Addresses to thank those responsible for MAS raid

Thanks to Jan Courtney for getting us this list. They are forsure going to be hearing from me. 

Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons and Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell announced Tuesday that deputies with the Sheriff’s Office had executed a search warrant at the City of Memphis Animal Shelter located at 3456 Tchulahoma Road in Memphis. 

 

If you would like to thank them for their involvement in this, the following are their addresses:

 

William L. Gibbons

District Attorney General

Shelby County District Attorney’s Office

201 Poplar Avenue, Third Floor

Memphis, TN  38103

901-545-5900

 

Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.
201 Poplar Ave.
Memphis, TN 38103

public-info@shelby-sheriff.org

 

Also, below is the City of Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton’s address:

 

Mayor A C Wharton, Jr.
City Hall
125 N. Main St. Room 700
Memphis, TN 38103
 (901) 576-6000 

In response to dog shot in home..

Preliminary investigation reveals when the officers arrived on the scene, they attempted to check the residence for signs of a break-in. While entering the back yard, the officers noticed a dog door. While attempting to back out of the yard, they were charged by two dogs. The officers advised they had no choice but to defend themselves and each shot one time at the dogs.

Inspectional Service Bureau made the scene to conduct a full investigation. It is policy for all shootings to be investigated by ISB. This incident will be handled like any other investigation.

Memphis Police Officers ARE trained on how to be vigilant of their surroundings. They are taught how to look for signs of a dog’s presence, but still have a duty to do their job.

Due to the large volume of burglary alarms, citizens who are owners of pets can assist officers in the following ways;

· Post “Beware of Dog” or “Dog on Premises” signs near the gates on your fence.

· Advise your alarm company provider that you have an animal on the premises and make sure the alarm company relays that information to officers.

· Secure a lock on each gate

In regards to the incident that occurred today, this investigation is ongoing. An update will be available upon the conclusion of the investigation.

 

Major Susan Lowe

Memphis Police Department

Research & Development

Lots of Animal Issues Going on in Memphis

Just wanted to make everyone aware, even those of you that read my blog from Texas to New York to California, etc. There is a lot going on in Memphis today concerning animals and children. I am a member of the Animal Cruelty Taskforce as well as a on member on the Board of the Mid South Spay Neuter Services and really try my best to make everyone aware of what is going on in the community. I think when we are aware we make more conscious decisions. I have so much unpacking going on, but wanted to post this so if anyone wants to write letters etc..

Well last week the Memphis Police Department came to a home in High Point Terrace area, where I have two good friends that have homes in the area. This is a good area of town. There was an alarm going off and when the officers went into the back yard and Anna Bolton's mixed rescue dogs came running, the police shot and hit one of the dogs. Both were mixes, appearing to be lab and Shepherd mixes. When Bolton came home Violet was missing and her other dog, Bing was in a pool of blood. But the police have the right to do this!? An alarm is going off and you are so scared you shoot at two dogs? This really disgusts me bc my dogs are A LOT more scary looking and well might not be friendly to someone coming into out backyard. You know I don't know, they haven't ever done anything, but sure bark and don't look too nice when people have come up to the fence. But hello!!! This is what I actually want. I do not believe in having a gun, just didn't grow up around guns, but LIKE that people I don't know and probably don't want to know won't come into my fence after hearing my dogs bark or seeing them. Isn't this ok!? I mean I'm all for Pit Bull stereotypes to be brought down, but those burglars and home invaders, well let them think they shouldn't come into my house, right!? 

A couple of weeks ago we were at the Fox and Hound for football on a Sunday. I had on a Bengals TJ Houshmanzadeh jersey. This police officer kept following me around, it was weird, so I finally asked him if he needed something. Well TJ Houshmanzadeh now plays for the Seahawks and is one of our Fantasy players, also half Persian and I'm a huge fan. Well,  I was watching the Seahawks but he wanted to tell me that the Bengals game was on in the other room. I guess it bothered him that I was in the wrong/nonBengals room. Ok, so where am I going with this!? He decided he was going to talk to me about him being a Browns fan, etc, etc...and after some small talk, I asked him about another incident recently about some officers shooting someones Boxer. This Boxer came out of the home, according to the owners about the lick them to death. He then goes to tell me that he shoots Pit Bulls all the time. Ok, stop right there..this man had NO IDEA who he was talking to! He thought it was funny and took it back to say 2 times he has shot a Pit Bull. Once bc it was attacking a Poodle and another time when he was chasing a suspect and he ran into a house, when this police officer ran into the house there was a Pit Bull that came at him and he shot him! Well Tony hears him at this time and tells him that if someone shot one of our dogs, he would feel the right to shoot that person. Surprisingly coming from Tony who usually doesn't say much. I begin showing him pictures of Lennox and Lane in my phone and them dressed up in Halloween costumes, etc. He admits he has two Dalmatians  and loves them, bc they are a much better breed, and at this point after me telling him to stop shooting dogs, he walks off. Don't know if it helped change his mind, but why was a cop in full gear in a sports bar on a Sunday. He was a total weirdo and I wish I got his name, but I was too upset about what he said to us. 

My point is that the police think they have the right to do this, and it happens all the time. We just have heard about this case with Anna Bolton's dogs, and there is somewhat of a happy ending. Bing will be ok after lots of rehab, that Bolton will have to pay on her own, no help from the MPD and Violet was found under a neighbor's porch. Now before Violet came back, there was another animal issue, Pet Extortion. Lashira McClain had been calling Bolton and trying to extort money from her for the safe return of Violet, the dog that she didn't even have. McClain was in court today. 

Also this morning before 6am, Memphis Animal Services, the pound, the city shelter, was raided on grounds of animal abuse. ACT has been working on this after volunteers reported months ago about food shortages and starving dogs to the point of requiring euthanasia. Isn't this just sick. Our new mayor, Wharton, was on hand and immediately fired 10 employees. I'm glad he was on top of things and hopefully the conditions will improve with this investigation. 

On top of all of the animal stories that I follow I wanted to make note and send prayers to the community where 2 little boys have now both died after being left in their home when their mother went shopping and left these two boys, ages 2 and 3 in their home. Both were rushed to the hospital and have now died. Just a very sad and upsetting story that I have been following. You wonder how many other mothers think its ok to leave their kids locked in a room while they go and shop? I hope some of them see this story. 

I'm really hopeful that our new Mayor can really make some changes for child and animal welfare. Its a sad day for Memphis..

Only one Mayoral Candidate..

So my report on the meeting Monday night is kinda, well..blah..only one Mayoral candidate came, Carol Chumney, and she came at the end of the meeting. She filled out a survey ACT (Animal Cruelty Taskforce) had given her and she checked, 'yes' on all boxes, basically stating she is concerned about the animals in the community. But no speech, nothing really..she did had out some info and gave us signs if we wanted them.

Deb Merino gave an awesome speech on Mid South Spay Neuter Services, that I am a part of now: :) Just giving the facts of how important it is to get all animals 'fixed'. 14,000 animals were put down at Memphis Animal Services last year. 14,000 too many. The ONLY way this number is going to go down is to get out in the community and spreading the word that there is a clinic that does it for cheap, under $70 cheap. And for those that can't pay that much, there are options for them, there are Grants paying for certain surgeries, etc. 

So while I didn't learn about any of the candidates, I learned more and more about getting out there and getting pets 'fixed' and controlling the pet population. 

Rambling..

Whew! This past weekend wore me out. I hope to get our pictures from the UT/UAB game up soon. Announcement!!- Lennox and Lane made the Humane Society calendar!! Thank you so much to everyone that voted! I think they came in 8th place, but I will find out officially when they tabulate all the voting. The picture of them together won. I need to just submit one next 

year instead of confusing everyone with which one to vote for. I'm just so happy they got in. 

 

  

Monday, I attended my second ACT meeting (Animal Cruelty Taskforce). It was wonderful to be with a group of people that truly care about animals in our city. We are really working hard to get some of the laws changed. I will say that I was somewhat discouraged when the two men that set Hope on fire got off last week with no charges against them. At least the men did jail time, but who am I kidding, they aren't men, they are boys, who obviously have major issues considering they could hold down a puppy and set the poor thing on fire. Vincent Boykin and Tristan Hataway are on the streets, keep an eye out for them, it might not be an animal next, it could be a child..There are so many issues to tackle but next on our agenda we are working to get our next task accomplished which is getting road side sales of puppies banned. One thing at a time. I also got to meet a couple that does Pit Bull rescue. They have 17 Pit Bulls in their house that they have rescued off the road and have been abandoned. They do this all on their own, I really want to help them with a fundraiser. This will be one of my upcoming projects. Also, today I found out that two of my good friends entered the world of blogging and I have added them to my blog list..Ashley and Teshia. I'm looking forward to keeping up with them. Lastly, saying goodbye to Lane's hand-me-down dog bed has bitten the dust literally..thanks to Lane himself, he will no longer have a dog bed in his crate..just old towels. Thanks Lane..