That pillar of animal care and control, the Chicago pound, is once again pillaring all over the animals. Pound staff brought 14 dogs to the Chicago Wolves hockey game for an adoption event on Saturday, April 18. A dog called Missy was reportedly “having problems” at the event and was taken out to a cage in a city vehicle. Missy was left unattended in the cage for the remainder of the adoption event and for the next five days. A volunteer found Missy on Thursday night, April 23, “barely alive” and still caged in the van which was parked in a city lot a mile from the pound. Someone called the police, who immediately went into corrupt enabler mode:

Police said they do not know specifically how many days the dog was left inside the van. […] Police say it was an accident and they do not expect any criminal charges.

We don’t know how many days the dog was left in the van because math is hard and also a very inexact science. But we don’t need to know how many days it was because even if it was 5 or 3 or 53, we know it was just an oopsie. And oopsies are not crimes when committed by city employees I guess.

Pound spokesmen describe Missy as “playful” and suffering “no health issues” after being neglected for 5 days. Which totally gels with the “barely alive” thing. Maybe she was too weak to stand and had to be carried and they figured she was “playing dead”, I don’t know.

Anyhoo the pound will investigate itself in the matter and depending on the findings, may go so far as to take disciplinary action against someone. Which is exactly the same punishment as would be doled out to a regular citizen who neglected a dog so egregiously no doubt.

In addition to determining who left Missy in the van instead of returning her to the pound after the adoption event, I have more questions. Who signed off on feeding Missy every day from April 18 through April 23? Who signed off on walking her? Who made the daily notations in her records about her general well-being? Are any of those people going to face the dreaded disciplinary action?

Chicago taxpayers need to demand that pound employees do their jobs and be held accountable when they don’t. For whatever that demand might be worth.

(Thank you to everyone who sent me links on this story.)