IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘abuse’

Michael Vick has been named the Eagles’ recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award, a distinction he received in a vote by his teammates.

We are shocked. Courage? Michael Vick? Does it take courage to force a dog to fight for his life in a gambling ring? I would say that is about as cowardice as it gets.

Michael Vick dispose of the dogs who were too gentle for fighting by such ghastly means as electrocution, hanging, and drowning. He served less than two years for actively participating in and bankrolling an interstate dogfighting ring. While Vick does have a right to seek employment, a position in the NFL potentially earning $7 million over the next two years is more than he deserves. We feel that this honor is far from earned for a violent convicted felon, who confessed to killing dogs who refused to fight because of their kind nature.

By employing Michael Vick, the NFL and the Eagles send the message that torturing animals is not a serious matter, and this award emphasizes that message. Impressionable young people see that the public admonishment of his crimes was followed by a multi-million dollar job and now a badge of courage. It will be interpreted as acceptance of his character and actions.

In fact, lets have a look at how Vick is influencing kids. Recently, an 18 year old boy said that he wanted to be the “next Michael Vick”. Did this young man play football? No, but he does have one thing in common with the Eagles quarterback, he is serving time in jail for operating a dog fighting ring!

IDA has asked the NFL to communicate a powerful message of disapproval for animal cruelty by prohibiting the Eagles and any other team from employing convicted animal abusers. We also ask the NFL to include animal fighting among the prohibited conduct listed in the league’s Personal Conduct Policy. The league must put principles before profit and help prevent players from getting involved in this cruel activity.

In Defense of Animals would like to award Michael Vick our distinguished

IDA Cowardice Award!

For spinelessly torturing animals and being the most terrible role model possible for youngsters. We have invited Mr. Vick to our award ceremony, but haven’t heard back yet if he will be joining us for the press conference.

On Thursday, January 14, Best Friends contacted Project Hope to ask for help for a woman in Lexington, MS. The woman reported that she had about 30 dogs that she could no longer feed or care for. Project Hope’s Director, Doll contacted a vet friend, Dr. Roberts, who has helped Project Hope on many occasions. Dr. Roberts knew the woman, who we’ll call Linda, and Friday, he and Doll went to assess the needs of the dogs.

Linda and her dogs live in a house which is missing the entire north side, exposing every room in the house to the elements. The house is so dilapidated that Linda spends all her time on the porch wrapped in blankets to shield herself from the cold and rain. Considering the state of things, the dogs, all terriers and terrier mixes, were in relative good health.

With the direness of the situation Doll decided they had to begin moving the dogs. Since Project Hope was at capacity, the dogs would have to be boarded. Dr. Roberts and Doll loaded up 19 dogs on that initial trip. Doll made a second trip to Linda’s a few days later – this time removing 10 puppies and 7 adults. The Cleveland/Bolivar County Animal Shelter stepped up to take these dogs. They were already planning a transport and the rescue group they were working with offered to take this group of dogs.

On Thursday, February 4, Doll went back to remove the dogs that remained. The dogs previously removed had all been spayed/neutered and this group would be spayed/neutered the next morning by Mississippi Spay And Neuter (MS SPAN) using their “Big Fix” mobile clinic. MS SPAN is an organization that provides low-cost spay/neuter across the state.

This bring us up to today, where Chele and Doll are doing a transport to Every Creature Counts (ECC) in Denver. ECC has generously offered to take the remaining dogs from this case. Doll and Chele left Project Hope for Denver earlier today with a whooping 76 animals, including 68 dogs and 8 cats.

Getting out of the van, the smell of the shelter was overpowering and sickening. I’d asked the City Attorney, Curtis Boschert, for a tour of the shelter with Sherri Norquist, an experienced shelter director, and Sherri’s daughter, who also has shelter experience. It had been a couple of months since renewed complaints of overcrowding, aggression, and emotional and physical distress were reported to Project Hope and we were just following up to ensure improvements had been made.

Today’s tour was very disheartening. The entire facility had gotten much worse since the last time we toured. Clearly the jail inmates who were tasked with cleaning the facility had not been doing so. I actually left unable to speak with my nose running, eyes burning, and throat swelling and irritated. The stench, thick with ammonia, permeated the entire shelter and irritated my sinuses and throat.

Overcrowded, dilapidated cages lined the walls of the rooms. Sick animals were intermingled with healthy animals. Pens held too many juveniles and puppies together. Nearly every cage held dogs with hot spots, mange or a myriad of other untreated illnesses or wounds. The cattery shared this small room and the deafening sound of dogs barking bounced off every wall.

Outside, loose dogs chewed on paws, legs, hips, and backs dotted with hot spots. Dogs were haphazardly placed in runs with many cowering in fear of their cage-mates. The uncovered runs held too many dogs and not enough shelters, leaving the most terrified dogs standing or lying in the mud, muck and feces of the run floor.

During the tour the Director plead her case for the sacrifice of her time, energy, and money for the thirteen years she’d been there. So many own the responsibility for this failed “no kill” shelter. Complaints to the city had fallen on deaf ears and community members had fostered the situation with lack of interest and support. The Director clearly gave everything of herself, as did her husband for what they believed was a noble effort, but warehousing animals with no hope of a better life is simply unacceptable.

The Director, burdened beneath the weight of a tough, thankless mission and now with public scrutiny bearing down on her, surrendered her position to the City Attorney.

We turned our attention to trying to help the animals who were languishing in the shelter. We met in the mayor’s office and hatched a plan. We contacted the Mississippi Animal Response Team and several local vets to come in and help. New volunteers from the community came in as well.

When animal loving people come together, share their resources, and give unselfishly we can move mountains. Sadly it sometimes takes a crisis for caring folks to realize their potential.

Canton, Mississippi Animal Control Officer, Alonzo Esco, has been fired for allegedly shooting to death over a hundred dogs that were in his care. It’s speculated that Esco had also been selling dogs he picked up for bait in dogfighting. What is clear is that after an investigation by the Canton Police Department was that Esco had shot and illegally dumped over 100 dogs in a Canton waterway.

Because the crimes were not a felony, the case would have to be taken up in a lower court. And the Mayor of Canton said that because it was a misdemeanor, the city would not take up the case.

“We will not let go of this,” said Doll Stanley, director of IDA’s Project Hope. “It is absolutely appalling and disgusting that an animal control officer working for any municipality would take it upon himself to violate city policy by shooting animals entrusted to his care. We know this goes on in different communities in Mississippi, and we’re hoping that when these same communities see that Mr. Esco is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law that they will wake up and smell the coffee.”

Esco is facing at least 100 counts of animal cruelty for shooting the dogs. IDA is also looking into the fact that he used city property to act illegally.

Sources revealed that Esco was let go from the Canton Fire Department for stealing gasoline and “demoted” to animal control.

“What is very disconcerting is that a city employee would be demoted to animal control. It is really disturbing is that an animal control position is not considered respectable. Sadly, here in the Mississippi, animal control is often viewed as a gateway to the police or fire department. As an auxiliary policeman, Esco did have a police weapon and this is the weapon he used to kill these animals.”
Check out the news reports :

WLBT

WAPT

for more information on this breaking case.