Animal cruelty protests aimed at Manatee County Animal Services are raising the ire of county officials as continued complaints from pet advocates about senseless animal killings and protocol fuel demonstrations.
In turn, Forget-Me-Not, a nonprofit animal rescue, and its supporters — most recently angered by the treatment of three dogs, Amari, Blondie and an unnamed golden retriever — also point to a dismissive attitude among county leaders, as they point back.
Protesters picketed Jan. 5 at the Manatee County Courthouse in Bradenton, and again Jan. 13 and Jan. 24 outside the Beach Veterinarian Clinic, 4404 124th St. W., Cortez.
The clinic owner is veterinarian Luke Berglund, who serves on the MCAS volunteer advisory board and is paid, according to a contract with the county, to be the shelter veterinarian.
MCAS director Bill Hutchison wrote a Dec. 30 email to county commissioners warning of the protests to come.
“Through the grapevine we have learned that the ‘crazies’ are planning to protest and disrupt the (cat shelter) opening by using (the Amari case) as their cause celeb — anything to discredit us. I don’t get it — but I believe they will do it,” Hutchison wrote.
After the first January protest on public property outside the Cortez clinic, Berglund called the protesters “usual suspects that protest about almost everything.”
Affiliates of the nonprofit pet rescue group Forget-Me-Not, Debra Glow and Debbie Miller-Woosley, denied the protest was timed to disrupt the opening.
Activist Barbara Hines, and others, expressed objections to Hutchison’s characterization of the protesters.
Glow also said she presented Hutchison in a Dec. 22 email with her concerns about Berglund’s decision to kill a dog with an ear infection, and “all I got back was nastiness.”
According to Hutchison, while MCAS-contracted veterinarians can put the MCAS animals down, since he took over the department in August “we’ve conditioned them not to make the decision.”
It takes three people at MCAS to agree about the euthanasia, he added.
“We confer at great length before any such decision is made,” Hutchison said.
Regarding Glow’s emails advocating for homeless and sick pets, Hutchison said he no longer responds to her.
Amari lives to see another day
Amari is a female American bulldog-mix that first came to MCAS Dec. 15, 2014, with a bullet hole in her left front leg.
Berglund said he took X-rays and, because she was stable, sent her back to the county with pain medications. However, the medications were not administered at the shelter.
“Yes, it was unfortunate,” said Berglund.
No prescription was indicated on Amari’s MCAS medical history until Dec. 24, 2014, when staff notes indicate the dog’s increased pain caused a volunteer to call Berglund, who approved administering the pain drug Rimadyl.
In spite of the medical record, which fails to indicate medication prescribed until eight days after Amari’s intake, Hutchison and Berglund say Amari was initially sent to the MCAS shelter with the pain meds.
Hutchison said this was a case where the paperwork and X-rays from the vet didn’t come with the dog.
“After we put the dog in our holding, we lost track of this animal’s treatment — that’s where we made our mistake,” he said.
In a Dec. 30, 2014, email to county commissioners and others, Hutchison acknowledged animal rescues that specialize in placing the county’s sick and injured pets in caregiver homes should have been alerted, but were not.
“For reasons I do not yet know, we did not do that in this case,” he wrote, adding he suspected the reason was MCAS person in charge of networking with the rescues was out on administrative leave.
“So — mea culpa — they caught us on this one,” Hutchison added.
Amari was rescued by Forget-Me-Not. She is in foster care while she heals, according to Glow.
Blondie dies
Blondie was a female cocker spaniel with severely matted fur on her feet, a heart murmur, ear canal infection and tumor. She came to MCAS Jan. 7.
Berglund said the ear problem had been “going on for a long time.”
Medical records show she was killed two days after intake.
Glow wants to know why the county chose to violate its five-day hold protocol and quickly killed the dog. The hold policy allows time for pet owners to find lost dogs. She also wants to know why no tests were run on Blondie.
“They want to know why we didn’t wait five days? The dog was suffering and old,” Berglund said.
“We see animals off the street, abandoned, left to starve and injuries profound.
“We never like putting animals to sleep but, when it comes to animal welfare, sometimes we have to. The county has only so much space,” said Berglund.
Hutchison said this was a case where the animal was in “acute distress,” an exception to the five-day wait-period.
He also said waiting for an owner to reclaim a dog in such bad shape was not the best option.
“The three of us agreed — it had to be put out of its misery,” he added.
Golden retriever dies
A 5-6 year-old unnamed male golden/lab mix was taken in by MCAS Jan. 8 with bite wounds, severe scabbing and a swollen ear.
The dog was killed Jan. 13.
Notes on the dog’s medical history indicate he did well after sedation, was eating and taking prescribed medication.
Five days later, a veterinary exam categorized him with a severe injury having a poor prognosis and painful right ear.
“It seems to me like an ear infection is the death sentence of the moment,” said Glow.
Asked about the retriever’s case, Hutchison said he was unaware of the details.
Part II of The Islander’s Manatee County Animal Services series, Running to the Rescue, will take a look inside the shelter.
get real people there are more pressing issues (hungry,sick children ect),than spending gads of money on these animals which went uncared for by neglectful owners. If you want to rescue them all by all means start writing some checks and all your friends to help. why should everyone else support your wishes.
it’s pretty obvious when the Veterinarian can say “The county has only so much space” while defending his reason to euthanize, his oath of “do no harm” has been superseded by his greed and rush to kill. The Director quoted as saying “mea culpa- they got us on that one”…..is this a game? a contest? with animals paying the ultimate price while the professionals paid to care are displaying uncaring, dismissive and cavalier attitudes. Is the best way to create a trusting atmosphere or “partnerships” with rescues and volunteers, to berate and insult, labeling them “crazies”. the road to no-kill is paved by Volunteers, Fosters, Adopters and Donors. No-kill is a dead end without them. Again, the animals pay with the substandard care they receive or with their lives……..
Then why didn’t all those No Kill rescues step up and take these dogs? In my opinion, the rescue community failed these dogs, not the shelter. Since when do shelters become hospitals? Staff is always in shortage at shelters and you expect them to work miracles it appears. No, anytime a pet dies in the shelter it is the failure of the humane community, not the shelter or animal control.