbles.

At Columbus Animal Care & Control, their “treatment” of sick animals involves an injection of Fatal-Plus. Unconfirmed rumors are still circulating about Elijah being transferred to Best Friends Sanctuary in Utah but I am not optimistic. The “adopter” who is requesting/demanding that he go there, even told Animal Ark that she would personally drive Elijah to Utah to prevent him from being released back into their care. I, for one, do not believe Best Friends will even take Elijah, and wonder why somebody that is claiming to have been “attacked” by him, would then volunteer to drive him over half-way across the country.

The Lexus Project is a law firm that provides legal defense on a case by case basis for dogs believed to be improperly or unfairly facing dangerous dog designations or euthanasia. From their facebook page, “We want every dog brought to safety and we will help.” It is my belief that Elijah has been wrongfully classified as a “potentially dangerous dog”, warranting their help.

When asked if they will be helping Elijah on their facebook page, they share with us that the woman that adopted Elijah, a Ms. Ramsey, “stated she had just gotten of the phone with one of the Board people who also told her Elijah would be going for evaluation and for behavioral work. From all these conversations it appears that Elijah is indeed safe and on his way to a facility which can evaluate him. He is in good shape according to Ms. Ramsey who stated that she goes to visit him everyday. Lexus Project focuses on getting dogs safe… this now appears to be a custody issue over who really owns Elijah, which we do not get involved in. TLP applauds that they are doing the right thing and will follow the situation and looks forward to hearing when Elijah Finally goes to his permanent forever home.”

I find it very interesting, that while the Rescue that saved Elijah, networked for his care, and provided his medical treatment, is barred from even SEEING Elijah during his hold, this woman who had him in her home for less than 24 hours, who claims that he “attacked” her, and who then relinquished ownership to the city, is allowed to visit him every day. For what reason are they hiding him from the people who truly care about his well-being? I also wonder what sort of evaluation process this mysterious treatment facility will use, and what training the evaluators have been through. Something should be said about evaluating such a severely emaciated and unhealthy dog. It is not uncommon for some evaluators to use behavior problems such as food guarding to classify dogs as “unadoptable”, resulting in their untimely and unneccessary death. In reality, it is a behavior problem that can be easily modified, and certainly no reason for classification as a “potentially dangerous dog”.

Looking back at what happened that day, and considering the definition of a “potentially dangerous dog”, once again I do NOT believe that Elijah attacked unprovoked. HE is the one with bite wounds from the other resident dog. Ms. Ramsey herself stated on her own facebook page that her dog received no bite wounds, just a scratch, reason to believe it was HER dog that redirected toward her during the dog fight.

Regardless, if this is in fact a custody issue, should CACC be required to hold Elijah until it is sorted out? Is it fair for them to quickly ship him off to some undisclosed “treatment facility”? One thing we know for certain, the longer he stays at Animal Control, the longer he goes untreated.

In all bite quarantine cases, an owner is given the option to either board the dog at a veterinary clinic throughout the quarantine period, or to keep them at Animal Control. One may argue that Elijah should have been able to serve his quarantine at 2nd Ave, where treatment could be provided. Elijah was not given this option because his life and soul were surrendered into the custody of the city. For the past 26 days, they have refused him the care that he needs, care that a rescue is willing and able to pay for. If it were a citizen refusing medical care for a dog in his condition, they could be cited for animal cruelty and neglect. As I’ve said before, Columbus city officials and shelter leaders are apparently above the law. And again, according to Mayor Tomlinson, “We are fortunate to have such a compassionate Director, staff and Advisors!”

From another citizen, ”Where was the compassionate Director when Elijah layed dying in her facility in the first place? He was but skin and bones and no afford was made to give him any care than. Now that someone else paid for his medical care you all wanna be Hero’s ? Please tell us where he is going?”

The adopter is also claiming that Animal Ark misrepresented Elijah. She has even threatened legal action against the rescue, claiming that she was unaware of any behavior problems. Well we know this is not true, as we have multiple witnesses saying that she was warned of his food aggression. As with EVERY RESCUE DOG, there is no guarantee as to how they will transition into their new home, and especially a dog in his condition. She failed to follow specific instructions to keep Elijah’s E-collar on, and she failed to follow canine introduction suggestions.

Despite all this, the city is believing her every word, and the only reasonable explanation is because they have finally found somebody that can help them with their own ulterior motives.

Past Instances of Retaliation

• A volunteers eyewitness of abuse at CACC, with photo. Two days later, the Volunteer Program was cancelled. This sign is now displayed prominently.
• Functioning PetFinder account run by volunteers, forced closed citing “failure to update”. You can read about that here and here. In truth, the facility was receiving too many phone calls inquiring about animals that may or may not still be there. Since then, CACC has restored their PetFinder account but I’m not aware of ANY volunteers that have access, they do not include any notes about the pets temperament or personality as the original volunteer had, and they STILL do not keep it up to date. Today, the 26th of March, this litter of 8 puppies that were rescued by Animal Ark last week, Hercules, formerly Tag #195, who was also rescued last Friday, the 23rd, and others that are no longer at the facility, are all still listed on PetFinder
• Caitlyn Townsend was the Volunteer Off-site Adoption Coordinator for CACC and the first to hold offsite adoption events, developing and implementing the entire off-site adoptions program and often holding events along with Animal Ark Rescue to increase traffic. On Feb. 28th, Caitlyn was relieved of her duties, with the Director verbally citing the comments made on her public facebook page, Happy Homes, which has been the catalyst for the recent demand for shelter reform as the reason for her termination. When asked for justification in writing, the city refused, stating “Yesterday afternoon, Drale discussed the reasons for the action being taken. City staff will not discuss this any further, either with you or anyone else. We consider the matter closed.” We are still petitioning signatures for the Reinstatement of offsite adoption coordinator Caitlyn Townsend before presenting to Columbus City Council. More on this in a blog to follow…
• It was in May that No Kill Columbus, GA presented Mayor Tomlinson with an action plan for Columbus, requestion the implementation of the No Kill Equation at CACC. She requested a meeting where, instead of utilizing the ONLY proven cost-effective solution to reaching a 90% of more save rate (where no more that 10% of the animals taken in are killed), she presented the Save-A-Pet Program. After pressing Mayor Tomlinson for an ultimate goal for her program, she refused. While the No Kill Equation has a goal of reaching a 90% save rate, she protested, quite rudely in fact, to setting an objective. This is because the Save A Pet Program has none, giving her an excuse to be so defensive when it is scrutinized. It, arguably, has resulted in some improvement (improvement that can truly be credited to Happy Homes, the new rescues, and the community networking for the animals, but the Mayor refuses to admit that), but Columbus wants more. We won’t stop at a 45% kill rate (which was only ONE MONTH, hardly a true figure for the average kill rate), and we need a genuinely compassionate director to get us there. One that doesn’t kill animals to spite those that criticize her, one with a backbone who will do whatever is needed in order to save these pets. These are pets that have people willing and able to save them, and this is a city that supports life-saving efforts. In attendance to represent No Kill Columbus at that meeting, was myself, Bob Stoddard (who is the father of Caitlyn Townsend, mentioned above), one local citizen, and… guess who… The Director for Animal Ark. Are you surprised to learn that the Director of Animal Ark is also a leading member of No Kill Columbus, Georgia, or is it all starting to make sense?

Let’s not forget, that while the city now claims that Elijah is “safe”, they had undoubtedly made the determination to kill him rather than release him to Animal Ark. It was only after Animal Ark requested the hearing to repeal the decision, our fight to save him has gone public, and now that the city is outraged, that they have decided to take the high road. They have no interest in his well-being, only in preventing Animal Ark from caring for him. One person commented, “Never in the History of the Animal Advisory Board has a dog been sentenced to death. Never has the surrendering owner given a voice as what is to happen with the animal. Just this week a dog that bit a 3 year old child was released back into the home, and never has the Mayor been involved in a biting case! Someone please tell us what makes Elijah so special to the City? Oh, its because Animal Ark is affiliated with the No Kill Movement that the Mayor hates so much. So, to punish the people….you kill the dog! Nice move Madam Mayor, may you always be remembered for your stance against life and as a hindrance to the movement.”

Release Elijah to the People Who Love Him!

Sign the Petition. Help Free Elijah!

Mayor Teresa Tomlinson – ttomlinson@columbusga.org, (706) 653-4712
Drale Short, Animal Control Director – dshort@columbusga.com
Columbus Animal Care & Control – (706) 653-4512

This is an URGENT PLEA for a dog named Elijah who is being held captive in a Georgia “shelter”. Please visit the Free Elijah facebook page and after reading his story, please sign the petition at the bottom of the page. Join us in a fight for his life. Elijah is, first of all, a living breathing creature with a soul. There are people who have forgotten this.

In less than twenty-four hours later, on the first day of March, Elijah was back at Columbus Animal Care & Control, where he remains to this day, the 23rd of March, OVER THREE WEEKS later. A call to the city veterinarian confirmed that they can not release any information about Elijah, so there he sits in isolation, likely with no medical attention once again. The details of his impoundment will be presented below, as they were presented to the Animal Advisory Board in an effort to stop them from killing Elijah.

Again, Elijah is a living breathing soul. He was NOT fully recovered at the time of impoundment and has not been receiving the care he so obviously needs – for OVER THREE WEEKS he has been languishing at Columbus Animal Care & Control. We can only imagine what his health is like, if he is in fact alive. Staff will not allow anybody to see him.

You will never get him back
“The local animal advisory board refuses to release Elijah to Animal Ark Rescue [...] I am scared to imagine what condition he is in now. I am pleading for Elijah’s release, so he has the chance for redemption in a secure environment.  Elijah trusted me and this is an injustice to be forced to give up on him now.”

On March 22nd, in a blantantly arrogant comment on her facebook page, Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson said “Elijah will be going to a treatment facility thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our ACCC and our Animal advisory Committee. We are fortunate to have such a compassionate Director, staff and Advisors!”. It was the compassionate director, Drale Short, that told the Animal Ark, and I quote, ”You will never get Elijah back”. It was the animal advisory committee that made the determination to refuse Animal Ark access, and to kill Elijah if placement can not be found for him. This comment from the Columbus Mayor flaunts her complete lack of respect for her own constituants (who all know better, and tell her so often), and the rescues that fight to save her city’s pets.

What really happened that day?
We may never know for sure. These excerpts are either from notes taken by Animal Ark, or posts and comments taken directly from Free Elijah, Happy Homes, and other facebook pages.

• Elijah’s adopter made a phone call to the rescue, and spoke to a receptionist. She sounded winded and stated, “I need [president of Animal Ark], it’s about her dog, what’s the number to 2nd Ave vet” then she hung up and was unreachable. A call to 2nd Ave immediately after confirmed that the adopter did not call the vet hospital.
• The adopter finally returned Animal Ark’s calls, claiming that “Elijah attacked her dog in the laundry room, and that her neighbor had to come rescue her because she got bit and Elijah and her dog were on top of her in the yard and that her dog has to go to the vet. She said Elijah HAS TO GO, and that she didn’t want to call Animal Control but her neighbors made her, and that Animal Control made her sign him over to them.”
• In a third phone call, she changed her story, saying now that “Elijah attacked her. She said he is not hurt but her dog is, and that Animal Control told her that he has no wounds and that the blood on him belonged to her.
• After being impounded the second time, Animal Ark asked to see Elijah. “Elijah has bite marks on his face, ears and up and down his legs.”
• The other dog in the home was not impounded and remains in the adopter’s custody. Because she says it was Elijah that bit her, he was the one that was impounded.
• According to the neighbor, who answered her phone when Animal Ark called to check on her, the adopter was treated for puncture wounds at Acute Care.
• The neighbor posted this to their facebook page “They started fighting in the house and she was able to get them outside and then she for pinned in the ground (sic) up against the door with the pit and beagle on top of her.”
• Understandably considering his condition, Elijah does have some food-guarding issues with other dogs, not people. From Free Elijah, “the adopter was given clear instructions on how to introduce Elijah with her dog so nothing like this would happen. She was also told how not to feed them together, b/c of food aggression precautions.”
• From another witness ”it was the foster that told her in front of me that Elijah can not be fed together with other dogs” and “She talked about food guarding during the adoption and how no other dog could be near to sniff it.”
• However, Elijah’s foster said, after speaking to the adopter, “according to her [the adopter], she was not told of his aggression until I told her.” It is unclear whether the foster is referring to when she talked to the adopter at the time of the adoption, or over the phone after the incident.

It is my own assumption that within 24 hours of bringing Elijah into her home, territory belonging to her resident dog, and despite being warned about food aggression issues, a dog fight broke out. I believe that Elijah did not in fact “attack” her, but that she may have then tried to break up the fight, resulting in a dog redirecting toward her and biting her. The dogs continued to fight, and while I can not confirm whether or not her dog received any injuries, Elijah did. It is very unlikely, given his emaciated state, that he would “attack” her unprovoked.

With his adopter claiming that Elijah bit her, he would need to be placed on a 10-day bite quarantine. When the Animal Control officer arrived on the scene, Elijah’s adopter chose to relinquish ownership of Elijah to Animal Control, and in that moment he became the property of the city of Columbus. He would serve out his quarantine period at Animal Control, and would be killed. After some conversation about the Animal Control decision, they agree on a hearing to repeal the city’s decision to kill him, which bought him some time.

The verdict is in, but the decision was made long ago.
The Animal Advisory Committee met for a hearing on March 20th. They hardly took Animal Arks rebuttle into consideration, and are still refusing to release him. The city has deemed him a “potentially dangerous dog”, and it is obvious that they had made that decision well in advance.

A full definition of what constitutes a potentially dangerous dog can be found here, under Article 2, subsection 4-8-21, it states that a “Potentially dangerous dog” means any dog that without provocation bites a human being on public or private property. From Free Elijah, “Elijah did not attack, he was attacked by another animal and defended himself. That is not “without provocation”. He was provoked to defend himself, but yet he is suffering the consequences. The other animal in question was not held in quarantine, the owner has not been fined. Elijah is the victim.”.

From Animal Ark, on March 6, 2012, well before the hearing to determine the outcome of Elijah’s life, “I’m in Drale’s office when she tells me that I will never get Elijah back and that he will be euthanized.” Any rebuttle is futile, but Animal Ark presents their case regardless.

These are some of the items presented to the Animal Advisory Board:

• Transcripts from the owner’s changing story, first that Elijah attacked her dog, then that Elijah attacked her.
• Photos showing the treatment he had been given while in the care of Animal Ark
• Dr. LeFranc DVM at 2nd Ave Animal Hospital conveyed his opposition to Elijah’s dangerous dog classification.
• At the hearing, the Animal Control Officer dispatched to the scene testified on Elijah’s behalf. From Free Elijah, the ACO “stated that he [Elijah] was very docile, calm, and non-aggressive when he picked him up, took him in, and there has been NO instance of aggression while he has been there 22 days.”

Animal Ark offered to sign some sort of ”potentially dangerous” paperwork in order to save his life, and even offered to make Elijah a permanent fixture in the rescue, to never be adopted again, but they were refused. Just this week, Animal Control released another dog from bite quarantine that bit a child. What makes Elijah’s case so different, that would condemn him?

Their decision suggests a deep-seeded effort by the city to retaliate against their involvement in the ever-growing No Kill Movement. That argument has been presented in a follow-up blog. For now, we will keep the attention on Elijah, and getting him to safety, for his days are numbered.

What now?
“They say that they are trying to facilitate for him to go to Best Friends rescue in Utah, as this was the recommendation from the owner. She is very adament to not have him go to Animal Ark. They have given a deadline of next week to faciliate this transfer, and if not, he will be euthanzied.”

First of all, since WHEN does an owner that has relinquished ownership of an animal to the city, have ANY say whatsoever on the outcome of that dog? They relinquish all rights when they sign that animal over to the city.

I called Best Friends in Utah regarding placing an animal in their care. While I did not speak with anybody directly, I learned that “Aggressive animals, especially dogs that pose a risk to other dogs, need to be housed individually. There is very limited individual housing for dogs at Best Friends, therefore, we are unable to accomodate most requests involving dog-aggressive dogs”, so what is the “treatment facility” that Mayor Tomlinson if referring to?

I have no doubt in my mind that the city employee’s have no problem sending Elijah to another kill-facility, if not the Mayor’s friends at PETA. As one citizen commented on facebook, “Can we trust the Mayors or ACC word? With everything that has happened in the past I do not believe a word our Mayor says. I, for one want to see pictures of Elijah in his current stage , pictures of him going to Utah better yet why not have our local tv station do a story on Elijah on his journey to his new destiny.”

I would not put it past our city leaders to send him off to the folks at PETA to be killed, after all that is what they do best. We know that PETA supports the Mayors stance against No Kill, they wrote her a letter telling her so. We know that PETA will take ANY animal, no matter what condition they are in, and we know that PETA kills 95% of the animals they take. Instead of releasing Elijah back into the care of the people that have nursed him back to life, who have shown him love and compassion, and who have shed tears watching him regain strength enough to wag his tail, the city presents two options. Either he is released to some “treatment facility” which they will not elaborate on further, or he will be killed.

The entire situation is so brazenly unjust. The city of Columbus needs to be held accountable, they need to start answering for their actions. If Elijah is killed, or if he dies in their care while a licensed Georgia rescue (incidentally, with a flawless inspection from the Department of Agriculture) was willing and able to save him, they will experience a public backlash that they have never seen before.

Help Free Elijah
Share this blog and the others to follow. Check back for related blogs and articles from other pet advocates, which will be added to the bottom of this one. Talk to people about what is happening in Columbus, Georgia. Elijah has seen so little compassion in his short life, he deserves so much more than this. As long as he survives, there is hope. He has a soul, unlike those people in charge of his fate, and he does not deserve to die simply because he was saved by a rescue that is bringing to light certain things that city officials wish to remain concealed from public scrutiny. Animal Ark Rescue stands tall and speaks loudly for the welfare of Columbus’ animals, and this is direct retaliation.

Sign the Free Elijah Petition. Help Free Elijah.

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of emails for the mayor, city management, city council, news stations, folks at the Ledger Enquirer and the Atlanta Journal & Consitution. Feel free to use any of them you’d like to express your displeasure with the current state of affairs at Animal Control and within the Mayor’s office.

***UPDATED as of 04/01/2012***

In another follow up blog referring to the article below, Columbus Mayor Tomlinson falsely claims that Georgia Humane Society supports her stance AGAINST No Kill efforts, declares “Pit bulls are very aggressive”, and mindlessly echos her pals at PETA, saying No Kill is “not in the animals best interest”. Check out Georgia Mayor ignorantly declares “Pit bulls are very aggressive” in local paper.

3/29/2012 – A disappointment to many, the Ledger-Enquirer released article, “Animal rights activists attack city over pit bull Elijah”

And shortly after, WTVM releases this segment,

***UPDATED as of 03/29/2012***

Elijah’s supporters are utilizing social media networks to share his story nationwide. Only days after the FREE ELIJAH facebook page was created, they have almost 1,200 “likes” (and growing) and have gained support from across the country. Happy Homes and their 5,000 fans have helped his story spread like wildfire, as more and more animal lovers chime in to voice their concern. This blog has been shared on facebook pages like Animal Advocate – Georgia (reaching over 1,800 people, being shared 24 times), No Kill Revolution (reaching almost 15,000 people), and The Patrick Miracle (reaching over 127,000 people, resulting in 63 likes and 172 shares), to name just a few.

3/26/2012 – I wrote one follow-up blog, City Officials Refuse to Release Elijah to the Rescue that Saved His Life *FREE ELIJAH*, which addresses some of your comments and concerns, and also presents the argument that the city’s decision to keep Ellijah from Animal Ark is based solely on retaliation for recent No Kill efforts that have placed the Animal Control facility under the eye of public scrutiny.

3/27/2012 – Columbus’ Ledger-Enquirer released this article, “Saving Elijah. So just who are the radicals?”

3/28/2012 – Elijah’s plea has gained national attention! The Journal of Humanitarian Affairs released this article, about Elijah’s lack of medical attention. “Ernest Dempsey — Wounds bring pain, and untreated wounds can be deadly. This is what the Columbus Animal Control in Georgia needs to know and take seriously as they are holding captive a dog in need of urgent treatment but is not being taken to a vet for getting the same.”

3/29/2012 – The Ledger-Enquirer printed another Editorial, No Response, about the lack of coverage on the situation at Columbus Animal Control, by the local newspaper.

For one Columbus citizens emotionally charged rant on the issue, read Dear Mayor… I think you’re the vicious one!

In ^^Business as usual kill, kill, kill, thank you Save A Pet!^^, my friend Meg puts her two cents in on the Mayor, Animal Control, and their killing spree.

The Lexus Project was looking into the situation, but after Columbus’ Mayor Teresa Tomlinson made this comment on her facebook page, claiming that Elijah would be send to a “treatment facility”, the Lexus Project said “as of right now we have no reason to believe he is in danger and unless you have proof he is slated to die, tlp can not become involved”. Still, we remained insistent, pleading with them to consider the fact that city officials have lied time and time again. Then, Mayor later deleted her own comment from her facebook page, and it seemed as if The Lexus Project was back on board.

The Mayor responded to inquiries yesterday with ”Elijah has been getting care and has been placed with a special treatment facility.” however, later comments reveal that Elijah had not yet been placed, begging the question, does that woman even have a CLUE as to what she is talking about???

From the Lexus Project, “His own vet is very concerned about his legs. We spoke to him today. If his legs go septic from not being treated, he could lose his legs, if not his life.”. They then shared that they were “just informed that our Vet was able to see Elijah today and he is fine.”

A WTVM reporter had been interviewing those involved in Elijah’s case, and said that there would be a story airing on the news… perhaps it was when they contacted the Mayor that they pulled the plug and said instead, ”WTVM is monitoring Elijah’s story. We will not be covering it today.”. One person replied “I hope WTVM doesn’t let Mayor influence FREE SPEECH“, another with “What a shame that the city of Columbus’ government rules the media with such an iron fist!”

Columbus citizens are “tagging” their cars, to show their support for Elijah’s safe release.

Last night, WRBL aired this investigative report, asking the question, is Columbus up to the No Kill challenge?

They did a great job with this article, which CLEARLY shows how our city officials feel about what it is that we’re asking. This has been a great peek into the future of columbus’ pets, and it isnt looking too bright… but we can all either sit back and let them continue to simply “get by” and let them think that what they’re doing is right, or we can let them know how we feel.

 “I [Mayor Tomlinson] struggle with why we’re having such strong criticism from such a small group of folks, when there are so many other communities that are so far behind us, where their efforts and passions might be better directed.

She adds that in a perfect world, Columbus Animal Care and Control would not put any animals down, but stresses not only is it virtually impossible, but has also been proven to actually be harmful to animals.”

HARMFUL TO ANIMALS??? What I’m hearing from our Mayor is, ”What we’re doing now is enough”, “Direct your efforts elsewhere”, “Killing like this is neccessary” and basically “They’re better off dead”. Because Columbus Animal Control is an open-door facility – they take in any and all animals - she’s telling us that not killing them will lead to hoarding/warehousing, basically, ”They don’t belong in a cage, that’s why we kill them and throw them in the landfill instead”. This is not an original concept, defenders of the status quo often use this argument to counter No Kill efforts, and it has been debunked by Nathan Winograd, who developed the No Kill Equation and whose book, REDEMPTION, is a MUST READ for every animal advocate, rescuer, or animal lover dedicated to saving lives.

From Winograd’s organization, the No Kill Advocacy Center, a helpful document that addresses the Mayor’s irrational argument called Open Door/Animal Hoarding Myth explains… “No Kill doesn’t mean announcing a policy change and then getting bogged down with animals because you do not have the programs to keep animals moving through the system and into loving homes. No Kill means comprehensive implementation of the US No Kill Declaration which includes adoption, foster care, transfer to rescue groups, pet retention programs, spay/neuter, and helping people overcome medical, behavior and environmental conditions, which may cause people to relinquish their animals. Doing so eliminates the problem of “overcrowding”, unreasonable feared by sincere animal lovers and unfairly painted by cynical proponents of the status quo.”

In the long run, her comments will only speed the process, this entire article shows how little our city officials know about No Kill, and its time for Colmbus residents educate them and urge them to make some life-saving decisions (implementing the No Kill Equation) that will represent you, their contituents! Learn about your City Council Members, get their addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses here at the No Kill Columbus website, on the How You Can Help page, and contact them!

Call their offices, ask to sit down and talk to them, go down to Animal Control and ask those questions that need to be asked, BE LOUD and BE PERSISTANT, and dont take no for an answer! Let others know what you hear, too, information is key and they will not release is easily. That alone is reason enough to demand to know what the hell is going on that gives them the right to deny those animals their right to live, especially with us asking, BEGGING to let us save them. This “small group of people” is not as small as you think it is, Mayor Tomlinson.  This city is capable of more than she’s giving us credit for, it’s the adopters and rescuers that have stepped up and made a difference in the past year, but she’s too busy taking all the credit herself, patting herself on the back for her incredible Save A Pet Program…

Why do they continue to refuse to implement the No Kill Equation? The No Kill Equation is the one and only system that has ever worked in producing a 90% or more save rate, and yet Columbus is so astoundingly progressive that they have come up with something better – the Save A Pet Program. It’s been SIX MONTHS since the launch of the Save-A-Pet Program, and in just this past week alone, a Rottie and Chihuahua (a peculiar pair), both microchipped, sat at Animal Control for days. Their owners were AT Animal Control and left a description of their two missing dogs, but when the dogs came in together, they went unscanned and the owners were never contacted. Luckilly, is was a good samaritan that called the owners (who posted a lost pet ad on Craigslist) and told them their dogs were there at Animal Control. One lab mix, Lexie, had an adopter that left messages saying she would be there the next morning, but Lexie was still killed because the staff failed to check their messages (Read more about that at Meg’s No Kill Columbus blog)!

When the Mayor was contacted about Lexie, this was her response “This is a lie, or some one will be fired. We have a very strict policies that all email, voicemail and FB contacts are to be checked. We take this very seriously, so know that you will be contacted for an interview.”

And that, the Save A Pet program, is better for the animals than the No Kill Equation, Really? Why do they still refuse? Are they not smart enough? Do they lack the ambition? Is it because they dont WANT to save them all? Surely that cant be… but that is what they’re saying. They want to “save A pet”, and we want to save them ALL!

Here are just some of the comments from the Happy Homes facebook page…

“Yep, killing them isn’t harmful at all. What an idiot! What the heck was that about “such a small group of folks”?! I don’t think this classifies as a “small group of folks”! She really is truly insane!”

“It looks like it’s time to bombard city officials with how we really feel and get the message across.  These animals aren’t something to be tossed aside like a piece of garbage.  Show the mayor, show the city councilmen, show our state representatives just how small a group of caring people we really are!  A No-Kill Columbus Community is highly achievable and these animals deserve the chance to have a wonderful life!”

“I guess the combined supporters of HH and NK Columbus, which totals to about 6,000 likes on facebook, is a “small group of folks”….”

“The actions that are taking place within  Animal Control these days are truly horrific and scary for animal lovers locally … I am an animal lover with cats and dogs and it worries me that if one of my own were to be picked up if they woul…d have a chance in hell … I see the reports of pet owners who’s pets were microchipped but they were never scanned by animal control … the terrible outcomes for so many of them that find themselves there … even for the young and healthy …truly a sad day!” 

“Who was the idiot babbling about the duty of animal control is to keep scary animals off the street? Like the scary kittens I adopted? Yes, everyone could sleep better with those kittens behind bars. Yikes.”

“That’s bull crap, change does happen over night, u close the doors  as a high kill “animal control” and the next day u open as a NO KILL SHELTER! Seems pretty easy to me …”

“All our new  to the area citizens might not know where to look…..Our city officials  don’t mind them spending their money in our city and paying taxes helping our economy, why can’t we give a little back to them, oh by just doing the right thing! Do we need to maybe hire new employees at AC who actually give flip about getting these animals back to the right owners? This makes me so angry. There is no excuse for this. I hope our Mayor and City Officials give a flip about all the in coming citizens! I guess we will see….don’t continue to embarrass our city like this!”

“I’m glad I don’t live in Columbus and have to call her MY mayor.. BC I would move!!!! If u want to whine and cannot handle the CRITICISM then u should quit and should have never run for mayor in the first place!!!”