Shelter worker who fed snakes to python rehired!!!!
Some stories are so sick and twisted it's hard to believe they are true. But this one is. In September of 2002 it was revealed that an employee of Detroit Animal Control fed a litter of live puppies to a python in the shelter. (See the Detroit Free Press article written by Kim North Shine Worker who fed pups to snake loses job at pound) At that time, Detroit Animal Control killed thousands of homeless pets by gassing them and also sold to research. The public was outraged about the fate of the poor puppies and the inhumane way animals were killed at the "shelter". People from across the country wrote the City of Detroit, the Mayor of Detroit, the Council, the Wayne County Prosecutor and the Detroit Department of Public Health, demanding that the worker be fired, prosecuted for animal cruelty and that the "shelter" immediately cease selling to research and gassing pets.
Jethro's Place took part in the effort, organizing a letter writing campaign. The Detroit Free Press published a letter to the editor written by our founder:
Snakes, gas chambers and animal cruelty
September 27, 2002
The details of living, breathing puppies fed to a python snake by a Detroit Animal Control officer were horrific. For the shelter to allow this event to occur is an indication of rampant cruelty.
Systemic cruelty is what happens every day to the animals that pass through the doors of Detroit Animal Control. A culture of cruelty is encouraged when animals are killed in carbon monoxide chambers. A culture of cruelty is guaranteed when pets are sold to research dealers for use in cruel experiments. No human being could participate in gas chamber killings and in shipping dogs and cats to research dealers and not become cruel.
The culture of cruelty that persists at Detroit Animal Control may be a cause of Detroit's huge stray problem. Why not just let my dog go when I don't want him anymore? Doesn't he stand a better chance of finding a home if I let him go on the street? He certainly won't find a home if I drop him off at Animal Control, where they gas animals and sell them to research dealers. Members of the public think this way, and Animal Control practices encourage such thinking.
Mary Dresbach Cofounder, Jethro's Place Animal Sanctuary, Ferndale Snakes, gas chambers and animal cruelty
Worker not charged with animal cruelty
Through a failure of police and prosecutors to take animal cruelty seriously, Tara McClanahan escaped cruelty charges. No charges in snake feeding - Link to Detroit Free Press Article. Mc Clanahan was fired. The gas chamber was shut down, animals are now killed by injection, a kinder death. The shelter claims it does not sell to research.
Stunning Development - McClanahan rehired and working in the shelter
A Channel 7 News investigation reveals that McClanahan is back working at Detroit Animal Control. The City claims that union and civil service rules led to the rehire. However, what they aren't saying is that McClanahan did not have to be rehired back into the shelter. It is routine that employee's with problems are shifted to other City departments. Putting McClanahan back in the shelter, with access to animals, is no different than putting an embezzler in the tax collection department. Well, there is a difference, the only thing the embezzler can do is cause fiscal harm, this person has access to living, feeling beings who cannot protect themselves. The dangers to shelter animals far outweigh any rights that McClanahan may have. We demand that McClanahan be immediately transferred to another job, where she will not have access to abandoned and homeless animals. Channel 7 Investigation - Shelter worker who fed puppies to python rehired.
How you can help!!!
Become a Member: Join Jethro's Place and help fight to make the lives of homeless animals better. Click here to join Jethro's Place!
Write: City of Detroit Officials who may be able to make a difference. Please do not send form letters, they will be ignored. Write from your heart, be polite and do not threaten physical violence. Contact info for relevant Detroit officials:
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick:
City of Detroit
Executive Office
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave., Ste. 1126
Detroit, MI 48226
Dr. Noble Maseru
Director
DETROIT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROMOTION
HERMAN KIEFER HEALTH COMPLEX
1151 Taylor Detroit, MI 48202
(313) 876-4000
(313) 876-0400 (Fax)
Council President
Maryann Mahaffey1340 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 224-4510 (office)
(313) 963-5741 (fax)
E-mail: mahaffeym@mahaffey.ci.detroit.mi.us
Contact Person: Sharon Lee
Council President Pro Tem
Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr.1340 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 224-4505 (office)
(313) 224-0367 (fax)
E-mail: CockrelK.CNCL.Council@kcockrel.ci.detroit.mi.us
Contact Person: John C. Clark
Council Member
Sharon McPhail1340 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 224-4530 (office)
(313) 224- 2011 (fax)
E-mail: SMcPhail_MB@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Contact Person: Calvin T. Hughes, Jr.
Council Member
Sheila M. Cockrel1340 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 224-1337 (office)
(313) 224-0369 (fax)
E-mail: S-Cockrel_mb@ckrl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Contact Person: JoAnn Abdenour
Council Member
Alberta Tinsley-Talabi1340 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 224-1645 (office)
(313) 224-1787 (fax)
E-mail: A_Talabi_mb@atwpo.ci.detroit.mi.us
Contact Person: Dorotha Hannah
Council Member
Alonzo W. Bates1340 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
Bates_MB@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
2 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 224-1245(office)
(313) 224- 4095(fax)
E-mail:
Council Member
JoAnn Watson1340 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 224-4535 (office)
(313) 224-1524 (fax)
E-mail: WatsonJ@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Contact Person: Sandra Epps