http://www.news25.us/global/Story.asp?s=2668165
Gleaner photo by Darrin Phegley - 831-8375 or dphegley@thegleaner.com
Ron Alexander, a Humane Society of Henderson County employee, loads bags containing euthanized dogs and cats into the back of a pickup truck at the animal shelter to be hauled to the dump Wednesday afternoon. More than 75 animals were euthanized on Wednesday.
Board members for the Henderson County Humane Society say the recent lack of management has created an overcrowding problem at the shelter. This morning board members started euthanizing animals at the shelter, without informing staff members of their plans. We learned the shelter would be putting down dozens of animals today, so we decided to find out why. And in the process we found the way the euthenizations were being done are questionable.
This morning we arrived to a board member slash veterinarian concerned about overcrowiding at the humane soceity. Shelter employees say Chandra Werner selected animals for euthanization. She says there were just too many of them.
Employees say it's because they've been without a Director for several weeks. "We don't have anybody on staff like we used to, to do our euthenasias when we had them sick, actually our board was supposed to get ahold of Dr. Nichols to do our emergency euthenasias for us he's only been able to come in once every two weeks and we don't have the resources."
W learned the way veterinarians were doing the euthenizations may not be ethical. Shelter employee Ron Alexander watched the staff's favorite dog Lucky get put down on surveillence monitors. "I went back there when I saw it on the video and the heart was still beating in the bag with the rest of them. Lucky was bagged before the heart quit beating." It's a practice questionable to Kendall Paul with the Vanderburgh Humane Society. She says: "As practiced through humane organizations it is not an acceptable practice..." to place an animal in a closed bag before cardiac arrest.
I asked employee Ron Alexander how the doctor was administering the euthanasia shots. "Is doctor Ives euthenizing animals with a shot to the heart without anesthitizing them first?" "Yes, from what I've seen, yes." Another practice the Vanderburgh Humane Society does not condone. Kendall Paul says "Cardiac injections without tranquilizing the animal is an inhumane means of euthenization and the Vanderburhg Humane Society does not approve of it."
But Shelter Board President Connie Keeling writes it off as a possible mistake.
Were also told by employees that one cat treated for a gunshot wound was awaiting adoption. But employees Theresa Altmeyer says doctor Chandra Werner, also a board member put the cat on the euthenization list. "The shot victim only had one day left of his medication and the people were gonna come in and look at him. That cat won't be walking out today."
It may seem like questions went unanswered. That's because there seems to be a lack of communication between the shelter staff and board members. In the meantime an interim director stepped in today. Board members hope she can bring things back on track. We're told the Vanderburgh Humane Society has been asked to help the Henderson Shelter get things back in working order.
From a Board Member Who Resigned Soon After She Learned Of The Murder and member 1KISS_OF_LIFE
(taken from myspace)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=5607864&blogID=9413158&Mytoken=20041209171121
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Imagine. Imagine if sorry meant more than nothing.
Current mood: sorry
Last night's meeting was bizarre. I was on a board at a shelter gone mad. The director quit and I stayed on the board hoping to help, believing I could, or at least imagining I would. Somehow.
I made myself available to help out in a certain area. The act of holding during death. Not because I wanted to as much as I wanted to save others from having to do it and because that way I'd know when it was to be done. During the meeting I could tell something was wrong. Answers to my questions were vague. I wasn't asked to hold because there was no holding to be done. Just a walk through they said. They forgot to say final.
I knew I wouldn't sleep so I was going to get there early. I didn't sleep much. Between 1:30 & 3 I did and then fell asleep from 6-8. GREAT. I was too late. Too late for the walk through. I resigned from the board this morning but it matters little now. I stayed there to stop the ignorant. I was the ignorant one.
I went back to the shelter at 3:00 today to see if the cat I wanted was still there. I was pretty sure she wasn't. I too went back to see the destruction ... tour the killing fields. When asked later if I'd witnessed or if I'd only heard, I could speak as a witness. I went in ready and as I reached for the door, ready had already gone. Ann saw and seemed to understand ... at least I think she did. I started through the first door. I planned on counting them but I couldn't see them. First they were blurred by the tears ... second because there were few to count. I made it down the adoptable side and saw most of the few. Not them specifically, but generally in the way you see a shape and color, not eyes and faces. I saw more plainly the eyes and faces in kennels that had no occupants, not today.
The small adult dog room; empty. I saw Zack there, spraying water in its emptiness. I couldn't bear to look at him, almost couldn't bear to stand. There was no meaning behind sorry. I said it but sorry did nothing for him .. them. How could it? I didn't stop it from happening. Do I go to the landfill and say it? Will sorry have meaning there. Zack was kind but there was little that could be said.
The cat room was sparse. There were cats but again, few. The tears were enough then that I couldn't see particular cats, cats that I'm sure I knew just days before. I could only see cage doors standing open. Those cages once held life. Now they held nothing. The breakroom I believe was empty.
I then went to the back, the same place I had spent just last Saturday morning cleaning cages. Michael worked Saturday too. That day he was in the back with me, singing aloud, taking care of the puppies and dogs in the middle floor pens while I took care of the cats on the back wall.
Today, I opened the door. My first realization was that of the music ... more precisely, the song. I hadn't yet been told of his quitting so I imagined it was Michael, singing and spraying like before. He could be singing THAT song while the puppies waited to go back to their pens. I love THAT song. But I didn't want to hear it now. Imagine. IMAGINE. I didn't want to imagine. I could only Imagine.
Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world
Michael wasn't there, only Lennon. Ironic? Symbolic? Some girls were there I did not know nor did I care to know. Caring now is of little importance to me. The middle pens were there today. Empty. Cleaned of death. Wiped from life. Each and every one. No spraying, no singing, no chasing loose puppies, no laughing as they scrambled clumsily to keep at arms length. No nothing. Only a faint sorry from my lips. A sorry that did nothing
The cats in the back I'd spent time with just days ago were mostly gone. Mostly, but I couldn't get to those still there. The empty pens from the middle were now light. They were blocking the way. My tears wouldn't let me see if my Nox was there. I was sure she wasn't but I had to look. I knew her small black body would be hard to see and I knew she would be hiding. I finally moved the pens and had to walk what seemed to be forever. I passed each cage, most of them empty. I was nearing hers and could see a blanket and spilled litter. Not unlike the many cages before hers that no longer held life. Only its residue. With another step I saw her eyes as she peered out, tucked in the corner. Nox was there. I took her out and almost crushed her. Then I left the room imagining all the eyes peering out from their blankets at me as I walked away. Away with only one. Eyes of the few I wasn't taking with me. I couldn't turn around but again I said it. I'm sorry.
I walked through the stray area, again most were gone. Most kennels bare. The other side of stray had one dog or so in each kennel. Maybe they didn't realize. Maybe they forgot. Then Zack told me, they would be in again ... to take more.
I didn't witness it. The act. I hear it was a ghoulish scene. The act was done in the kennels. Heartless acts to the heart. No verification of death this time. For some, death took longer. It used to be that death came swiftly, peacefully. Death did not come to them in a landfill, then. I heard one was twitching and breathing when he was taken away. Was he? I imagine he was.
I was glad I had slept late. I was furious I had slept late. I hate myself for sleeping late. The very people I'd wanted to protect from it, had to witness it, to play some part and be unable to stop it. I slept late. I'd driven away when I saw they were there. Knowing they'd been there for some hours.
Imagine the killing fields, the torture. Imagine I slept. I slept with three doggies and a kitty all warm and cozy. Only a few hours, but sleep nonetheless. Imagine. Imagine if sorry was a word that did something instead of nothing.
Sorry guys. Ron, Ann, Misti, Teresa, Zack, Michael, Chris, MikeyD, Debbie. To all of you who heard me say to trust in me, to all of you who believed me, to all of you who thought I could do something, to all of you who imagined I would. I really thought I could. I imagined it. I can only imagine now I was wrong. Sorry.
IF YOU ARE OUTRAGED BY THIS, LET THESE PEOPLE KNOW!
President - Connie Keeling - 270-860-9232
Vice President - Sheldon Booze YMCA - 270-827-9622
Treasurer - Robin Dance - YMCA - 270-827-9622
County Judge - Sandy Watkins - 270-827-4374
Board Member - Frances Hatchett.- 270-826-3099
Board Member - Veterinarian - Chandra Werner - 270-826-2223
Veterinarian - Mary Ives - -270-826-2331
County Judge's Office - 270-827-6023
All Numbers Were obtained in online white pages.
For Prior Information Please See Previous Journal Entry Here
Gleaner photo by Darrin Phegley - 831-8375 or dphegley@thegleaner.com
Ron Alexander, a Humane Society of Henderson County employee, loads bags containing euthanized dogs and cats into the back of a pickup truck at the animal shelter to be hauled to the dump Wednesday afternoon. More than 75 animals were euthanized on Wednesday.
Board members for the Henderson County Humane Society say the recent lack of management has created an overcrowding problem at the shelter. This morning board members started euthanizing animals at the shelter, without informing staff members of their plans. We learned the shelter would be putting down dozens of animals today, so we decided to find out why. And in the process we found the way the euthenizations were being done are questionable.
This morning we arrived to a board member slash veterinarian concerned about overcrowiding at the humane soceity. Shelter employees say Chandra Werner selected animals for euthanization. She says there were just too many of them.
Employees say it's because they've been without a Director for several weeks. "We don't have anybody on staff like we used to, to do our euthenasias when we had them sick, actually our board was supposed to get ahold of Dr. Nichols to do our emergency euthenasias for us he's only been able to come in once every two weeks and we don't have the resources."
W learned the way veterinarians were doing the euthenizations may not be ethical. Shelter employee Ron Alexander watched the staff's favorite dog Lucky get put down on surveillence monitors. "I went back there when I saw it on the video and the heart was still beating in the bag with the rest of them. Lucky was bagged before the heart quit beating." It's a practice questionable to Kendall Paul with the Vanderburgh Humane Society. She says: "As practiced through humane organizations it is not an acceptable practice..." to place an animal in a closed bag before cardiac arrest.
I asked employee Ron Alexander how the doctor was administering the euthanasia shots. "Is doctor Ives euthenizing animals with a shot to the heart without anesthitizing them first?" "Yes, from what I've seen, yes." Another practice the Vanderburgh Humane Society does not condone. Kendall Paul says "Cardiac injections without tranquilizing the animal is an inhumane means of euthenization and the Vanderburhg Humane Society does not approve of it."
But Shelter Board President Connie Keeling writes it off as a possible mistake.
Were also told by employees that one cat treated for a gunshot wound was awaiting adoption. But employees Theresa Altmeyer says doctor Chandra Werner, also a board member put the cat on the euthenization list. "The shot victim only had one day left of his medication and the people were gonna come in and look at him. That cat won't be walking out today."
It may seem like questions went unanswered. That's because there seems to be a lack of communication between the shelter staff and board members. In the meantime an interim director stepped in today. Board members hope she can bring things back on track. We're told the Vanderburgh Humane Society has been asked to help the Henderson Shelter get things back in working order.
From a Board Member Who Resigned Soon After She Learned Of The Murder and member 1KISS_OF_LIFE
(taken from myspace)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=5607864&blogID=9413158&Mytoken=20041209171121
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Imagine. Imagine if sorry meant more than nothing.
Current mood: sorry
Last night's meeting was bizarre. I was on a board at a shelter gone mad. The director quit and I stayed on the board hoping to help, believing I could, or at least imagining I would. Somehow.
I made myself available to help out in a certain area. The act of holding during death. Not because I wanted to as much as I wanted to save others from having to do it and because that way I'd know when it was to be done. During the meeting I could tell something was wrong. Answers to my questions were vague. I wasn't asked to hold because there was no holding to be done. Just a walk through they said. They forgot to say final.
I knew I wouldn't sleep so I was going to get there early. I didn't sleep much. Between 1:30 & 3 I did and then fell asleep from 6-8. GREAT. I was too late. Too late for the walk through. I resigned from the board this morning but it matters little now. I stayed there to stop the ignorant. I was the ignorant one.
I went back to the shelter at 3:00 today to see if the cat I wanted was still there. I was pretty sure she wasn't. I too went back to see the destruction ... tour the killing fields. When asked later if I'd witnessed or if I'd only heard, I could speak as a witness. I went in ready and as I reached for the door, ready had already gone. Ann saw and seemed to understand ... at least I think she did. I started through the first door. I planned on counting them but I couldn't see them. First they were blurred by the tears ... second because there were few to count. I made it down the adoptable side and saw most of the few. Not them specifically, but generally in the way you see a shape and color, not eyes and faces. I saw more plainly the eyes and faces in kennels that had no occupants, not today.
The small adult dog room; empty. I saw Zack there, spraying water in its emptiness. I couldn't bear to look at him, almost couldn't bear to stand. There was no meaning behind sorry. I said it but sorry did nothing for him .. them. How could it? I didn't stop it from happening. Do I go to the landfill and say it? Will sorry have meaning there. Zack was kind but there was little that could be said.
The cat room was sparse. There were cats but again, few. The tears were enough then that I couldn't see particular cats, cats that I'm sure I knew just days before. I could only see cage doors standing open. Those cages once held life. Now they held nothing. The breakroom I believe was empty.
I then went to the back, the same place I had spent just last Saturday morning cleaning cages. Michael worked Saturday too. That day he was in the back with me, singing aloud, taking care of the puppies and dogs in the middle floor pens while I took care of the cats on the back wall.
Today, I opened the door. My first realization was that of the music ... more precisely, the song. I hadn't yet been told of his quitting so I imagined it was Michael, singing and spraying like before. He could be singing THAT song while the puppies waited to go back to their pens. I love THAT song. But I didn't want to hear it now. Imagine. IMAGINE. I didn't want to imagine. I could only Imagine.
Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world
Michael wasn't there, only Lennon. Ironic? Symbolic? Some girls were there I did not know nor did I care to know. Caring now is of little importance to me. The middle pens were there today. Empty. Cleaned of death. Wiped from life. Each and every one. No spraying, no singing, no chasing loose puppies, no laughing as they scrambled clumsily to keep at arms length. No nothing. Only a faint sorry from my lips. A sorry that did nothing
The cats in the back I'd spent time with just days ago were mostly gone. Mostly, but I couldn't get to those still there. The empty pens from the middle were now light. They were blocking the way. My tears wouldn't let me see if my Nox was there. I was sure she wasn't but I had to look. I knew her small black body would be hard to see and I knew she would be hiding. I finally moved the pens and had to walk what seemed to be forever. I passed each cage, most of them empty. I was nearing hers and could see a blanket and spilled litter. Not unlike the many cages before hers that no longer held life. Only its residue. With another step I saw her eyes as she peered out, tucked in the corner. Nox was there. I took her out and almost crushed her. Then I left the room imagining all the eyes peering out from their blankets at me as I walked away. Away with only one. Eyes of the few I wasn't taking with me. I couldn't turn around but again I said it. I'm sorry.
I walked through the stray area, again most were gone. Most kennels bare. The other side of stray had one dog or so in each kennel. Maybe they didn't realize. Maybe they forgot. Then Zack told me, they would be in again ... to take more.
I didn't witness it. The act. I hear it was a ghoulish scene. The act was done in the kennels. Heartless acts to the heart. No verification of death this time. For some, death took longer. It used to be that death came swiftly, peacefully. Death did not come to them in a landfill, then. I heard one was twitching and breathing when he was taken away. Was he? I imagine he was.
I was glad I had slept late. I was furious I had slept late. I hate myself for sleeping late. The very people I'd wanted to protect from it, had to witness it, to play some part and be unable to stop it. I slept late. I'd driven away when I saw they were there. Knowing they'd been there for some hours.
Imagine the killing fields, the torture. Imagine I slept. I slept with three doggies and a kitty all warm and cozy. Only a few hours, but sleep nonetheless. Imagine. Imagine if sorry was a word that did something instead of nothing.
Sorry guys. Ron, Ann, Misti, Teresa, Zack, Michael, Chris, MikeyD, Debbie. To all of you who heard me say to trust in me, to all of you who believed me, to all of you who thought I could do something, to all of you who imagined I would. I really thought I could. I imagined it. I can only imagine now I was wrong. Sorry.
IF YOU ARE OUTRAGED BY THIS, LET THESE PEOPLE KNOW!
President - Connie Keeling - 270-860-9232
Vice President - Sheldon Booze YMCA - 270-827-9622
Treasurer - Robin Dance - YMCA - 270-827-9622
County Judge - Sandy Watkins - 270-827-4374
Board Member - Frances Hatchett.- 270-826-3099
Board Member - Veterinarian - Chandra Werner - 270-826-2223
Veterinarian - Mary Ives - -270-826-2331
County Judge's Office - 270-827-6023
All Numbers Were obtained in online white pages.
For Prior Information Please See Previous Journal Entry Here
VIEW 11 of 11 COMMENTS
I want to say it'll get better soon.