ASPCA Forensics Team Sent to Tennessee
posted by: Sharon Seltzer 105 days ago
The Forensics Team and Emergency Responders from the ASPCA were sent early Tuesday morning - October 27th to assist with an investigation being conducted by law enforcement officers at the City of Memphis Animal Shelter. The request for help came after a raid was made on the shelter by the local sheriff’s department because of allegations of animal cruelty.
The ASPCA Team was called in because of their expertise in collecting forensics evidence for criminal animal abuse cases. Their team is being run by Dr. Melinda Merck, who is a leading forensics veterinarian.
The Memphis Animal Shelter
This municipal shelter which opened its doors in the mid 1950’s is responsible for housing and adopting abandoned and abused pets throughout the entire city of Memphis. Their website states that they hope for a day “when animals will not suffer because of human abuse, neglect, or ignorance.” But ironically, the cats and dogs in this shelter have allegedly suffered severe abuse from the very people who were hired to protect them.
The Investigation
The investigation began earlier this month after District Attorney Bill Gibbons received a tip from a concerned citizen about the conditions at the facility. He ordered a search warrant and contacted the sheriff’s office to conduct the raid.
According to the search warrant, “detectives have learned that some animals have been deprived of food and water while at the Memphis Animal Shelter..” and while in the shelter’s care, “some dogs have been starved to the point of requiring euthanasia.”
The warrant further accuses shelter employees of keeping “dogs that are to be quarantined for rabies with dogs that are not required to be quarantined in the same kennel.”
The ASPCA will scour the animal shelter for possible evidence that hopefully will lead to criminal charges against the facility and its employees. They have set up their “Mobile Animal Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Unit which will help them process the evidence. The unit is equipped with medical equipment that is specially designed for animal patients.
The Emergency Team will focus its responsibility on helping the animals at the shelter. They will see that each pet is examined by a veterinarian and that every animal has a safe and clean living environment. It is unclear yet, if the pets will have to be moved.
What do you think of animals being abused by the people who were hired to protect them?
Source: Reuters
Read more: animal welfare, aspca forencics, memphis animal shelter raid
comments
Personal situation is his and must not reflect on others specially animals...cats, dogs and birds.Be compassionat.
BE COMPASSIONATE WITH THE CREATURES.
BE COMPASSIONAT WITH YOUR COMPANION.
TREAT OTHERS IN THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO YREAT YOU.
HAVE A SENSE OF HUMAN BEING NOT HUMAN DOING.
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why is this inappropriate?
Personal situation specially deression, anger, stress should not by all means reflect on others humans or animals " cats,dogs and birds too".
They have the right to be cared of perfectly regardless to the personal psychological status.
Be compassionat with your companions.
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why is this inappropriate?
Personal situation is his and must not reflect on others specially animals...cats, dogs and even birds.
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why is this inappropriate?
I don't quite understand the question. What does stress have to do with this problem. There is obviously a very serious problem at this place. People who would deliberately starve animals in their care to death need to be arrested and put in jail. They also need psychiatric treatment. But personally I don't think you can change animal abusers. All you can do is punish them and keep them away from other animals. This is a terrible story.
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GO ASPCA! I think all shelters,research labs,farm factorys,ect. that deal with animals,should be monitored at all times with cameras,that are seen by someone like ASPCA.Shelters should not have any closed doors to the public,as well as research labs,ect.,because we all have a right to know what is going on,if we chose to know.This goes for farm factorys,fur farms.We should at least get to see all the videos taken through out the day at these places,either the tapes from library or on internet,ect.Maybe the abuse would be stopped.These people with any involment directly or indirectly should be forced out of their job ,right now and spend time in jail,at least one yr.
I want to Thank-You for this Report!!!!!!!!
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why is this inappropriate?
Who can you really trust when it comes to giving animals food,
shelter and loving care? Just a while ago an animal shelter, in a small town near us, which was supposedly dedicated to caring for animals had two employees arrested for picking up animals for the shelter and selling them to anyone. These two people were given a slap on the wrist so to speak which will surely not deter anyone else from doing the same thing. I am just heartbroken when I read what some people do to innocent animals. All any animal wants is unconditional love and affection and if you cannot supply that to the animals then stay away from animals and humans because you surely cannot love anything. I am glad to say that my home (and everyone around here knows it) is a haven for any animals that show up. Anyone in this neighborhood who wants to get rid of an animal leaves it with me and my husband to care for, Thank the Lord.
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I'm Sick. Those poor animals. They should euthanize the people who did this and those who knew and did nothing.
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Ever notice how sickos end up in the environment that allows them to act out their pathology. Pedophiles in the Boy Scouts, adrenalin addicted power hungry in the law enforcement or taking care of the incarcerated including children detention places or schools for the retarded, etc. Remember Nurse Ratchett in One Fell into the Cucos Nest. Sorry, but to a great degree this is true. Yep, there are good people in all field, but they somehow don't know how to weed out the people that are looking for a chance to act out their own illness. Too bad that it is always the silent and weak or the disreputed who cannot tell on their abusers until it gets to the degree that innocent are hurt. .
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PLEASE SAVE OUR FRIENDS
JUSTICE NOW
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The shelter should be closed and the animals housed elsewhere until competent caring people can be found to run the shelter. Not too long ago in Miami shelters were closed because of overcrowding and other unsanitary conditions-they were then taken over by the Police Department who hired people responsible only to them and cleaned up the shelters so that now the animals are treated decently, unfortunately these are not no kill shelters, and the animals there do not have long to live before euthanization, but while they are there they have clean living conditions, adequate food and water and are treated decently. There is no excuse for running a shelter where animals are abused-that should be prosecuted criminally and those responsible should be barred from ever having anything to do with animals again either professionally-working in other shelters or vet offices or the like or personally they should not be permitted to own an animal ever. Cruelty should be stopped wherever it occurs and not be permitted to flourish unpunished.
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