Records for dog #269523 at Memphis Animal Services are incomplete. Curiously missing is the e-mail exchange between Ms. Brenda Fortney, who was interested in rescuing the healthy, vaccinated dog, and pound director James Rogers. On Friday August 8, 2014, Ms. Fortney e-mailed MAS to express an interest in the dog and director James Rogers told her he would keep the dog alive until the pound closed that afternoon. Here is his reply in full. Note that several MAS staff members are copied on the response:

From: James.Rogers@memphistn.gov

To: bfortney; tracy.dunlap@memphistn.gov; DeKeishia.Tunstall@memphistn.gov; Glenn.Andrews@memphistn.gov; James.Edgeston@memphistn.gov; Rebecca.Coleman@memphistn.gov; Shanna.Wall@memphistn.gov

Subject: RE: Interested in dog A269523

Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2014 12:01:01 +0000 Good Morning Ms. Fortney, This pets time has expired. You have until close of business today to adopt. Please inform me of your intentions upon receipt of this message. Thank you

James M. Rogers

Administrator, MAS

But when a second rescuer contacted James Rogers later that morning, she was advised the dog had already been killed. Oops. An explanation was requested, multiple times, and the director finally provided one. It too is notably absent from this dog’s official records provided by the city of Memphis. Here is a copy sent to me by a shelter pet advocate:

From: <James.Rogers@memphistn.gov>

Date: 11 August 2014 08:15:38 am GMT-5

To: alysemasserano, jennwestrich, bfortney

Cc: <tracy.dunlap@memphistn.gov>, <Glenn.Andrews@memphistn.gov>, <DeKeishia.Tunstall@memphistn.gov>, <LaSonya.Hall@memphistn.gov>

Subject: RE: A269583 Good morning Masserano, My apologies for pet #269523 being humanely euthanized in error on Friday. I responded to Ms. Brenda Fortney at 7:01 Friday morning informing her that that she had until close of business on Friday to adopt the pet. I proceeded to remove the pet from the euthanasia list in our system at the time that I replied to her email at 7:01 a.m. This action should have been sufficient, however we have discovered through our investigation of this incident that it is not. The pet was euthanized at 9:37 Friday morning. Reason being, pet ID # 259523 kennel card was not removed from the stack of kennel cards prepared for euthanasia the previous day. A fatal error. The pet’s kennel card remained in the stack of kennel cards for pets to be euthanized on Friday morning. The assigned staff proceeded to make the euthanasia list the “morning of” from the stack of kennel cards pulled the previous day. The pet was placed back on the euthanasia list from the kennel cards and subsequently euthanized. We have a policy in place that the euthanasia list will not be completed until the “day of”. We followed that rule. The euthanasia list was made the “morning of” the euthanasia session. However, we must now include not pulling the kennel cards until the “day of” as well. By all accounts the death of one animal in error is unacceptable and MAS is diligently seeking to be error free. Again, please accept our apologies. James M. Rogers

Administrator, MAS

*splashes cold water on face*

What the frell?

Does anyone on the planet earth understand the point of drafting a kill list the “day of” killing based upon information pooled from the previous day?

“We followed that rule.”

*slow clap*

By all means, step right up and grab yourself a prize from the Stupid Bin for following your own nonsensical rule that you made up because you can’t stop killing pets people want to adopt.

Despite all the staffers copied on the e-mail acknowledging the poor dog would be given an additional day to live, he was killed anyway. Not because the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing at MAS. That would be too innocent. It’s because the left hand at MAS is always killing animals while the right hand is up someone’s ass trying to find a brain.

Oh and it’s not “euthanasia” nor is it “humane” when you kill healthy pets. If you can’t own it, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.

How many more, Memphis?