Ok, so there’s definitely something wrong with this picture…

I saw these dogs at the Carson shelter on Monday, while photographing the Pit Bulls. After noticing their physical condition, I then noticed that their ID#s were 1 digit apart (#A4456850 for the Rottweiler and #A4456849 for the Shepherd) and that they were owner surrendered on the same day. Now, I know that everyone isn’t to be judged like they are me (or you), and that some people don’t treat their animals exactly like I do mine… But there is a certain level of basic treatment that we should come to require–and this, in my opinion, falls far short of that. I’ve seen these kinds of physical deteriorations many times in the Pit Bulls that are dumped or brought in as “strays.” It’s wrong every time, and they likely come more often than not at the hands of a neglectful human as opposed to coming from being truly homeless for a period of time where these kinds of conditions can play out. So now we have 2 dogs that actually aren’t Pit Bulls, will this get people’s attention a little bit more?

I want to know if the Carson shelter is actually investigating how these animals were treated prior to being surrendered. They have the paperwork, and the owner’s information, because that is standard when you surrender your animals. They should not only be making sure that this person is appropriately checked out for a potential cruelty charge, but that their name is also going into some kind of a database that prevents them from ever being able to adopt an animal from a shelter ever again. Is this being done?

To see all of the dogs that were photographed on Monday, and to help me tag/share/network them, please click HERE.

*UPDATE*

Damn! The same person actually dumped 4 dogs in total, 2 Shepherds and 2 Rottweilers.

This challenge is simple… It’s a call to action for the many people who are not familiar with, or who have a learned opinion about Pit Bulls. Don’t you want to have an opinion that’s genuinely based on some real life experiences? Or are you the type that just accepts hearsay as literal fact? The best answer to your predicament is to simply make an effort to visit your local shelter and meet a few of these daunted Pit Bulls in person. There’s no better facilitator of the truth than the dogs themselves!

I was able to make small talk with this guy on the way out of the shelter. I was also in the lobby during his multiple attempts at getting any kind of assistance. He walked in 3 different times in a span of around 45 minutes, no one ever took the initiative to help him or see to it that someone else help him.

Neither of the front desk girls even got out of their chairs. The manager was in his office, with the door shut, approximately 5 feet away. They didn’t pull anyone aside, they didn’t tell Gil (the manager), they didn’t walk to the back room to check for someone, they didn’t go anywhere themselves to at least show the guy that some amount of effort was being made. They barely even responded to, or acknowledged him. All they did was ask each other if there were any volunteers on the floor today.

This all happened the night of March 22nd. I immediately made a post about what I’d seen on my Facebook page, and the comments started rolling in. A frequent rescuer at Carson added her 2 cents, actually posting that the day before this happened she had witnessed another potential adopter walk out after being denied a “play pass” because the desk workers failed to track down a kennel attendant. Instead of getting off of their asses to go look, they just made the call that “they aren’t giving out play passes at this time.” So charming of them. All of this is totally, totally, totally unacceptable behavior from anyone being employed in this line of work.

This sweet baby came in as an owner surrender on 6/28. His name was Uno and he was highly adoptable for numerous reasons… For one, he was just a puppy; for another, he was very sweet; for another, he had a coloration mark in the shape of a heart that was smack dab in the middle of his chest; for another, his ears perked high and folded backwards at all times. Oh, not to mention, his kennel card said that he was “good with small children.” He was then killed shortly thereafter, on the morning of 7/3. So it was just 5 days that was given to this baby, 4 if he was surrendered after hours on 6/28. What a shame. What in the hell is this shelter’s selection process? Why was he picked, and after just a couple of days? Uno’s 1 dog, and he’s now gone the way of thousands of others. I have my own thoughts about this, which I’ll keep to myself for now…

This is a comment that I recently received under one of my Facebook posts:

I don’t like it either but the real blame lies with those who don’t spay/neuter, and then when their dogs do get pregnant they abandon them. Don’t shoot the messenger. I AM NOT CONDONING PUTTING DOWN ANY DOG, but if you look at what is happening it is the irresponsible behavior of the general public who continues to breed without conscious and repercussions, and those who continue to help them make it happen by buying those pups.

A: That reality doesn’t justify solely shifting the blame off of the shelters. A lot of the stuff that you said, to me, is very valid and (sadly) represents things that happen everywhere. With that being said, when people ultimately choose to abandon their animals they then pay the repercussions of that decision and whatever karmic situation unfolds for them in the future. Yes, many people are to blame for dumping dogs, irresponsibly breeding, not treating their animals as members of the family that are worth protecting, taking the easy way out in many different scenarios, etc. But they have to live with that, and that responsibility shifts the minute they give up on/dump/walk away from that animal and leave it with a shelter.

It’s a shelters job to be a shelter, to transition these dogs into a better situation and work hard to find them a good/better home. That’s their job. That’s what they are coincidentally paid to do. That’s the impression, even though we know that 75% of these shelters don’t do that even remotely to the best of their abilities. Why does this get lost with people? Quit giving pounds justifications for continuing to endlessly kill while at the same time not recognizing the (in many cases) laundry lists of things that these pounds are NOT doing in order to make themselves a more efficient and dedicated facility that really does aim to “shelter.”

You may say, well, that’s not what you’re doing–but in this case that’s exactly what you’re doing. These 5 dogs existed at the Carson shelter and were given 2 days and then killed. That is inexplicable and isn’t justified in any way no matter what the prior “owner” did. That’s not me “shooting the messenger” either, I’m not trying to argue or anything. But I do disagree with your ultimate point of just placing all of the blame in 1 direction. There’s 5 or 10 different directions that probably deserve some of that blame, and the prior owner and the shelter that impounded and ultimately killed the animal are at the top of that list. In my mind they go hand in hand. 2 wrongs are 2 wrongs. We can’t erase history and say, well, “that doesn’t count” because that dog was dumped by a person and so “the shelter had no other choice” but to kill it upon receiving that dog. They do have choices, they have options. It’s their job to create choices, to make options. Their job isn’t just to accept people’s discards and then make them disappear… And if that is the legitimate job description then the sheltering system needs to lay off the PR spin and propaganda and just embrace the fact that that’s what they are paid to do. Which they don’t, they fight that assertion tooth and nail. And there’s a major problem and discord there between a public that either doesn’t know or constantly lets them off the hook with statements like you made, which only allows them to continue to kill and not put any effort forth that is based or birthed out of trying to do something (many things) different.

This gorgeous, beautiful, sweetheart of a brand new mother (#A4441948) was killed, along with her four 4-day-old puppies, less than 48 hours after being made “available” at the Carson shelter. Total crimes against life. Total crimes against compassion and decency. Such outrageous behavior by our local shithole, out masquerading as a “shelter.” Young mother, you mattered. So did your babies that you were clearly so proud of. The actions taken against you reflect the worst qualities of society, embraced and carried out by the very people out posing as your protectors. What a complete sham. Godspeed.

In November of 2011, the Carson shelter killed (at least) 130 Pit Bull-type dogs. I know this as an absolute fact, because I’d photographed each animal, and later verified each’s status with numerous phone calls. This kind of claim can be made because for that entire month I was visiting the shelter every other day. This was done with the intention of documenting every pittie face that came through this terrifying facility. I met and spent time with every one of these beautiful creatures. They were sweet, they were individuals. Over my dead body will this information remain secret.

Allow me to make this as real as possible for you… In order to fill that type of a killing total for the month of November, they’d of had to kill the equivalent of 4.3 Pit Bulls EVERY DAY. I’m here to tell you that the Carson shelter absolutely did this. No, I’m not stating that they actually killed 4 dogs every single day. They could have just as easily killed 12 one day and 0 another, as evidenced by their killing of 18 pits during the 58 hours that they were “closed” for Thanksgiving. But these are how the numbers work out, horrifying in either regard. Next, take the per day Pit Bull-type estimate and stack that next to the per day kill-rate for ALL dogs impounded at Carson (from current fiscal year 2011-2012 (ytd))… That number works out to 6.7 per day, established after receiving some public records from the shelter regarding their outcomes. Math then reveals that with these 2 estimations, over 60% of all shelter dogs actively murdered in November were likely “labeled” as Pit Bull-types. I realize that that isn’t an exact science, as 1 number is solidly November, and the other number is an average pulled from almost 10 months now of total intakes… But you get the idea. Unfortunately, the transparent truth is probably even worse. The overriding point is that this type of stuff is happening every month, November is the topic today because I was constantly there to document and demonstrate the example.

Earlier this week the shelter veterinarian/tech messed up Pepper’s spay/stitch, and she almost bled out, alone and in her kennel over night. Once the staff realized, they did thankfully take her to the emergency shelter vet at Downey, but then refused to release her to her rescuer for almost 4 days while they treated her with antibiotics and an injection. She lost a major amount of blood, she needed to be released right away so that she could be transfused. That should have been the obvious response. She’s apparently been beyond lethargic, uninterested in food, and the staff were scared that she was going to “die during the car ride.” Well, she didn’t die, and she’s currently undergoing a blood transfusion. Thanks to SOL Foundation, Dr. Jones, and Hemopet for being there for Pepper. Below is a video of the little champion, dug in and ready for her treatment…

I was made part of a thread on Facebook yesterday that really started delving into a topic that has been on my mind for awhile now. I shared some thoughts there, and I’d like to echo those thoughts here. With that, I’d like to also point to one of my first posts that I’d ever made on this website, which is very relevant to what I’m about to write.

The question that some people might need to ask is the question that’s at the top of this post. I’ve personally heard of so many different things in the short amount of time that I’ve been photographing shelter dogs, advocating for them, that I’ve found myself kicking that very question around on numerous different occasions. Do people intend to do well? I’m sure they (most of us) universally do. Do they have the means to do well? That’s a different question entirely. Then, next, what defines “well”? I have my own philosophy of what a “rescue” looks like… Regardless of the dog, regardless of the person–I believe that if you pull a dog, you are responsible for that dog’s well being, and you should see that rescue through, until its appropriate forever home is found. This process could take weeks, it could take months, it could take over a year. There are many facets of this that get quite detailed, and yet they all revolve around doing your absolute due-diligence, and doing it on the animal’s behalf.

That short synopsis aside–I’ve seen many rescues (both 501c3’s and not), as well as “independent” rescuers, fail to live up to their responsibilities. This comes with many different examples, but one of the most troubling things that I’ve personally seen is when a legitimate 501c3 rescue/rescuer has a “pull list” that has been compromised, either with or without their knowledge. The people on this list then act as liaisons who freely give their access to other people–who many times are never checked out or ever followed up with. This has irresponsibility written all over it, and yet it’s justified for a laundry list of reasons that I won’t bother getting into at this time.

For those of you that aren’t totally clear: A “pull list” is a collection of people who are officially able to pull an animal from a shelter, under a specific rescue’s 501c3 status, and on that rescue’s behalf. That animal would then legally become the responsibility of that rescue. If you are on this list, you are deemed appropriate to represent that rescue in these matters, and it’s common knowledge that everyone on the pull list ultimately reports to the rescue. The problematic part is when you see people who are “officially” on a rescue’s pull list, then pulling and handing off animals to 3rd or 4th party individuals (they themselves (many times) acknowledged as “rescuers”), and then just trusting that everything goes well, never to follow up again. This happens way more than it should.

Are there ways to appropriately take those types of steps? I’m sure that there sometimes are–and more power to those people who, in times of necessity freelance a bit to achieve a genuine objective. But it’s GOT to be done responsibly, and you should always remain accountable for your decisions. In my opinion, people are out taking advantage of this tactic, and it’s creating a messy landscape, which is sadly becoming more and more commonplace.

Just to be clear: I’m not trying to criticize anyone specifically, as I’m not a rescuer and there’s much that I obviously don’t know… I’m simply observing and trying to create a dialogue on the topic, which might hopefully inspire better practices going forward… At the end of the day it’s just beyond horrendous to hear that animals that were “rescued” from 1 shelter, may many months later end up in another shelter (or worse)–only to then be tracked back to their original rescue puller, who in many instances had no idea that they were even pulled in the first place! That’s inexplicable nonsense.

How does this happen? I suppose a previously thought to be “good” adopter could, down the line, choose to abandon their previously adopted animal without giving the rescue from which it came prior knowledge of their decision. That does likely happen (albeit hopefully not very often), but in which case that rescue should be contacted by the shelter and immediately reclaim the animal. But that’s not what I’m talking about here… So then you ask, are certain rescues knowingly being so irresponsible with their pull rights? Some likely are, many may not be. Many may just have rogue pullers… Either way, it ultimately comes back on the rescue, and should. My main point is that if a rescue/rescuer isn’t keeping good records, ^that scenario is unfortunately the type of crap that may end up happening. How does a rescue honestly not know which dogs they’ve actually had a hand in pulling? If you’re a rescue/rescuer and you can’t produce a record of every dog that you’ve ever pulled, as well as having a noted contact and location as to where that dog is/was physically residing, then you just need to get out of the rescue business. Honestly. And if this stuff was ever done unbeknownst to the core of your actual rescue, then you need to immediately track down whoever was behind that decision and cut that bait.

I know that’s an overall harsh tone to take, but people need to take their organizations and their reputations a little bit more seriously. The sheltering system is a HUGE multifaceted problem and these animals count on efficient rescues to handle their business appropriately, as well as counting on others to actually want and aspire to become good rescues as well, and do it in the right way and for the right reasons… This type of a thing playing out obviously has the opposite effect, that goes without saying. Just as importantly, it then gives tyrannical killing shelters MORE of a reason to limit access to legitimate rescuers who consistently do things the appropriate way. And again, by no means am I insinuating that anyone isn’t a legitimate rescue/rescuer. That’s honestly not a pissing match that I want any part of… But I can speak to illegitimate practices. I’ve seen them happen. If a rescue/rescuer is employing someone (or allowing an employee to “downlow” employ another) who is doing a shit job, then that rescue/rescuer needs to get rid of that person before their entire reputation as an organization/individual is damaged beyond repair. That does nothing good for anyone, animals included.

Lastly, at no time should a genuine rescue/rescuer ever just “leave” a dog with a foster, with little to no follow-up, and an insinuated unwritten responsibility transfer… I’d want to believe that any good rescue/rescuer, if given the foresight of bad circumstances happening, would immediately then swoop in and protect/re-collect those animals that they are ultimately responsible for. Unfortunately, I know that there are many times when this doesn’t happen; and quite the opposite actually ends up happening instead. Please do better. There’s no excuse for this kind of stuff. People can’t get away with an “ignore the problem, focus on a solution” attitude (which is dismissive of the problem, and when ignored, invites it to repeat itself), when those people who are ultimately the problem are still prominently involved and are still out doing what they have done incorrectly in this instance. C’mon!

I honestly hope that this was a fair criticism, and that people will be able to relate to it. I’ve met many great and wonderful people since starting this website. Loving, compassionate people. Many times I’ve personally tried to go an extra mile and help different individuals in an assortment of ways; by networking, fundraising, 1-time “guest pulling” when a rescuer couldn’t get off of work, freely transporting, even fostering. At the end of the day, I chose to offer myself up for the dogs, and as a favor to the individuals that should have been absolutely responsible for the things that they’ve willingly and knowingly signed up for. Fortunately, I’ve witnessed many things go beautifully. By the same token, I’ve witnessed other things hit snags. Things do at times hit snags, and that’s just part of life. Some snags are totally uncontrollable, yet many are actually directly relatable to the lack of due-diligence that these “rescuers” do. The people pulling these dogs need to have a plan, and a backup to that plan, and then the intestinal fortitude to create another, if necessary. The dogs deserve nothing less than that. Admittedly, a portion of the content of this article is solely based on what I have heard, yet much is based on what I have actually seen. There’s no doubt that the things that I’ve stated here will likely ruffle a few feathers, but at the end of the day, so what? I do believe this content to be meaningful and important.