On Friday, June 16 Pickens Animal Shelter posted a picture on facebook of a male kitten to help find him a new home. The kitten was thought to be a stray due to the lack of a collar and being injured. The following day the kitten was able to find a new home.
Within the next few days a local couple posted on facebook that they were in search for their missing kitten. As it turned out, this was the same kitten adopted from the shelter. The couple proceeded to contact the shelter, but found out that the kitten had went to a new home.
They took to facebook to share how upset they were with their kitten being adopted and that the employee they spoke with made them feel like they were bad pet owners.
After many comments and reviews citizens were making on facebook, the shelter decided to release a statement on Tuesday, June 20.
UPDATE ON KITTEN THAT WAS ADOPTED ….
The shelter staff contacted the adopter and the kitten will be returned to the original owner tomorrow. The policy of the shelter in regards to stray kittens is to vaccinate/deworm and give them a flea pill during intake. They are then immediately put up for adoption if no medical/foster care is needed. During kitten season we do not have a stray hold on kittens due to the amount of litters coming in everyday. Unfortunately, we are a small shelter and cannot house that many cats/kittens without being forced to euthanize which was done in the past at this shelter. We post new arrivals as soon as they come in. In the past, the shelter didn’t have a Facebook page and many healthy and most sick and injured animals were euthanized unfortunately. To date we have only euthanized 2 dogs this year due to old age and we are very proud of our work. We appreciate the support of our local government and community. We will keep our heads and rescue/adoptions high. Good night and God bless.
Many citizens discovered after this statement was posted that Judy Moody, the employee who spoke with the couple was terminated due to the incident. Some of the commenters noted that since Judy began working at the shelter numbers have changed incredibly from 871 euthanizations and 112 adoptions in 2011 to 18 euthanizations and over 800 adoptions in 2015.
The biggest concern people have right now is if the animals will suffer from this. If these animals are not adopted in a certain amount of time, they risk being euthanized.
After officially being discharged from PCAS, Moody took to the internet to create a Facebook page Protect Pickens Pets. The page’s ‘About’ section reads:
The Pickens County Animal Shelter should not exist solely to keep Pickens Commissioner Rob Jones’ unemployable friends in a job or support his politics as usual. Pickens county Residents must PROTECT PICKENS PETS.
Following the page being created, Moody made a lengthy statement about her side you can read here.
FYN contacted Commissioner Jones for a statement,
I can assure the people of this county that I care about animals, I have some of my own. Before we had the shelter I worked with the water department to help the animals at the rescue to have water. I also helped when the shelter was first built to wire panels for the animals in the shelter. It’s a balancing act, I’m all for animals and want to do what is right for them. That’s what our goal is. Legally I can’t speak about the former employee, so I can’t really say much on that. As far as the protest, everyone has a legal right to do so.
Follow up with this story by reading, Animal Shelter Situation Escalates
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Animal shelters that are desperate to increase adoptions and be spared the wrath of those who are opposed to euthanasia under any circumstances (most of whom have never worked a day in their life at a busy, open-admission animal shelter) have started doing many things that harm animals. They're also causing MORE animals to die, they're just dying on the streets, in ditches, under sheds, and in backyards instead of being taken to shelters where they have a chance at finding a good home or can be provided a painless end in safe surroundings. We all need to support open-admission animals shelters that accept all animals without fees or waiting lists, work hard to reunite lost, well-cared for animals with their guardians, and euthanize animals who are suffering or for whom no homes can be found. The need to euthanize animals at shelters can be humanely prevented, by preventing animal neglect and overpopulation. If you care, lobby for laws requiring responsible animal ownership, including spaying and neutering, microchipping, and humane confinement (for both cats and dogs), rather than encouraging illegal and inhumane policies at animals shelters.