Ms. Laughter it has been brought to my attention how totally clueless you are of what goes on at the shelter on any given day.

How can a woman who is given the task of running the County’s Daily business lack such knowledge. It is your duty to educate yourself and be knowledgeable of everything that you are responsible for in the County including the Animal Shelter.

The shelter has 15 runs and a license through the Georgia Department of Agriculture to have up to 40 animals at a time. Again a fact that eludes you.

Now try this you verbally told volunteers that you are preventing them from pulling and going into the back of the shelter to see dogs because they spoke up about several incidents where the shelter staff did things that were not in the best interest of the animals.

You are violating their civil rights by violating their first amendment rights. You have zero right to block them for speaking out.  There was a ruling by a Federal Judge in 2013 that prevented a shelter from doing what you are doing.  In Maryland District Court where a Rescue, Fancy Cats, sues a Baltimore Animal Shelter, Baldwin, for banning its volunteers from rescuing after they sent out an e-mail in 2013 that was critical of the shelter. The rescue then sued the Shelter stating that it was violating their volunteers’ first admendment rights. Maryland U.S. District Judge James Bredar agreed and said, “opportunity to serve as a volunteer or partner with a government organization as a rescuer is a constitutionally protected benefit and that volunteers and rescuers have the right to exercise constitutionally protected free speech, free of a state actor’s retaliatory adverse act”. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/pets/ct-pets-shelter-silence-0129-20150129-story.html)

Your shelter staff has zero training to identify when an animal comes in injured there have been several instances, when an animal has come in injured and sat for three days in pain because your staff did nothing and called no body. The volunteers came in saw the animal injured and made the necessary arrangements.

I guess though ignorance is bliss huh?  The fact that you can be that blind to all of this amazes me.

Let’s keep going we are going to address the euthanasia discussion. I am going to say this imagine you are given a shot in your stomach and it’s extremely painful. Now imagine for the next 15-30 min suffering the most imaginable horrific death because that’s what intrapertioneal injection does to an animal when given. That is why intravenous is recommended. Yet you allow the shelter to use IP.

 

The Shelter failed in July of 2016 for being caught throwing food on the floor and crossing contaminating it with urine/feces & clean chemicals. Instead of putting it bowls at per DOA policy. I am sure you were unaware of this and I am almost positive you will be unaware of the next one too.

In December of 2016 a Chihuahua and a Pit mix were in the same run together. Neither had shown any signs of aggression when feeding time came around the dogs got into a fight and the Pitbull killed the Chihuahua. The Pitbull was then euthanized. There was complaint filed with the DOA. While the shelter was cleared of  wrong doing the Inspector still felt the need to go over classification and separation.

All things that if you are running than daily operations of the County you should be knowledgable on.

Were you even aware all of the volunteers had signed waivers and releases to go in the back previously releasing the County of any liability?

A Volunteer brought up the suggestion of sending the shelter staff for training to learn how to properly triage and care for the animals when they come in. It was a great suggestion and an affordable one. It is even offered online. Instead you insulted her and made yourself look like a fool.

You also the volunteer that another volunteer should help raise pledges for a particular rescue. Well let me break it down for you no. This particular person refuses to work with anyone. She bad mouths rescues and other volunteers. People have asked her to sit down and talk she refuses. It’s also quite obvious that you maliciously go after the other volunteers and rescues on her behalf.

When the new policies came out she was the only one there along with one other who isn’t a rescue. Yet she only pulls 5% of the cats from the shelter.

If you can’t do your job properly then you have no business doing it and you need to step down. The fact you are that ignorant on facts and data amazes me. It also amazes me a grown woman such as yourself is acting like child because people chose to speak up about stuff that was wrong! If you were truly an animal lover you would back down and own up to your mistake. You would try to fix it instead of trying to make it more corrosive.  You ask people when they call if they are from your County, the fact is it shouldn’t matter. What should matter is the fact they care enough to concerned about the injustice that is going on and smart enough to stand up to a corrupt politician. AS MORE DOGS DIE BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS JUST REMEMBER THEIR BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS!

I am also going to post some of the pictures posted by the shelter staff of dogs next to pictures of the same dog taken by Rebecca Landrum Rood then try to argue with me who does the better job.

The Next Whitfield County Commissioners Meeting is on June 12 at 6pm at Whitfield Co. Admin Bldg # 2, I encourage everyone to go