Matthew Pepper didn’t have a dog’s chance of success at the Memphis Animal Shelter.
As the new, improved head of the City of Memphis agency, he was under fire from the day he walked through the door. He inherited an agency rocked by controversy that ranged from simply stupidity to animal cruelty.
As a career animal control officer with a passion for his job and the animals, he knew how emotional things can get when animals are involved, but surely he believed that his professional background and personal commitment were strong testament to his seriousness about his job.
He never had a chance. From the beginning, he had a target on his back…if not a webcam…and almost any action by his staff was forced into a prescribed narrative of uncaring workers who abuse the animals in their care (not that there weren’t things that kept concerns alive). No one who knows him suggests that he would countenance such behavior or abide by it in his agency. He’s the kind of animal control official that doesn’t ask anyone to do something that he’s not willing to do himself – from chasing down animals to cleaning out cages.
Headline News
City government’s Civil Service policies make it hard to fire anyone, and there’s little question that he could have benefited – and wished for – more latitude than what is allowed by city government’s personnel rules. That’s a familiar chorus heard from many government managers who call for more balanced policies that allow quicker action to get rid of bad apples in the workforce.
But the controversies at the Animal Shelter also shined a light on one of today’s most tiresome national pastimes, developing a firm opinion about somebody or a situation with only partial information. In that mode, some of the animal rights advocates screaming about Mr. Pepper and his agenda for the Animal Shelter have about as much objectivity as Nancy Grace. It’s little wonder that personal threats and bomb scares are simply part of daily life at the Animal Shelter.
We’re not saying that we don’t think concerns about the Animal Shelter were misplaced. Even Memphis Mayor A C Wharton himself, upon taking office, labeled it a disaster that would define the management city government’s work by his administration. There are some pundits that we respect who say that the mayor himself made this a big news story by setting it as the yardstick by which to judge his administration, but even if you agree, it’s hard to justify the current blood in the water media coverage of every issue involving the Shelter.
In this environment, it’s often opinion first, facts later. Last week’s poster child for this was the photo of two Shelter employees with pit bulls on leashes that appear poised to attack each other. There were reports that employees were conducting dog fights inside the Animal Shelter, but the web cam showed clearly that the employees were simply trying to control a troublesome dog.
Scandal de Jure
We are not trying to diminish problems at the Shelter, but we do diminish people who determine their opinion and then drive the facts to support it. A few weeks before, the scandal de jure was the fact that carcasses of euthanized animals were being put in the landfill because the incinerator was broken and the city had no funds for its repair. There was less uproar a few years ago when The Commercial Appeal ran a story about the poor and stillborn babies born in Shelby County Government’s version of “potters’ field.”
Incineration is preferable for a number of reasons but optics ought to be way down on that list. More interesting to us is that city budgets have been pared down so much that there’s no funding for emergencies like the breakdown of an incinerator. Either that or the budgetary process has a gap in information and departments aren’t assessing equipment to determine their life cycles, conditions, and costs of replacement or repair.
Regardless, we have had a steady diet of Animal Shelter reports, rumors, and innuendos, and despite some progress and the plan of action by Mr. Pepper to improve operations, responsiveness, and professionalism, it’s hard to imagine that he could do anything to satisfy a hard-core group of animal rights critics.
It’s inarguable that some of the most incendiary claims have hurt their credibility. Also, it’s been off-putting to see a group of Caucasian activists investing this much energy on dogs in a majority African-American city with 40% of its children living in poverty.
What Matters Most
For each dog at the Memphis Animal Shelter, there are 181 children living in poverty that puts them at risk for options for the future that the rest of us take for granted. While we appreciate concern about a caring environment for dogs at the Animal Shelter, we wish that there was as much interest, emotion, and media attention about an environment that gives every child in Memphis an equal start in their lives and equal opportunities for success.
They live in neighborhoods with 50,000 vacant houses, there are half as many as 30 years ago, more than half the families live on less than $8,700 a year. Most of the children’s friends were born out of wedlock and live in a single female-headed household.
Here’s the thing: we were appalled by conditions of the dogs at the city animal shelter, but we think there are reasons to hold protests on the other days of the years when it’s not about animals, but people who are being emotionally starved and educationally malnourished.
As former Indianapolis Mayor Steven Goldsmith said: “It’s not just that poverty is morally inappropriate. It’s also economically dangerous.” That’s why it’s in the enlightened best interests of every Memphian to put the most attention and investment of time into the at-risk children who live just a few miles from the rest of us.
We’re ready to protest lack of action about that anytime anyone wants.
It is not an “animal shelter” It is an animal killing field. Compassion is not limited.. it is acaully possbile to care about many things at once.
The “blood in the water” is the blood of animals that could have found a good home
Caring about one issue (in this case, the welfare of Memphis’s animals) does not come at the exclusion of other, social welfare issues, including poverty and education. We are all able to care about multiple issues simultaneously, and there is room for all of us to demonstrate our compassion for all things. Furthermore, your statement regarding “Caucasian activists” is itself racist. Are you unaware that the human animal bond is just as deep and widespread amongst African americans?
I think you are completely off target in this article. YOU are assuming that animal lovers and activists do not care about children, poverty and lack of education in Memphis. Animals are not able to speak for themselves. They completely rely on the compassion of others including MAS. The citizens of Memphis have options and if they have run out of options then they need to seek help. They have a voice and as caring parents they should be speaking for their children as well. In addition, I am a KY resident and at no point have I seen one piece of information regarding the plight of Memphis children or I would reach out and help them too. The fact that you have the nerve to assume every person that fights for the animals at MAS is caucasion disgusts me and YOU should be ashamed of yourself.
Of course you can care about more than one thing at once. If you’re an animal advocate, you can (and probably are) an advocate for children too. But if you only have a dollar, how do you decide how to spend it?
There is so much in the community that needs fixing. I agree that the MAS is a good place to start, since it is finite and most agree on the changes that need to be made. My problem with the blogger and commenters at YesBiscuit is they see fixing the shelter as a “my way or the highway” problem. No-Kill is their only solution for the many legitimate concerns they list. There is no room for compromise; dissenters are ridiculed and cursed.
I suggest every Memphian should learn as much as possible about No-Kill and any other options there are for improving the shelter. And I think the CA and other media outlets would do us all a favor by a series of stories on shelters that have succeeded and failed in improving their kill rates and the treatment of the animals.
I do not believe the race of those involved is as important in this issue as the fact that many of the people who are pushing the No-Kill agenda are not going to have to live here with its consequences, whether they be good or bad.
FYI, I am Caucasian, female and I love animals.
there are many folks in Memphis that get more outraged about the welfare of animals than the welfare of humans
animals aren’t the (moral) equivalent to humans, nor should they be , to speak of animals in the same breath and context as human welfare is offensive – animals are not of the same order – of course there should be no wanton brutality towards animals however
btw any practicing Jew, like me will support that notion in Torah teachings and edicts
But in Memphis, I’ve seen more humans get bent out of shape about their neighbors PET than their other human neighbors next door, down the street or across town.
Screw that
“there are many folks in Memphis that get more outraged about the welfare of animals than the welfare of humans”
There are many folks everywhere who do that, Memphis is not exceptional in this regard at all.
A no kill shelter in this city is about as practical and doable as trying to sell ice water to Eskimos. It would have to have space for 5000 animals, otherwise you’d have to stop picking up stray animals in short order for lack of room. Let’s start with cracking down seriously on breeders, a vicious dog ordinance with teeth (pun intended), and raising some serious money for an effective spay/neuter program. Do I have anyone volunteering to lead the campaign to raise the funds?
Thanks for the comments. We’ll try to say simply the point of this post: We didn’t say that you have to choose one or the other and in fact said we are concerned about both.
But the point was we’d like to see people picketing the streets for action on children and as much emotion on the lives being lost in the neighborhoods of Memphis as animal lives lost in the Shelter.
Even if Memphis does to a private contract for this service, there will never be a facility that can simply house all the loose and feral animals in Memphis. It’s not practical and many of these animals are beyond domesticating.
I’m reminded of a quote from Mayor Wharton that appeared in a Commercial Appeal story last year: “Attention-deficit disorder in Germantown is important, but it doesn’t compare to a kid in Orange Mound bordering on scurvy in the 21st century.”
Many Memphians have their priorities misplaced. That’s what Mayor Wharton said last year, and that’s what SCM wrote in this blog. I concur. Dogs and cats are important and deserve to be well-treated. It would be nice, though, to see white Memphians put as much energy and effort into eradicating hunger and improving public education in the city as they put into protesting whatever’s happening at the animal shelter.
Once again someone goes back to the ‘tried and true’ defense of ‘why isn’t anyone caring about the CHILDREN’ while writing an article about animal welfare.
That defense doesn’t hold water, and really undermines the whole point of your article. It’s like writing an article about salmonella in beef and then saying ‘but the tuna are going extinct!’. apples and oranges.
Also it’s hard to swallow any facts from this when you say ‘scandal de jure’ when you really mean ‘scandal du jour’. the former is latin meaning ‘concerning law’, the latter is french meaning ‘of the day’.
If you can’t take the time to use words correctly, i can only assume you didn’t take the time to check your facts either. it’s a turn off.
The article makes erroneous assumptions, is full of logical fallacies, and goes off topic. I believes it fails as a news story & is more of an op-ed piece, and an absurd one at that.
If the topic WAS the Memphis school system, would it be logical to bring up the animal shelter or people’s race?
Logical Fallacy #1: No True Scotsman Fallacy (Circular logic)
This fallacy simply defines “true” in such a way that the statement can never be false.
General Example: No “true” Scotsman pours sugar on his porridge. However, Angus was born and raised in Scotland and he pours sugar on his porridge. Angus is therefore automatically disqualified from being a “true” Scotsman simply because he pours sugar on his porridge. Thus, Angus is not a counter-example to the claim.
No Kill Examples: 1) No “true” advocate for children would ever suggest that your animal shelter needs to be reformed to implement the no kill equation. Harry, who has donated thousands of dollars and hundreds of volunteer hours to children’s causes suggests that that the city examine what successful no kill shelters are doing. Therefore, Harry is not a “true” children’s advocate. 2) No “true” data would ever conclude that no kill shelters could ever be effective at saving 90% or more of animals. Data from shelters A, B, C, D, & E conclude that the no kill equation has been effective at saving 90% or more of animals in their shelters. Therefore, data from shelters A, B, C, D & E is not “true” data.
Logical Fallacy #2: False Dilemma
This fallacy presents only two options, the one desired by the presenter versus an undesirable alternative.
General Example: You either support the invasion of Iraq or you supported the regime Saddam Hussein.
Reforming the Animal Shelter Example: If you support protests geared to reforming our animal shelter, you are opposed to supporting protests for changes to help people “who are being emotionally starved and educationally malnourished”.
Logical Fallacy #3: Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc (After This, Therefore Because of This)
This fallacy is committed when a causal relationship between two events is assumed just because one event preceeded the other.
General Example: In the ten years before I moved to Los Angeles, Boston sports teams didn’t win a single championship, but they’ve won six in the ten years since. Therefore, by moving to Los Angeles, I caused Boston to be a more successful sports city.
Webcam Example: Because the webcams were capturing MAS staff mishandling animals, the cameras and anti-cruelty advocates are to blame for Matt Pepper’s
Logical Fallacy #4: Subjective Fallacy
This fallacy confuses subjective and objective arguments. This is the fallacy we call out when we remind people that they have the right to their own opinions, but not their own facts.
General Example: You think the Capital of Texas is Austin but I think it’s Dallas. I guess we’ll just have to “agree to disagree.”
Expert Animal Shelter Director Example: You imply that Matthew Pepper is some kind of experienced leader who “never had a chance” to turn things around, but that is your opinion, not a fact. Matt Pepper has demonstrated no understanding or expert knowledge of all the things needed to successfully turn the shelter around, and did not engage supporters who would have helped him. He did not reach out to true experts from successful shelters in equally poor areas who could have mentored him. Evidence is available that experts offered to help. You will have to ask him why he did not do this as we all know that if you’re doing and saying the same traditional things over and over and they don’t bring results, then logically you need to reconsider what you’re thinking, believing, doing and saying.
(Some logical fallacy examples adapted from outdoorcatsandwildlife by ?).
“I believes it fails as a news story & is more of an op-ed piece”
It isn’t, nor does it purport to be, a “news story.”
You can engage in all the rumination of logical fallacies you want, but no amount of mental masturbation is going to change the fact that a no-kill shelter in this city is completely impractical. The math just doesn’t work, friend.
It does seem that Mr. Pepper never really stood a chance.
I agree with Greycat regarding the vacuum of information. As a dog owner I am automatically attracted to the idea of a “no-kill” shelter. However, I have not the slightest inkling of how such a shelter operates or is maintained in major cities with a correspondingly large animal population. What are the logistics involved? The level of care? What facilities are necessary? What level of funding is required to address the preceding issues? I hear many of those concerned about the issue stating that such a shelter represents the best practices scenario. What has not been communicated is how that actually translates into physical and monetary reality on the ground.
To think that the these issues are somehow unrelated ignores the correlation (casual or otherwise) between urban poverty and the mistreatment of animals.
I think a bunch of these comments prove the bloggers’ point. You misconstrue the facts, you hear what you want to hear, and you lecture when you should listen.
That’s why so many of us have Shelter fatigue. And I think the blog is right. We’d be more impressed if you were not a one-trick pony but focus on the real issues in Memphis that need your help.
No one’s saying it’s either-or. We’re just saying that perception is reality and a bunch of white folks gets incensed over black dogs and not black kids says volumes about priorities.
And I’m a dog owner.
“White folks get incensed over black dogs & not black kids.” What?
Everyone who cares about dogs are the very people who care about your kids, schools, the planet, recycling, & ALL the issues. It’s those of you who has to have other people to care for YOUR kids that are complaining about “white folk” who DO care about dogs because they can not speak for themselves like YOU do for your children. NO ONE is helping the dogs/cats at the shelter for far too long.
We care for the animals just like EVERY child. What do you care about? What have YOU done to help society?
“We care for the animals just like EVERY child.”
That’s a helluva of an admission. There in lies your problem.
Let me know the next time you’re demanding better lives for Memphis kids.
Here is a suggestion: Instead of bemoaning compassion towards nonhumans as somehow trivial, why not focus positively on championing what seems to be important to you, namely the plight of impoverished children?
You will not change behavior, earn monies, enact laws, or improve the condition of these children you supposedly care about by diminishing another social justice/welfare movement. In fact, you detract immensely from what SHOULD be your primary goal – reducing poverty, educating about the plight of Memphis children, etc, etc, etc. Trying to bolster your position by cutting down another is rarely effective in fomenting meaningful change.
So perhaps for next time, you can write an entry that encourages people to DO something rather than condemning people for caring about animal welfare issues.
Marji: Be careful what you don’t know. That’s exactly what I do in my work. I work every day to improve the lives of poor kids and to help their families.
Want to help?
Marji: We’ve been writing about poverty and what can be done to attack it for six years on this blog. Perhaps you’re just joining this conversation, but we’d appreciate your participation.
Often, activists can dish it out but they can’t take it. We’re not saying you’re one of them, but we said exactly what we meant to say: there were problems at the Shelter, we agree that they needed to be corrected, but we wish we could see this much media attention and energy spent on real-life problems of real-life children.
We didn’t trash anybody or say that animal rights people don’t care about children. We made our point, but as we’ve noticed in recent years, some people take offense and reply and it seems like they didn’t understand the post’s message or purpose.
Again, we hope you’ll join in with us in discussing lots of issues that need your passion, energy, and earnestness.
“Even Memphis Mayor A C Wharton himself, upon taking office, labeled it a disaster that would define the management city government’s work by his administration.”
Because of the raid in 2009. And he did no real follow through on that all soo much. Transparency in government should not result in their no longer being web cams because Wharton cannot stand the heat and has to get out of the kitchen.
“Also, it’s been off-putting to see a group of Caucasian activists investing this much energy on dogs in a majority African-American city with 40% of its children living in poverty.”
Here is where you messed up “Smart City Memphis.” You do not know the race or ethnic background of anyone who has tried to learn of the MAS or most anything else. Guess my race? Bet you can’t! I am neither African American nor White American. You framed this in the wrong darned terms and you know it. No one outside of Memphis thinks like that anymore at all, it is the year 2011!
“For each dog at the Memphis Animal Shelter, there are 181 children living in poverty that puts them at risk for options for the future that the rest of us take for granted. While we appreciate concern about a caring environment for dogs at the Animal Shelter, we wish that there was as much interest, emotion, and media attention about an environment that gives every child in Memphis an equal start in their lives and equal opportunities for success.
They live in neighborhoods with 50,000 vacant houses, there are half as many as 30 years ago, more than half the families live on less than $8,700 a year. Most of the children’s friends were born out of wedlock and live in a single female-headed household.”
Memphis as a while accepted the status quo on that years upon years ago. It did. There are numerous generations within the same family who are on welfare here and are tapped out on that $8,700.00 a year mark. This is the fault of an animal activist how? Can you answer that? Explain it to me real slow and simple like.
Furthermore it is a shame upon humanity that an almost exclusively African American city has failed the majority of its African American residents for decades now. Isn’t it? But again, is that an animal activists fault? I think not, dear.
Gosh the MCS has a 70% graduation rate and only 5% of their students are college ready. Weird, eh? And their budget is almost a billion in a half dollars whereas Wharton will not even permit web cams at the new MAS which cost pennies on the dollar to operate.
It seems to me that Memphis is the epitome of self hatred at its finest and your blog is a shining example of that.
Wow! Matthew Pepper didn’t have a chance?? Anyone familiar with the “No Kill Equation” – which has proven successful at various shelters throughout the country – can turn a shelter around quite quickly. The shelter in Reno, NV had 2 workers killing 15 barrels full of animals per day, but they decided to try something else when they found out about it, and now save 90+% of the many thousand animals that come through their doors each year! This was accomplished in less than one year, so can you repeat your excuses again? No Kill is not about having endless space, it is about having the contacts with rescues and the community, amongst other things. And you are obviously not at ALL dog-savvy if you think the staff seen on the webcams were handling dogs in any proper way. I’ve worked at and/or managed a lot of kennels, vets, grooming facilities, etc. in my career, and most would not tolerate ANY of the staff behaviors shown on those webcams! MAS staff did NOT handle dogs compassionately or carefully – not professional at all! You accuse the protestors agains MAS as having developed a firm opinion with only partial information? I think not – killing and cruelty and incompetence are deal-breakers, there is no additional information that will excuse those things. YOU, on the other hand, are just angry at the bad publicity and the fact that there WAS so much publicity about animals instead of children. You have no idea about how dog handling can be done so that it doesn’t look like what the world saw, and you have no idea about the shelters that have stopped killing – they are NOT in wealthy places! YOU make your excuses about Memphis and the Memphis Animal Shelter killing and mishandling without knowing anything about the alternatives, and how they are reached without spending more city money. So who has less information? I would say YOU do.
If Mr. Pepper had a plan of action, it should have been started the day he arrived. There should have been different protocols AND he should be seen on the webcams doing a lot of the handling or demonstrating/supervising until the workers showed that they knew a bit more about correct techniques. And where was Mr. Pepper when all those dogs were going missing? I put it to you that Mr. Pepper did NOT have a handle on day-to-day operations and did NOT control his staff like a true manager would. If he was the manager at a nursing home and allowed similar uncaring handling, what would you say then?? I guess you would be blaming people for getting old, and blaming “the public” for not caring enough to keep those old people at home, etc. And you would bemoan the fact that the webcams showing people being yanked or dragged around really didn’t show the whole story, right?? And you’d say “that manager is a really nice guy, he tries hard, he doesn’t deserve all this negativity”. Uh-huh…
And please, are you trying to use French? I think you mean to say “du jour”, meaning “of the day”. Yes, there is a “de jure” having to do with law, but that was not your meaning, obviously.
I hope that a no-kill shelter becomes a reality and you can see how many people in the community embrace it and benefit from it in ways you cannot imagine because you haven’t looked into it.
nokilladvocacycenter.org
I put the link to nokilladvocacycenter.org in my previous post for those who want more info to start there. I want to make it clear that I am NOT a representative or spokesperson for them, it was merely a link for those interested to find out about how No Kill works and what it takes to implement the No Kill Equation.
Just another racist post attacking white people… par for the course these days on this site.
Let me rewrite what you should have said, “It’s inarguable that some of the most incendiary claims have hurt their credibility. Also, it’s been off-putting to see a group of activists investing this much energy on dogs in a city with 40% of its children living in poverty.”
I am just confused that you did not find a way to attack the suburbs, or white people in the suburbs. That is usually thrown in there somehow.
Sure sounds like a lot of defensive people. Methinks you protests too much.
Old guy, turn on your hearing aid and put on your glasses. This didn’t attack white people. It attacked your lack of concern about tens of thousands of black kids living in poverty.
And what makes you think some of us who agree with this blog don’t live in the suburbs?
Debbie: Thanks to you and the others for the comments. However, we’re surprised by the venom and the raw emotional reactions. Again, we wish this city would get this exorcised about more than 50,000 children whose future (as well as our city’s) is at stake. By the way, we meant de jure, but apparently you don’t get the humor from the play of foreign phrases that we were going for. But we do admire your superior intellect and will forego the temptation to correct your grammar.
Old Guy: As Jack said, you shouldn’t assume you know where people live. You’d be surprised by the profile of the author of this particular post. But let’s try again: As we’ve said before, the lifestyles of the towns are authentic and valid and go back more than a century. What we object to is the notion that all of Shelby County taxpayers should subsidize sprawl and pay for unnecessary infrastructure (and Memphians and the residents of the towns should share this concern)that is a gift for developers.
Uh huh: Thanks for the comment, but your mind is wandering mid-thought. We’ve written plenty about schools (there are no exceptional schools in this county and that’s a shame) and we never blamed animal rights activists for poverty. Please read it again for the actual content.
Thanks, everyone, for the comments.
Strange. I don’t think I’ve ever read comments from most of these people when you write about poverty and kids. They’re proving your point.
I live in the burbs, old guy. And I’m white.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.”
“I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.”
“If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”
Three quotes from Mahatma Gandhi that seem quite fitting for this blog. We’re all on the same page and fighting the same fight.
Great quotes and certainly relevant within his nation. And ours. Thanks for sending.
some of these people probably spend more on vet bills and doggie clothing and Iams Dog food than help to feed the impoverished children
aftenoonjoe ~ you have thhe last comment right
The new Child wellness national survey:
How Tennessee ranks
The 2011 Kids Count survey by The Annie E. Casey Foundation ranks the health of Tennessee’s infants, children and teens. Here’s how the state compares with the nation.
Percentage of low-birthweight babies — 41st
Infant mortality — 44th
Child death rate — 24th
Teen death rate — 42nd
Teen birth rate — 43rd
Teen dropouts — 9th
Unemployed teen dropouts — 33rd
Children living in families where no parent has full-time employment — 44th
Children living in poverty — 41st
Children living in single-parent families — 38th
Tennessee’s overall rank through the years
2011 — 39th
2010 — 41st
2009 — 46th
2008 — 42nd
2007 — 43rd
Source: Kids Count 2011 report
Now what were you saying about PET animals ?
“Smart City Memphis” your retorts to the rather logical and intelligent posts made here and rather sarcastic and stupid. All you are doing is putting this blog in a very bad light. Well, actually you are adding to that, I guess.
Can you not understand that there is more than your own personal mode of thought (and I am using the term ‘thought’ loosely) on this matter with the MAS at all?
Who are the actual people writing for this blog? And, why are their names not made available?
Are you not able to even remotely take responsibility for this poorly written and horrible grammatically off kilter blog post?
Lastly. It seems as though “Smart City Memphis” thinks more of itself than it perhaps should. A Pulitzer is never to be in your future, dear. This blog is written at an Eight Grade level!
To the latest anon: you attack Scm’s grammar while commiting your own grammatic errors. You are obviously that same anon that likes to hear themselves talk so much in those other posts. How cani tell? It’s because your writing skills are so poor! Funny you mention writing at an 8thopinion grade level seeing as you obviously haven’t advanced much past 5th grade yourself. Silly little anon. Who are you and why don’ t you use your name? Can you not understand the reason this blog is here? Oh how silly- of course you can’t! You don’t even understand the conversation enough to contribute to the discussion. You are one crazy creature. Now sit quietly while the adults talk.
i love when people have nothing more to add to the debate but to attack the writer’s style and then are so scared that they hide behind the anonymous moniker. i happen to know the writer and you obviously don’t know good writing when you read it. as he points out, thousands of kids in this city are dying and no one gives a damn, people just look the other way. but the public has been incensed about the shelter situation for years. i love animals too but it is an interesting perspective to consider. look at the great work the urban child institute is doing and how hard they have to work to find people in this town willing to listen to their message.
Thanks, anonymous 1:21. We always appreciate the facts.
Anonymous 2:39: Sorry, but this is our company blog, so we can say whatever we like. If you don’t agree, we understand and respect it if you actually read the post before launching in with your opinion.
We appreciate your review of our writing and we will keep it in mind as we write our column for Memphis magazine and as we write speeches, op-ed columns, white papers, strategies, etc., for our clients. By the way, at least the author of this particular post was nominated for a Pulitzer. Thanks for giving us a chance to toot his horn for him.
We’re willing to get back on subject if you’re interested, but we’re leaving the personal insults. As ASPCA members, we understand the opinions about animals. As Memphians, we questioned whether some of the people can be objective and we wished that as a city, we could get as incensed over the “lost” children who live here. That seems a pretty simple point of view if you want to discuss what we really wrote.
E-gad. Did anyone actually read the original post? I fail to find any suggestion from SCM that passion regarding the animal shelter equates to a lack of concern regarding poverty of childhood education. What I did read- and apparently I am in the minority on this one- is that while “we” become dramatically riled by events at the animal shelter “we” seem to simply accept negative news and indicators associated with poverty and education. Candlelight vigils, 24-hour webcam observation via the web, well attended public protests and efforts to provide free audits have accompanied the many deficiencies found at MAS, but hardly a peep is raised concerning the state of the MCS, childhood poverty or declining economic empowerment effecting 50% of the metropolitan area’s population.
Is it simply a scale and accessibility and scale issue or is there more to it?
Can you imagine if as many individuals showed up to Council and Commission meetings with an equal degree of passion and anger focused on the trials and tribulations of children in primary education… or economic stagnation… or the hurdles preventing adults from attaining college degrees? The protests, the vigils the letters to the editor would surely light a fire under more than one foundation.
You said on this blog that some of these people are as objective as Nancy Grace.
They should never testify on their own behalf.
Verdict: guilty as charged.
Hope we can stay on subject for awhile. The Pew study on children mobility came out yesterday and that’s a big, big problem here. City schools says that more than 10% of kids in every grade’s moving in a year. All the moving is a huge problem in educating them and getting stress out of their lives. We’ve got to all get serious about doing something to deal with the problem’s causes and not symptoms like we’re doing now.
A friend and I attend court for animal cruelty and neglect cases. The defendants usually have prior convictions, many for domestic abuse. We keep a database of the defendants and several times have called social services to intervene in domestic problems that are highlighted in court.
There is a direct link between all abuse. This is recognized by the FBI, the court system and social services. The state of Tennessee recently passed a law to make it illegal for a spouse/sig. other to threaten an animal in order to issue control over another person in an abusive situation.
The Memphis Animal Services is charged by city ordinance to enforce the humane laws that protect the animals AND the citizens of this community.
The group I co-founded with a friend, Community Action for Animals, has worked with several City Council members to write and pass animal laws that will benefit the citizens.
I am concerned about the children of my community. I am concerned when they can’t play outside because of packs of stray dogs roaming the neighborhoods. I am concerned when a senior citizen can’t walk to the mailbox without taking a baseball bat for protection from the stray and sometimes vicious dogs. I am concerned when a child is raised in a house where dog fighting is staged in the backyard.
Memphis Animal Services is not just the shelter, as many forget. They are animal control. At times they are thousands of calls behind and many of the animal officer logs show them working only 2-3 hours out of an 8 hour shift. This had been brought to Mr. Pepper’s attention on numerous occasions. Nothing was done to change the situation. Sometimes animal officers don’t even bother to show for court. One prosecutor wrote a memo to Mr. Pepper regarding this. That was a year ago. The officer was recently fired after being arrested for two counts of state charged animal cruelty. The duties of MAS are more than euthanizing and adopting animals. The duties of MAS are to protect our citizens and the community from crimes involving animals and to protect the animals from crime. Animal abuse is a felony in Tennessee.
I find it disappointing that you seem to only know one aspect of MAS, while at the same time you denounce animal advocates for their lack of the facts and for responding to issues that only involve animals. The Memphis Animal Services is about more than the animals. It is about our community.
And as for the most recent photo that many thought depicted staged dogfighting at MAS…you are correct, the video showed two dogs just getting into a regular dog fight. But the video also showed one MAS worker repeatedly beating one of the dogs senseless with a steel pole.
Call it what you want, and while this video does not show staged dogfighting…it does show a different type of cruelty and a poorly trained staff.
You accuse members of the animal advocate community as being blind to the facts…of forming an opinion first and getting the facts second.
Please produce the law enforcement (sheriff, police or FBI)reports made by MAS “daily” to support your statement
“It’s little wonder that personal threats and bomb scares are simply part of daily life at the Animal Shelter.”
Hyperbole is never attractive, no matter the source.
I find this article divisive and frankly myopic.
There are groups of people who work within their circles to improve the lives of every unfortunate Memphian in myriad ways. There are groups teaching the illiterate how to read, there are groups dedicated to elevating children in hideous circumstances, there are groups whose mission is to serve the kids growing up with parents who have HIV, there are organizations who feed those who can’t feed themselves. There is a multitude of organizations comprised of those attempting to foster better lives for everyone in Memphis.
The animals don’t have as many champions. And, frankly, the outcry about Memphis’ shelter is long overdue. I, for one, had hope for the department with the hiring of Matthew Pepper, but until the people who call the shots are enlightened (or eliminated) nothing will change.
I am appalled that the suggestion was even made that we shouldn’t put as much effort into protecting animals as much as some put into protecting children. Everyone CANNOT advocate for every group of children, seniors, animals, etc. You have to pick what you are passionate about and where you’ll do the most good. Just because we’re white women in Memphis advocating for animals doesn’t mean I want children to suffer. I have done plenty of volunteer work for children as well as animals. Neither of those groups can speak for themselves and both deserve equal attention.
did you actually say “both deserve EQUAL attention” ???
WHAT ?
Sorry, humans deserve more attention, animals aren’t the moral equivalent of human beings made in the image of God…
all life might be scared in some respects, but some LIFE is more SACRED than other life, friend
Human life is of more concern and deed…
what idiocy indeed
We’re not sure we agree that children have as many advocates in Memphis as animals. Almost everyone cares and loves animals, but a conference on improving the futures of Memphis children attracts people with agencies but rarely a citizen concerned about the problem. That was the reason for our post in the first place, but we never said it was either-or or that people are choosing between dogs and kids.
The children deserve more attention – not equal attention – because they will define the entire future of Memphis and this whole region.
Finally, Cindy, we didn’t say the animal picketers were blind to the facts (that’s your phrase, not ours). We said that we wish that Memphis showed as much passion to the issues affecting children.
You are correct, you did not say the “animal picketers” were blind to the facts…you implied it.
You did state they are guilty of “forming an opinion first and getting the facts second”.
To that I again ask for a response to my query…
Please produce the law enforcement (sheriff, police or FBI)reports made by MAS to support your statement “It’s little wonder that personal threats and bomb scares are simply part of daily life at the Animal Shelter.”
I would appreciate knowing the documentation you used to arrive at that rather serious allegation.
It is bad enough and one thing to use such a broad brush to paint animal advocates, quite another to accuse us of making personal and bomb threats.
I am not going to take the time to research this, can’t even believe I came back to this again, but I’d be willing to bet that the kids organizations in Memphis, Youth Villages, YWCA(women and kids shelters, after school programs), the childrens hospitals, and the many other small groups and churches pull in less in donations that the animal organizations. And animal advocates are suppossed to be looked down on because we’re more vocal on issues?! And don’t get me started on religion and caring for ALL living creatures.