We CAN'T Let This Happen Again

I am writing because I have a deep and sincere love for animals and want the animal control in M******* K* operating under the highest standards. That conditions within the shelter are kept sanitary, individuals who take time to stop by are welcomed, and most of all that when necessary animals are put down with love and regret after all avenues of rescue have been completely and utterly exhausted.

If you have one. I ask that you keep your dog in mind as I share my story with you. Your loyal furry friend is for whom I write. Should your pet end up at the animal shelter. I, in total, have adopted three dogs from the local shelter. We went in to adopt one but due to my daughters insistent demand for a "fluffy" puppy AFTER Mommy had already fallen in love with a 'not so fluffy' puppy resulted in the adoption of not one but two. When adopting our dogs from the shelter we found some of the individuals there borderline rude and unfriendly but the director was nice and helped us pick out the best pets possible.  I was given a third dog by a photography client who could not afford to pay cash for her sons photo's. Instead my husband arranged a Valentines surprise. (The one and ONLY time he has ever surprised me.) A sweet bundle of fluff. My very own Yorkie . I later had to reclaim him from the animal shelter so technically he was our third adoption. When I had to reclaim and adopt him I found some of the workers there borderline rude and unfriendly once more. I didn't think they believed me that they had MY dog and I almost got frantic at one point trying to convince her that yes it was my Spunky she had. Eventually the director was consulted, she was nice to me and made the ultimate decision that yes it was my dog and I was given the option of adopting him to get him neutered and microchipped. I was happy to do so since it was something on my to-do list that kept getting put off.

Valentines Day 2012 * My first and only 'surprise' from my Husband. 

We quite frankly had to chase after our dogs often. Apparently it was their life mission to escape. Combine that with the fact that we have seven kids, including a foster son whose personal life mission is to let the dogs out of the yard. (A game we actually much prefer to the one he played at his home which was escape himself.) I'm sure you can see why we had such trouble keeping our dogs in. We even had to let the dogs walk around the house with a leash on at all times to make catching them easier. We were no strangers to the shelter either. We had to pay $** to get Fluffy out once because he was kept over a weekend because they would not let me come immediately when they called outside of 'business' hours. A fee I gladly paid to have him back. In total I have paid the shelter in the neighborhood of $*** for adoption and reclaiming fees. We felt we had invested into the shelter and were happy to do so.  Investment worthwhile ONLY because we had three beautiful loving pets who were neutered and microchipped. Pets who played a very important role in the emotional healing of my foster children. (There are some things you can't talk about that you can cry into the fur of a pet about.) The microchips were a safety net that gave us a peace of mind that when they got out we would be able to have them safely returned.

On September 28, 2012 my sweet dogs ran out into the rain when we were trying to get the kids loaded up. Our foster children had a visit with their biological family. We were running late and had a long drive so we did not pursue them. I knew that if they had not returned to the porch when we got home the animal shelter would call as soon as they were scanned to let us know we needed to come pick up our fur babies. When I hadn't seen them or heard from the animal shelter by Monday I posted Fluffy's picture on the shelters Facebook page. I let them know to keep an eye out. I was told to call and fill out a lost report. I did not because they were microchipped and as silly as it sounds, adding such a menial task to my to-do list was overwhelming. They are microchipped they have all the info they need I thought.

Days slipped by and then weeks.

We did not worry to much because we figured someone took them in and was loving on them. Eventually they would escape and make their way home or to the animal shelter. They truly were the sweetest most loving boys and everyone who met them fell head over heels in love with them. When I found some good pictures I posted them on Facebook asking people to circulate their photo's so we could get them home.

It had been to long. It was way past time to get them home.

I also posted their photo's to the shelter's Facebook page again and was once more told to call them and fill out an official lost report and this time 'please keep us updated.' As their photo's started to circulate I got numerous urges to check the animal shelter in person. Nasty heart wrenching accusations started filling up my inbox. Most alarming, "the director does not always check incoming animals for microchips and has a history of putting microchipped dogs down." An accusation I did not believe. The director knew us. I mean we weren't exactly friends but we had been in and out of the shelter. She knew us. She knew our dogs. Even if she didn't scan them she would recognize them and call me. Sure she probably didn't think I was the most responsible pet owner as often as she saw me about my 'lost again' dogs. I knew from the judgmental glances and borderline rude treatment I received there that we were seen as bad pet owners. I didn't let it bother me because I knew they didn't know everything about me, they didn't know my story, and I knew I was a good Momma to my boys. Even if she didn't know my heart towards my animals I know she knew we had several kids and had to realize we loved our pets fiercely otherwise why would we pay $ to adopt and reclaim them time after time. Even still I couldn't help but stop by in person just to double check. I stopped by in person last Friday. I spoke with the director directly, asking her if she remembered me. Ashamed to be seen as that 'bad' pet owner once again. She did, and she took my information down once more and went through the book right in front of me checking through the reports of dogs called in found to make sure they hadn't been phoned in. They hadn't. I let her know I had heard some nasty little rumors and wanted to make sure she scanned every dog that came in for a microchip. She assured me that she did. Before I left she said something about human error and sometimes we make a mistake but yes we scan every dog and document it. I left feeling assured that our dogs had not been there and were somewhere being loved on by a new family. That was enough for me.

When my youngest outgrew her bouncy seat we let Fluffy take ownership. He LOVED this 'bed.'

Yesterday I received a phone call from the director. She asked me if I could come down to the shelter. I knew from the tone of her voice the news she had. I said please just tell me over the phone. I knew she was going to tell me that my dogs had been hit and brought in. Uhm… not exactly. She assured me that she brought this matter before the board before calling me.  I was told that she had my dogs but she decided not to call me because she felt that if I truly loved my pets I would call or come in to the shelter. She put them up for adoption. When they were not adopted she again chose to not call me. She chose to murder them instead. She informed me that the board voted and said I could have my adoption fees refunded. I felt that the board's offer to refund me my money was a slap in the face. This is not about money. This is about our pets. No amount of money could fix this problem. I tearfully asked her if instead my children could come pick out a new dog. {Something that in all honesty I am not ready for. No dog could replace my Fluffy and Spunky boy. But at the very least we could save another dog from their fate.} She said she would ask and call me back. That was the end of our conversation.

Imagine that your dog was brought into the shelter wearing a collar and a leash. Imagine that dog is microchipped. Imagine that the shelter director made a snap judgement based upon incomplete knowledge that you were not a responsible pet owner so your dog deserved a new family, a better family. Imagine that a new and better family does not step up. So she takes it upon herself that death is a better option for your dog. Better than returning him to you because you were not able to keep him from running out the front door when a four year old child opened the door to join his big brothers.

Would that be acceptable?

If it was your dog, what action would you want taken? Would a notation in the director's file and the return of $*** be sufficient?

I would much rather put every dog down myself knowing that I have done everything possible to save their lives than have someone else making that decision based on judgements that are not authorized to be made. I have considered this long and hard. This is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It is just two dogs. {Much more than that to us, but to the world, they are just two dogs.} Then again, if we can't do right in the small things. How can we do right by the bigger things in life? If we, in little ol' M******** K*, can make sure that our local animal shelter is run to its absolute very best, then perhaps that excellence could be carried over to more important areas in our local government, and perhaps that could spill over into our state government, and to our National. I feel like we can't blame the White House if we don't do what is right in our house. That is why I am taking the time to write. That is why I am petitioning everyone who will listen to me. That is why I will shout my story from the rooftops for any who will listen. This animal shelter is run by good people that love animals and who are doing the best that they can; however, I feel we can all agree that we must demand better.

My Spunky Boy DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE His death was pointless and 100% avoidable.

I am not sure what is the right course of action here. I am not sure what needs to be done. I first and foremost take the blame for this situation. If I had not allowed my dogs to run off into the rain or if I had not trusted in the microchips and gone to the shelter in person my dogs would still be alive. Above all else. I carry the burden knowing that this whole situation is entirely my fault. That being said, I feel strongly that we do not need to brush this under a rug, I believe strongly that we must do what is right in all situations. If this happened to my dogs what else is going on? Since that heart wrenching phone call yesterday I have spoken with numerous individuals. I have been told that the director does a job no one else wants. I have been told that she is ex-military and can handle the demands of her job in a way that most can not. And that she is more honest than some of the past directors who embezzled funds. I commend her for stepping up and being honest when she didn't have to be. I thank her for that. However, this is not an accidental oversight. It is not a one time mistake. She has allegedly put dogs down that were microchipped before. Accident or not we will never know. This was NOT an accident though. She made a judgement she had no right to make and made a decision to murder my children's pets. Though I am sure she is good person and loves the animals dearly, and does well with the demands of her job, she has demonstrated that she can not be trusted to make the best decision for the animals and the families of Mayfield who invest in the local shelter by adopting their pets instead of buying brand new puppies with papers and pedigree.

I am seriously considering submitting for the boards consideration a recommendation for a new director and some proposals on how this individual can do work above and beyond to make sure that the shelter is not only the best that it could possibly be but set a new standard for low funded, over populated shelters everywhere.

If you have the time to write on our behalf as well I would appreciate it. I am writing board members for sure. I am considering a letter to the editor in the paper as well… I don't know… what do you think? I mean, I really don't want to be all 'off with her head job' over this, but then again, seriously? I just don't know. I need level headed advice…

Fluffy after a trip to our favorite groomer. 

What is the best move here?

A new policy or procedure won't fix it because this wouldn't have happened in the first place if protocol was followed.

How do we fix this?

Seriously, a note in her file and a partial refund of what I have invested into the shelter just isn't going to cut it.

That is all I know for sure.

PS.) Due to my sob filled phone call with the director I was not able to hide this from my children. I didn't leave the room because I thought I knew what she was going to tell me and I prepared myself mentally and didn't expect to cry. When I heard the truth I couldn't choke back the tears and the kids followed me to hear my side of the conversation. They are all to aware of what happened. This is the message they have to share about their much loved pets…

{We WILL be delivering these to the director in person.}

I love Spunk so much. Because he is my puppy. I forgive you.  (7 year old daughter)

I like when he (Fluffy) licked. I forgive you. (9 year old foster son)

I forgive you. I love my pup because I like him following me.
(She ran out of room she also wanted to write.. "and him chasing me and him licking me.")
6 year old daughter.