Tag: James Rogers

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Strickland Announces National Search For Animal Shelter Director

James Rogers

Memphis Animal Services (MAS) Director James Rogers is out of a job beginning January 1st, after Memphis Mayor-elect Jim Strickland terminated his position.

Now, Strickland will launch a national search for a new MAS director. In the interim, the office of Doug McGowan, the city’s new chief operations officer, will oversee shelter operations.

Over the years, Rogers, who was appointed by Mayor A C Wharton in 2012 as an interim director, has taken a lot of heat from local animal advocates for numerous clerical errors that resulted in dogs and cats being euthanized by mistake. Even though Rogers managed to increase the number of adoptions and decrease the euthanasia rate, the animal intake rate also fell during his tenure. 

Animal advocates from S.O.S (Save Our Shelter) Memphis and Community Action for Animals have speculated that the lower intake rate meant animal control officers weren’t working as hard as they could be. And during public Memphis Animal Services Advisory Board meetings, they often brought up the point that, when less animals are being taken into the shelter, it would make sense that less animals were being euthanized.

Jan Courtney, a member of S.O.S. Memphis, said she wants to see a new director who “has compassion for the animals who enter Memphis Animal Services.” She said she wants a leader who will work closely with rescue groups and the community to both increase the adoption rate and increase spay/neuters in the community.

Rogers did manage to do at least one thing the animal advocates were happy about. He opened to the public the stray area, which had been closed off for years following a decision by former MAS Director Matt Pepper. Courtney says she hopes the new director will leave that area open.

Additionally, she wants the new leadership to enforce a policy that would require animal control officers to show up in court for cruelty cases. Rogers was often criticized when his officers failed to appear in the courtroom on cases they were involved with.

Other items on Courtney’s wish list: a camera in the euthanasia room to prevent animal abuse, benchmarks with other progressive shelters with similar demographics to make positive changes for Memphis Animal Services, and yearly employee evaluations.

“When an employee does not meet performance levels, that employee [should be] suspended/terminated,” Courtney said.

Sylvia Cox with S.O.S. Memphis said the new director should evaluate employees every six months. Under the union’s Memorandum of Understanding, infractions recorded in their files do not count against the employee after six months.

Cox said she’d also like to see healthy animals held as long as possible before they are euthanized.

“Only if the shelter really is overcrowded, which it seldom is, or if there is a significant disease outbreak, should staff have to consider killing adoptable animals,” Cox said.

Cindy Marx-Sanders of Community Action for Animals released this wish list for what the organization would like to see in a new director:

A progressive, experienced director. One that would embrace the entire community in bettering the Memphis Animal Services.

One that will help make MAS a welcoming animal shelter that treats animals with the dignity they deserve and respects the human-animal bond and all that entails.

One that develops a team of concerned, diligent, responsible animal officers who represent and protect the animals AND the citizens of Memphis.

One that holds the MAS workforce accountable for their actions, promotes those workers deserving promotion, and terminates the workers who do not respect their job as animal and community guardians and who fail to perform to the highest standards.

One that represents Memphis in the best light and is able to bring the Animal Services into that light.

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Memphis Animal Services Advisory Board Discusses Shelter Cleanliness, Failure To Answer Phones

James Rogers

Animal advocates aired concerns about Memphis Animal Services (MAS) last night at the quarterly meeting of the MAS Advisory Board. Among those concerns were a lack of cleanliness at the shelter and a failure of employees to answer phones.

One woman in attendance asked why the shelter wasn’t cleaned every day before closing time, to which MAS Administrator James Rogers replied that the shelter is cleaned once a day, in the mornings. One member of the audience said she recently counted 43 kennels with dog poop that had not been cleaned. Rogers said “we’re scooping fecal matter all day.” He said shelter employees are supposed to scoop every 30 minutes.

Others brought up the issue that the phones at MAS aren’t always answered. Rogers said the employees who answer the phones also have other duties and are often tied up when the phone is ringing. Board member Taurus Bailey said he’d like to see MAS appoint a person to strictly manage phone duty and nothing else. 

As he does at every MAS Advisory Board meeting, Rogers presented statistics on euthanasia, live release (adoption/transfer), and intake. For the year to date, 2,935 animals have been euthanized, a number that is down considerably from 2009, when 10,730 animals were euthanized. 

But intake is also down. The shelter took in 8,053 animals this year so far, compared with 13,100 in 2009. Rogers implied that intake was lower because spay and neuter programs are cutting down the stray population, but Cindy Sanders, co-founder of Community Action for Animals, spoke up to say that she believed animal control officers simply weren’t taking in as many animals.

A breakdown of the intake numbers shows there may be some truth to that. Of that 8,053, only 4,556 animals were actually brought in by animal control officers. The other 3,448 were animals that were surrendered by their owners to the shelter. Dr. Steven Tower, the advisory board chair, said the number of animals being picked up by officers seemed very low.

Adoptions and transfers to rescue groups, lumped together as “live release,” were 4,519 for the year so far, compared with 2,020 in 2009.

As usual at the advisory board meetings, Rogers faced much criticism from animal advocates in attendance. Mayor-elect Jim Strickland has pledged to replace Rogers with a new Animal Services director after he takes office in January.

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Suspension Overturned For Animal Services Director

This dog was mistakenly euthanized by MAS.

Memphis Animal Services (MAS) Director James Rogers won’t be suspended after all. Rogers was facing a three-day suspension over the euthanization of a Rottweiler that was supposed to be featured in a Click Magazine back in May.

In a letter from the city Human Resources department, Director Quinton Robinson wrote that Rogers that “exercised reasonable judgement in believing your subordinate would successfully complete the request from a citizen that 12 animals be placed on hold for adoption.”

The dog that was mistakenly euthanzied, a five-year-old Rottweiler, was one of 12 pets from MAS to be featured in Click magazine’s May issue. MAS had agreed not to euthanize the animals that were photographed for that story. But a few days after the dog’s photos were taken for the feature, MAS staff overlooked the memo instructing them to hold the dog and he was put to sleep.

“It was a terrible mistake,” said Rogers told the Flyer back in May.

Following the incident, the city announced plans to suspend Rogers for five days. But that was later reduced to three days. And now, according to Robinson’s letter, Rogers won’t be suspended at all. Robinson’s letter indicated that Rogers and his staff would be required to undergo further training to prevent such incidents.

A number of animals have been mistakenly euthanized at MAS over the past year. Back in January, the Flyer reported that there had been at least six dogs mistakenly euthanized in the past year. In December, Memphis resident Vickie Carter took a stray pit bull to MAS after rescuing him from an attack by other dogs. She told the intake clerk and Rogers that, if no one claimed the dog before his review date (the day they’re either euthanized or placed up for adoption), she would adopt the dog. But on that day, when Carter came to the shelter to pick up the dog, he’d already been euthanized.

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Animal Shelter Mistakenly Euthanizes Dog Being Held for Magazine Feature

This dog was mistakenly euthanized by Memphis Animal Services.

A dog that was supposed to be featured in a May Click Magazine article on adoptable pets from Memphis Animal Services (MAS) was mistakenly euthanized before the issue even hit stands.

The dog, a five-year-old Rottweiler, was one of 12 pets from MAS to be featured in the magazine’s May issue. MAS had agreed not to euthanize the animals that were photographed for that story. But a few days after the dog’s photos were taken for the feature, MAS staff overlooked the memo instructing them to hold the dog and he was put to sleep.

“It was a terrible mistake,” said MAS Administrator James Rogers.

Beth Spencer, a local animal advocate, contacted Rogers on April 2nd about featuring the cats and dogs in the May issue of Click, where her friend works as editor-in-chief. 

“I asked if we could keep these animals alive until May 1st because of the publication date,” Spencer said. “He offered to get them ready for adoption and have them ready in case someone saw the magazine and wanted to adopt them.”

MAS typically euthanizes strays after 72 hours. But in this case, Rogers agreed to hold these 12 animals for 21 days.

“We were glad to oblige, but holding pets for 21 days is not something that we do at MAS,” Rogers said. “In the future, this is something that we’ll take a close look at to see if it’s something we can manage and do correctly. We don’t want to make promises we can’t keep.”

On April 21st, Rogers sent Spencer an email informing her that the Rottweiler had been euthanized. He said he was investigating what went wrong. The next day, Rogers sent Spencer another email that said there were “extenuating circumstances identified by our staff concerning this pet that we should have communicated with you,” and he offered an apology.

In an interview with the Flyer, Rogers indicated that the dog was put to sleep because it was underweight, had to be muzzled when handled by the vet clinic, and because it was heartworm positive. 

“Heartworms and being underweight are easily treatable and are not reasons to euthanize. His statement about the dog being underweight is a big stretch,” Spencer said.

She also said that many dogs have to be muzzled during certain vet treatments and that growling at the vet shouldn’t be considered an indicator of dog aggression.

Spencer requested the dog’s file from the city using the Freedom of Information Act. She shared that file with the Flyer. In the file, there is a note filed under “kennel comments” that reads “To be featured in Click Magazine DO NOT EUTH,” and just above that note, there’s another memo from April 19th that says “Animal time has expired. No hold memos at time of ER [euthanasia room] entry. No rescue response as of 4/19/2015.”

“Our staff missed the note that was put in there,” Rogers said.

Spencer pointed out that such mistakes happen all too often at MAS. Back in January, the Flyer reported that there had been at least six dogs mistakenly euthanized in the past year. In December, Memphis resident Vickie Carter took a stray pit bull to MAS after rescuing him from an attack by other dogs. She told the intake clerk and Rogers that, if no one claimed the dog before his review date (the day they’re either euthanized or placed up for adoption), she would adopt the dog. But on that day, when Carter came to the shelter to pick up the dog, he’d already been euthanized.

“I’ve been involved with rescue for about a year now, and this happens about twice a month,” Spencer said. “The people who are making these mistakes are not terminated, and that’s what needs to happen.”

Rogers said, if they agree to hold animals while awaiting a publication date in the future, that MAS will take extra steps to prevent the animals from being euthanized. Those steps include checking on the status of these pets daily and informing the customer of any change in status. He also said that he would have MAS staff make recommendations on which pets should be included in such features rather than allowing the outside group to pick out the pets.

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Memphis Animal Services Begins Adopting Out Dogs From Stray Area

CREDIT: Bianca Phillips

Last Friday afternoon, most of the 27 kennels in Memphis Animal Services’ (MAS) stray area were full. There were lots of pit bulls with wiggly butts and wagging tails, and there was a solemn Rottweiler and a well-groomed, fluffy, white dog. And there were a few energetic mutts of questionable heritage.

Before April 1st, most of these dogs wouldn’t have stood a chance since animals in the stray area of the shelter were not available for adoption. But MAS has finally ended its long-standing policy banning the public from adopting dogs from the stray area.

“We’re getting in some really good animals. [Before we opened the stray area], the animals in stray would sometimes be moved to Healthy Hold. But sometimes, they wouldn’t get that opportunity,” said MAS Administrator James Rogers.

Bianca Phillips

A dog in the shelter’s stray area last week

Healthy Hold is a sort of intermediate area, where dogs go as they await their move to the adoption area. There are 57 cages in Healthy Hold. The adoption area, which features animals that shelter staff has deemed “adoptable” based on temperament and health, has 72 cages. Before this month, the public was only allowed to adopt animals from the adoption area. In fact, unless one was looking for a lost pet, members of the public were banned from even entering the stray area.

The stray area was closed to the public in 2010 by former MAS Administrator Matt Pepper. At that time, MAS was located in an aging facilty on Tchulahoma, and Pepper told the Memphis Animal Services Advisory Board meeting back then that separating “adoptable” dogs from stray dogs would help prevent the spread of diseases, since some animals in the stray area were unhealthy. That policy carried over into the new facility on Appling City Cove under Rogers’ leadership.

But rescue groups and animal shelter reform advocates have been pushing MAS to reopen the stray area for adoptions since it closed. They say that many of the dogs in the stray area are adoptable and need to be given a chance.

“We are pleased that voices of animal welfare advocates in the local community are being heard and that quality pets being held in the stray area are being rescued/adopted from this area to become beloved family pets,” said Memphis Pets Alive Executive Director Linda Baxter. “If animals cannot be seen, they cannot be adopted.”

Members of the nonprofit Memphis Pets Alive go into the shelter each Tuesday, photograph every animal, and post those pictures on memphispetsalive.org and their Facebook page in an effort to better market the animals. They’ve recently been allowed to begin photographing the animals in the stray area.

Because some animals in the stray area could have serious health problems or show signs of aggression, Rogers said that not all of the animals in that area may be adopted. Once a person selects a dog from the stray area, shelter staff will assess the dog to ensure it’s safe to adopt.

“We make sure before we allow a pet to be adopted that we have vetted and temperament-tested the pet,” Rogers said.

By opening the stray area, Rogers says he’s hoping the shelter can improve its adoption rates.

Cindy Sanders of Community Action for Animals has been pushing for the stray area to be opened for years.

“This will definitely drive up adoption rates. It will save the lives of animals,” Sanders said. “But my question is, why did it take MAS years to get these changes made? Thousands of animals died before they were ever allowed to be seen. I’m thankful this is happening now, but it should have happened years ago.”

Sanders suggested that the fact that it’s an election year could have been a factor in the city’s decision to open the stray area.

“While we’re thankful for this, we hope that this is a true attitude of progressive change and not just [Mayor A C Wharton’s] way of stumping for votes,” Sanders said.

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Animal Advisory Board Discusses Missing Dogs, Shelter Surgery Backlog, and More

So far in 2015, two dogs have gone missing from the Memphis Animal Services (MAS) property, according to MAS Director James Rogers. One escaped through a hole in the fence on the front lawn of the shelter property on Appling City Cove, and the other missing dog remains a mystery.

James Rogers

“I can’t answer what happened to that dog,” Rogers told the MAS Advisory Board at their quarterly meeting at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Wednesday night.

The dog was checked into the shelter, but it’s no longer there. Yet it wasn’t recorded as being adopted. Rogers said he has spent hours combing through surveillance video to find out what happened, but he said there is still more video to watch. As for the dog that slipped through the fence, Rogers reported that animal control officers are on the lookout for the dog. The hole has been repaired, but he said there’s currently a ban on shelter animals on the front lawn until the city’s General Services division can do a thorough investigation of any areas of fence that may be compromised.

Rogers also reported that the shelter is a couple days behind on completing spay/neuter surgeries for adoptable animals. He said the shelter clinic is short-staffed and that the shelter is adopting out pets faster than they can keep up with surgeries. The board discussed the possibility of allowing rescue groups to take unspayed/unneutered shelter pets so long as they promised to have the procedure done elsewhere. Shelter policy currently doesn’t allow unaltered animals to leave the facility since the city has a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance. 

Some shelter reform advocates in attendance expressed support for the policy change, but they emphasized the importance of shelter staff following up with rescue groups to ensure the surgeries were performed. Board member Jill Madajczyk, the city’s deputy human resources director, suggested the city attorney’s office should draft a proposal on the policy change before the next MAS Advisory Board meeting. It would have to be approved by the Memphis City Council before the change could be instituted.

The board also discussed a proposal to allow rescue groups to foster animals that are being held at the shelter for court cases. Animals involved in abuse and neglect cases are currently held at the shelter while the person charged awaits a court date and throughout the trial. But if the proposal goes through, rescue groups could house those pets in their homes or facilities. If the person charged in the case is found guilty, the rescue group could keep the animal.

In his quarterly report, Rogers announced that, in the past 90 days, the shelter has had more live releases (adoptions, return-to-owner) than euthanasias. The shelter has a live release rate of 62 percent so far this year. Critics of the shelter often point out that live releases are up and euthanasias are down because the shelter is taking in significantly less animals than it did several years ago when the euthanasia rate was much higher. But at Wednesday night’s meeting, Rogers said he believed intake rates were down because the city was “making in-roads into reducing the animal population.”

“I wanted to know why the intake rate was down, so I called Bartlett and Collierville [animal shelters], and they are also having lower intake,” Rogers said.

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Shelter Kills Dog That Had Guaranteed Adopter

CREDIT: Bianca Phillips

At least six times in the past year, Memphis Animal Services (MAS) has euthanized an animal that had already been claimed for adoption.

This past weekend, animal advocates gathered at Union and Cooper to protest the latest such incident, which occurred in mid-December.

“We want to stop the clerical errors, which is what [MAS administrator] James Rogers calls them. These are not clerical errors. A dog dying that could have been adopted is not a clerical error,” said Jan Courtney of Save Our Shelter (S.O.S.) Memphis, the group that organized Sunday’s protest.

Bianca Phillips

S.O.S. Memphis protests the shelter’s mistake.

The most recent situation began on December 16th, when Vickie Carter noticed a pit bull mix being attacked by two other dogs in a neighborhood near the animal shelter. She pulled her car over to break up the dog fight.

“My car door was open, and the dog [that was being attacked] jumped into my car and hopped into the backseat. So now I have this pit bull in my car, and I didn’t know what to do with him,” Carter said.

She wound up taking him to MAS, assuming that since the dog was in the neighborhood, his owner may check the shelter to find him. She told the intake clerk that she would leave the dog there for the three days that a surrendered animal has to stay, and if no one claimed him, she would adopt him. The dog’s review date (the day they’re either euthanized or placed up for adoption) was December 20th.

On that day, Carter returned to the shelter, only to be informed that the dog had already been euthanized.

Rogers admitted that the shelter was at fault. He said the technician on duty that day failed to input Carter’s request to adopt. He said a fact-finding hearing will be held and necessary disciplinary action will be taken.

“Steps are in place to ensure this does not happen. The technician failed to follow those steps,” Rogers said in an emailed statement.

Such clerical errors are nothing new, according to records kept by members of S.O.S. Memphis. Back in February, a dog named Josie had a card on her cage that showed she had an adopter, yet her name was not taken off the euthanasia list, and she was mistakenly put to sleep.

“I had a personal experience with this,” Courtney said. “I emailed MAS about a dog on May 23rd, two days after the dog had been picked up [as a stray]. I specified that someone was interested in this dog. But on the dog’s review date, I emailed MAS to see if I could pick up the dog. I received an email back that the dog had already been euthanized, and they claimed they did not receive my original email.”

In August, a rescuer expressed intent to adopt a 2-month-old puppy, but like in Carter’s case, no record of that was made and the puppy was killed. The same thing happened with a 4-month-old puppy in October. In September, a rescuer’s intent to adopt a German shepherd was recorded, but the dog was euthanized anyway.

Carter said she would have never taken the dog she picked up in December to MAS had she known that the shelter had a history of clerical errors.

“This was my first experience with MAS. I had no idea about the horror stories that go on there. Now I’m learning that the same thing has happened over and over and over,” Carter said. “Now I’m going to start doing everything I can to get things changed there. Not every animal can be saved, but they can at least try.”

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New Animal Shelter Hours Are Controversial

Last week, Memphis Animal Services (MAS) began opening its doors seven days a week, a move shelter director James Rogers believes will lead to more adoptions. But shelter reform advocates say the hours will lead to more animals being put down.

Previously, MAS was open Tuesday through Saturday, and now the shelter is open every day of the week. Although the shelter will now be open for a few hours on Sunday and Monday, adoption services will be limited. Visitors may select an animal to adopt on those days, but the animal cannot leave the shelter until Tuesday.

“If they’d like to rescue a pet, and they see a pet they would like, they can acknowledge that on Sunday or Monday. They can come back and pick up the pet on Tuesday. We won’t have any veterinary services [on Sunday or Monday],” Rogers said.

Rogers said the hours were changed to make the shelter more accessible to people — either potential adopters or people looking for lost pets — who cannot get there on weekdays.

But even though the shelter is open more days per week than it previously was, the shelter actually reduced hours on other days and, on Saturday mornings, a couple of hours are reserved for owner-surrenders only. In the end, public access for all services is actually reduced from 34 hours per week to 32 hours per week.

“That change is probably considered minimal by a lot of people,” said Sylvia Cox of Save Our Shelter (SOS), a shelter reform advocacy group. But Cox points out that the new seven-days-a-week hours have caused a new problem for strays that may lead to more animals being euthanized.

Stray animals are held for three business days, the state minimum, before they are euthanized. Cox said, previously, when the shelter was closed on Sundays and Mondays, those days didn’t count toward the three business days.

So if a loose animal was picked up by animal control on a Friday, and it’s owner wasn’t able to get to the shelter until Wednesday, the animal would still be alive at the shelter. With the new hours, that animal picked up on a Friday would be put to sleep before the shelter opens on Tuesday.

“They are only open for three hours on Sunday and Monday, but now those days will count as business days for the stray’s holding period,” Cox said.

Rogers contends that, despite the short hours on Sunday and Monday, people still have ample time to locate their lost pets.

“People will have had the opportunity to look at [pictures of strays] posted on Facebook, to look at [national animal shelter photo website] Pet Harbor, to come to the facility, or to call us,” Rogers said, touting the fact that euthanasia numbers have dropped to their lowest point in years (from around 13,200 animals in 2009 to 7,600 animals in 2013) and adoption numbers have increased.

SOS monitored the shelter’s first weekend with the new hours.

“People were told that they could not adopt any animals. That means that they could not complete the adoption paperwork and pay the adoption fee,” Cox wrote in an email. “There were no clerks working that would process adoptions or reclaims, so even if an owner of a lost pet had found their pet there on Sunday or [Monday], they could not ‘reclaim’ that pet because they could not pay the fees. They would have to wait until Tuesday to actually get their pet, if it’s not killed by then.”

Rogers admitted there were some kinks: “As with all changes in organizations, there were glitches this weekend. We are just like any other company, and we had our share this weekend. It was the first weekend, and all wrinkles will be ironed out.”

Cox said SOS will continue to monitor the shelter’s euthanasia and adoption statistics to see what effect the new hours may have.

New hours for Memphis Animal Services

Sunday     12:00 pm – 3:00 pm   all access

( no owner surrender )

Monday     12:00 pm – 3:00 pm   all access

( no owner surrender )

Tuesday     1:00 pm – 7:00 pm   all access

Wednesday  12:00 pm – 5:00 pm   all access

Thursday    1:00 pm – 7:00 pm   all access

Friday     12:00 pm – 5:00 pm   all access

Saturday    9:00 am – 12:00 pm  

( owner surrender only )

Saturday   12:00 pm – 4:00 pm   all access

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Memphis Animal Services May Cut Hours

Dani Rutherford protests the proposed MAS hour cut on Sunday.

  • Beth Spencer
  • Dani Rutherford protests the proposed MAS hour cuts on Sunday.

Come August, Memphis Animal Services may be open nine fewer hours per week.

Memphis Animal Services director James Rogers made the announcement last week that the city shelter may be cutting its business hours due to budgetary concerns.

The news came during the quarterly public Memphis Animal Services Advisory Board meeting. Rogers said the shelter is looking at changing its hours to noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday and Monday.

Currently, the shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. It is currently closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Although Rogers cited the city’s budget woes as the reason behind shortened hours, there has been no reduction of staff or staff hours at the shelter. Rogers said that by shortening the shelter’s public hours, he hopes to make time for more spay and neuter surgeries on adoptable animals.

“We are dedicated to making sure we give the best service with the budget we are given,” Rogers said. “What we are trying to do is increase the number of adoptions out. How we do that is have more time for our surgeons to complete adoptions within a certain window.”

Shelter reform advocates at the meeting argued that under the new MAS hours, those with 9-to-5 jobs will not be able to retrieve a lost pet. They said the new hours also give a lost animal less of a window of time to be retrieved before being euthanized.

“MAS … [has] to follow a protocol that keeps an animal alive for at least three business days while the owner tries to locate them,” said Cindy Sanders, co-founder of Community Action for Animals. “Under these new hours, with Sunday and Monday being open for only two hours, if a dog comes in on Friday and the owner can’t make it to the shelter in that small timeframe, the pet could be euthanized on Tuesday.”

The reduced hours at the shelter will also make things harder for Memphis Pets Alive, a local group that posts photos online of shelter animals up for adoption. Volunteers from Pets Alive take the photos every Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., but under the new hours, the shelter won’t be open then.

Memphis Pets Alive Executive Director Linda Baxter said her organization had no idea a change in hours was being made. She’s also concerned that MAS’ adoption discount days, Wag Along Wednesday and Yappy Hour, which are held in the evenings, will be affected by the new hours.

“We have more than 5,000 followers on Facebook, and we work rigorously to network our photos of adoptable animals around the country,” Baxter said. “Not only are the highly successful Wag Along Wednesday and the Yappy Hour programs being eliminated under these hours, but the small window that we had to get photos of all available animals at the shelter is now closed.”

The MAS Advisory Board passed a motion recommending the shelter to stay open on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 7 p.m., but the final decision on the hours rests with city Parks and Neighborhoods Director Janet Hooks. She expects to make a decision by mid-August. Sanders and Baxter feel that this is the latest in a series of mistakes made by MAS.

“The lack of knowledge, lack of training, and lack of sympathy has led to a lot of really bad decisions by Mr. Rogers, but this is by far the worst decision he has made,” Sanders said. “The fact that he states it’s a budgetary decision is insulting. He blames this on the budget when he admitted at the meeting that he was not cutting personnel or people’s hours.”

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Memphis Animal Services Enforces Policy Banning Photographs of Certain Animals

These puppies were photographed by Memphis Pets Alive last Tuesday.

  • These puppies were photographed by Memphis Pets Alive last Tuesday. They have since been euthanized.

For more than a year, volunteers with Memphis Pets Alive have photographed every animal in the public viewing areas at Memphis Animal Services (MAS) each Tuesday evening. But last week, volunteer Dani Rutherford was asked to skip over the dogs in the shelter’s “healthy hold” area.

The healthy hold area is where potentially adoptable animals that have been at MAS for less than 72 hours are held. When a stray or owner-surrendered animal comes into the shelter, it is put under a 72-hour review. After 72 hours, if the animal isn’t claimed by an owner, MAS’ staff decides whether or not it will have a chance at adoption or be euthanized.

Since Memphis Pets Alive, a volunteer-run group that tries to market animals at MAS by posting pictures of the animals on Facebook, was formed last year, the technician who escorted the group around the shelter let them photograph those animals under the 72-hour hold.

But now MAS administrator James Rogers claims the group has been violating a policy that bans photographs of animals in the healthy hold area. Rogers was not available for interviews, but he posted a statement about the policy on the city website.

“Sharing photos of animals housed at MAS prematurely may create an unintentional reality of misleading a potential adopter into thinking that an animal is available when the pet may belong to another pet owner,” reads the statement. “MAS views the emotional trauma of such an unfortunate misunderstanding too great a risk and therefore asks rescuers and MAS partners, such as Memphis Pets Alive, to allow the 72-hour holding period to expire before taking and sharing photos of those animals.”

But Linda Baxter, president of Memphis Pets Alive, said they weren’t marketing the pets from the healthy hold area as being up for adoption but rather letting people know the animals are there. In fact, she said there have been cases when people who had lost their pets found them at the shelter through photos posted to the Memphis Pets Alive Facebook page.

“Our Facebook page clearly states that these animals are located at Memphis Animal Services. We do not say they are up for adoption,” Baxter said. “This is just a method of getting these photos out there in the community for people to see them so that, at the end of 72 hours, if the owner hasn’t claimed them, rescue networking can already be done.”

For the animals that may be euthanized at the end of the 72 hours, those few extra days of networking can be crucial.

And according to statistics from Save Our Shelter, a group aiming to reform MAS, the instances of owners reclaiming their pets from the 72-hour hold aren’t very high anyway. In March 2014, MAS took in 879 animals, and only 47 were reclaimed by their owners.

Baxter said, unless the policy is changed, her group will honor it, but rather than photographing animals once a week, they will try to send a volunteer every day to take pictures of animals as they’re released from the 72-hour hold. If those animals are to be euthanized, however, there won’t be much time to market them to adopters before it’s too late.

“This [policy] is going to directly lead to the death of animals,” said Cindy Sanders, co-founder of Community Action for Animals, another shelter reform group. “Mr. Rogers is always saying he is going to make MAS a world-class shelter. This is so counter-productive to being a world-class anything.”