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Monday, May 20, 2019

More money for shelter that kills dogs?

BY RICHARD JOHNSON

As his corpse rots in a landfill and his head resides in a lab, it would appear Tanner is getting his justice on the Cheyenne Animal Shelter. 
The audacity of a recent request for $385,000 in added funds from the city of Cheyenne is about as insane as spraying a defenseless dog in the face with pepper spray.
I know political scandals have a two-week shelf life, but this board just never seems to learn from its mistakes, and it apparently hopes a sad-eyed puppy post will pull at these politicians’ collective heartstrings.
Eight-month-old Tanner was pepper-sprayed to death in 2018.
Only in government could this type of hypocrisy reside. How soon we forget that it was this board that neglected its crematorium, an inadequate washing machine and, last but not least, the animals under their protection.
What do you expect from volunteer boards? It’s about prestige. These influential members of the community take on the role of patrons by scratching at the back door with a bowl in their mouth. 
It’s about time for the City Council to tell the Animal Shelter board it has had enough sausages. Nothing makes nonprofit operations become more efficient than when budgets are on the chopping block. 
In the real world, the shelter would have to make things work to cover its inadequacies. But we live in the times that favor rewards for bad nonprofit decisions in the form of government bailouts. 
Here’s your participation trophy, Animal Shelter. It may not be $385,000, but it’s $160,000 we pulled from reserves to help you piss away over the next fiscal year. Our only requirement is you send us updated reports that none of us will read. 
Come back next year and you may get $200,000 as the public forgets about the political suicide you committed back in 2018.
Did we forget to mention that donations to the Animal Shelter are down from previous years? But rest assured it had nothing to do with “the incident.” You remember. That’s when your shelter director shot pepper spray into one of the dogs under your care and you stood behind him for weeks before folding under public pressure.
C'mon, Animal Shelter, if you pull this leg, it plays jingle bells. 
You’d think the Animal Shelter’s directors were sheep herders with the amount of wool being pulled over the eyes of the governing body.
Who am I kidding? Council members are sheep, ready to be sucked into the public opinion vacuum, blowing taxpayer dollars in every boneheaded endeavor that comes to the podium. 
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, and when it rains it pours. 
I guess the new Animal Shelter building already needs a new roof. WTF? Do they not have insurance? How about hiring a staff grant writer to take care of all of this? Let me guess, we hired someone from within who has a successful blog and is younger than the building.
At the end of day, it will most likely with be a lot of noise, like cats fighting in the street at 3 a.m. I hope some angry neighbor yells out the screen door and the cats scurry. 
The next day, the cats will be back, acting all hard, like they were the cat that won the fight. But in reality, no one really won, and the whole argument was just dumb. 
I just hope someone adopted Meiko.

Richard Johnson is the former City Council member from Ward 3.

15 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Whoever pepper sprayed that dig should be put to death. What actions can people TAKE if they want to?

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    1. I agree as 3 were involved !!They dont need put down and can do as a town in Colo does !!! They give free to loving homes for therapy pets !!! I know is true as they gave my sister and They even give them dog food !!!her husband 4 in wheel chairs and have 6 .The city allows 2 but see the need and the love !!! A church pays their vet bills the water bill and for toys for the dogs !!! No dog needs put down !!! That keeps hell burning as paid serial killers like Ted Bundy that shelters train to be human killers !!! Take a sick person to kill those dogs and sure dont want you as my neighbor !!!LThey call that a job lets pepper spray those workers !!! Lets stick a needle in them !!!

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  3. Yes, cut their budget. It's expensive to feed and shelter all those dogs. They can become more efficient by keeping them only half as long before putting them down. Which will also increase capacity and through out while saving labor costs. Less dogs, less paid positions needed.

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  4. Richard: what happened to Tanner was appalling, but it was NOT Shelter policy. Bob Fecht acted on his own and his actions, while defended by one or two individuals, was NEVER excused by Shelter staff. His actions were indefensible and he did immeasurable damage to the Shelter and it’s dedicated employees. The Shelter did its due diligence and brought in national experts to address any shortcomings, but pepper-spaying animals was not on the list of improvements suggested because it was never a policy to begin with. Before you give your opinion, I suggest you speak with Shelter staff about their policies: they are working toward a goal of becoming a ‘no kill’ facility. It’s the animals in their care that should be your concern: they will be the ones to suffer with inadequate funding. Patricia McDaniel

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    1. Are you sure about the whole "no kill" thing? Cause from what I recall last year cats were being euthanized left and right. A 2-3 month old kitten was euthanized because he couldn't be "handled". No offense, but I seriously doubt anything has even changed. And while we're at it, why not talk about Jaxon/Jackson who had spent MONTHS working with staff, only for him to be euthanized when he made a mistake? He would have gotten better had the shelter actually pushed for fosters. People will, surprisingly help if you actually TRY to connect with the community. Not to mention, firing someone because management refused to accommodate with their mental illness, especially with how hard they worked to make a better life for those animals, is illegal. Honestly, the shelter is lucky they're not getting sued.

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  5. P.S. Tanner was not “pepper sprayed” to death. It certainly sounds sensational but it happens to be incorrect.

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  6. Everyone knows he wasnt pepper sprayed to death. Who in their right mind would ask for 1.4 million after the worst political snafu in shelter history.

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  7. With all due respect Patricia...Fecht barked the order, but the rest of the staff, including the person who actually sprayed, did NOT have to follow that order, especially being it was not Shelter Policy. They all involved should have immediately been discharged, for any of us on the outside to have any healthy respect continuing to support this particular shelter. Requesting funds is necessary for the animals but I personally and only assuming, that many is of the same mindset as me, would absolutely NOT fund while any staff involved with Tanners "demise" is still staff.

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  8. I've thought about Tanner and the animal shelters corruption often.... I'm glad this reminder is circling.

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