I believe the city must provide high quality services to both animals and people through Memphis Animal Services, serving both with compassion and professionalism. Currently, we are lacking both and it’s unacceptable.

Robin Speaks:

On Memphis Animal Services

Memphis Animal Services and its continuous and unforgivable animal torture and abuse is utterly and completely unacceptable. While some measures have been taken to remedy this situation, they have not gone far enough to address what needs to be done. Everyone is affected by the poor choices Mayor Wharton has made surrounding Memphis Animal Services, whether they consider themselves to be animal people or not. The facility consumes our City’s tax dollars, while animals are tortured by work-release inmates, neglected, and inhumanely killed. It makes national headlines regularly, which hurts the entire city of Memphis.
At July’s public MAS advisory board meeting, Director Rogers could not tell the attendees what MAS’ new policies entailed, when directly asked nor could he explain the “changes” to the euthanasia process after the most recent tragedy. Rogers has been making these mistakes for 3 years and is never disciplined. When asked to comment on Director Rogers and the situation at Memphis Animal Services, Mayor Wharton responded with complete unprofessionalism by telling the citizens of this city to “put up or shut up” in regards to finding a new Director. He has since failed to post the information stating the job requirements as promised.

How and why does the City continue to hire and employ people at an animal shelter that don’t have the core value of loving animals? We argue about the need for better practices and web cams to keep an eye on employees, but wouldn’t those be unnecessary if we just hired people who see value in these lives?

I believe that Memphis without a doubt needs a new Director of Memphis Animal Services, and we need people on the Advisory Board who will stand up and fight for our City’s furry citizens.

We need:

to conduct more off-site adoptions,
have spay/neuter drives,
apply for more grants,
utilize college public relations interns to complete tasks such as:
- help MAS partner with other organizations for events
- create a monthly newsletter showcasing pets of the month as well as provide transparency in all MAS actions, and more
vaccinate upon intake to prevent PARVO outbreaks,
re-install and use cameras throughout the facility, including the euthanasia room,
develop new hiring requirements and practices,
make a commitment to finding ALL animals at MAS a home through fostering, partnering with other organizations in and out-of-state, or permanent placements,
move from an Advisory Board to an Executive Board, and
become a No-Kill Shelter within the next year to two years
- Includes a mandatory monthly decrease in pets euthanized until the No-Kill Shelter has fully implemented
- MAS will not obtain the “No-Kill” shelter title by decreasing the number of animals that are taken in off the streets, out of abusive households and situations, or because they are classified as elderly animals, un-adoptable, or in need of surgery.