Memphis Animal Services (MAS) medical director Rebecca Coleman was written up by city officials for “cruel and inhumane treatment” after it was discovered that a dog with an embedded collar waited four days for medical treatment.
An embedded collar means the dog’s collar was so tight that it had grown into its neck. The dog in question had an infection from the in-grown collar. According to shelter records, Coleman was the only vet on duty when the dog arrived last fall, but she failed to treat the animal until four days later. At that time, not all of the collar could be removed because tissue had grown up around parts of the collar. The dog was later euthanized to ease its suffering. Although the incident happened last year, it had only recently been reported in the media.
Because of this and several other issues at MAS, the members of animal advocacy group S.O.S. Memphis are planning a demonstration at the corner of Poplar and Highland at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 19th.
According to the press release about their planned action, here are some of the other issues S.O.S. will be raising awareness about:
* A Great Dane entered the shelter wearing a muzzle. The dog sat in the cage for eight hours wearing the muzzle without food and water.
* A dog was euthanized in error because the employee did not follow shelter policy.
* An employee was fired but only after calling in sick 43 times and being tardy 40 times during a six-month period.
* An employee handled an animal inhumanely, dragging a dog with a catch pole.
