Cat's jaw broken while in care of Rowan County Animal Control, NC

kittens mom · Mar 15, 2016

Supermax1943 said:
Ginny,

I'll go with you. My car or yours, if all 50 of my cats will fit in yours?

All kidding aside, and really none of this is at all amusing. It is infuriating, gut wrenching!

That would be so wonderful if you could go.

If not, it sounds as if the news people will follow the hearing.

Wonder why they are even having a hearing.

The only good news would be that the hearing turns into a lynching.

That always sounds like a good idea. The idea is hold someone who does this to an animal in their care through the legal system , not become them. And I agree we need a national register for animal abusers.. I have a couple of nominations on my personal list of people who hurt, starve and neglect their pets and livestock.

ginny · Mar 15, 2016

I called the number listed for the Attorney General - the number listed to submit complaints. They actually did not even take my complaint. It was simply the AT's hotline number, it's not the AT office. I was redirected to the NC Dept of Agriculture, which, like the article and the news segments says, is now handling the investigation. I left a message for them asking for information on the kitty. It may be that the kitty is now in their hands for the moment.

Several things I hate about the news segment and article: one is the officer is on paid leave. He should have been fired.

Another is, this kitty was an owner-surrendered kitty. I wish I knew the particulars of that situation. Was he owned by an elderly person who just got put into a nursing home, or was he adopted from Rowan's shelter and then returned for "bad" behavior? it just breaks my heart he is going through all this uncertainty and stress and then suffer such a horrible injury.

I also hate that this rescue owner didn't speak much more harshly about this animal "shelter" about this abuse. She must want to maintain a good relationship with them but it angers me that she didn't call a spade a spade! There's no excuse for it! He wasn't feral, he was owner-surrendered.

Anyone who knows cats and loves them knows good and well you can't put a kitty through the amount of stress he's been under with all the relocation and then expect him to act like a model citizen. They denied him medical care AFTER they injured him. The rescue group owner is the one who noticed he was bleeding. And the shelter had the gall to blame the vet.

I wish I could somehow be handed the job of director of that shelter. Believe you me heads would roll! And that

idiot officer would serve time.

ginny · Mar 15, 2016

Supermax1943 said:
Ginny,

I'll go with you. My car or yours, if all 50 of my cats will fit in yours?

All kidding aside, and really none of this is at all amusing. It is infuriating, gut wrenching!

That would be so wonderful if you could go.

If not, it sounds as if the news people will follow the hearing.

Wonder why they are even having a hearing.

The only good news would be that the hearing turns into a lynching.

The public forum is being held to develop new policies for the new cat wing and the entire shelter. What??? They need the public's help to determine policies? Well, apparently they do! The more I think about this situation the more I want to go. It would be good to have a group, if that were possible.

ginny · Mar 15, 2016

Margret said:
So they say it wasn't their employees, but the vet they use?! Sounds like damage control to me.

My first question would be, have there ever been any other complaints against this vet? If not, it was their employees. If so, what were they thinking sending animals to him? Either way, they are responsible.

I want this one fully investigated and the actual perpetrators found, prosecuted for felony animal abuse, and their names put in the national animal abuse registry that we still don't have.

Margret

No, they now contend that the kitty was abused at the shelter, not by their vet. That's why an "officer" is on leave. They abused him and then they blamed the vet who said that a lot of force had to be used to break his jaw the way it was. I totally agree that there should be a national registry. With all the documentation that clearly shows animal abusers also abuse people, having a registry is a no-brainer and it should have happened a long time ago.

ginny · Mar 15, 2016

By the way, the number for the NC Department of Agriculture is:

919-707-3280

This is the number where you can submit your complaints. I left a message. I was polite.

kittens mom · Mar 15, 2016

Ginny said:
I called the number listed for the Attorney General - the number listed to submit complaints. They actually did not even take my complaint. It was simply the AT's hotline number, it's not the AT office. I was redirected to the NC Dept of Agriculture, which, like the article and the news segments says, is now handling the investigation. I left a message for them asking for information on the kitty. It may be that the kitty is now in their hands for the moment.

Several things I hate about the news segment and article: one is the officer is on paid leave. He should have been fired.

Another is, this kitty was an owner-surrendered kitty. I wish I knew the particulars of that situation. Was he owned by an elderly person who just got put into a nursing home, or was he adopted from Rowan's shelter and then returned for "bad" behavior? it just breaks my heart he is going through all this uncertainty and stress and then suffer such a horrible injury.

I also hate that this rescue owner didn't speak much more harshly about this animal "shelter" about this abuse. She must want to maintain a good relationship with them but it angers me that she didn't call a spade a spade! There's no excuse for it! He wasn't feral, he was owner-surrendered.

Anyone who knows cats and loves them knows good and well you can't put a kitty through the amount of stress he's been under with all the relocation and then expect him to act like a model citizen. They denied him medical care AFTER they injured him. The rescue group owner is the one who noticed he was bleeding. And the shelter had the gall to blame the vet.

I wish I could somehow be handed the job of director of that shelter. Believe you me heads would roll! And that

idiot officer would serve time.

Paid leave during an investigation. Pretty standard.

supermax1943 · Mar 15, 2016

I will call tomorrow too.

Every time a read a message about this poor cat my blood boils.

I just wish we could hear he/she had been adopted by someone!!!

hmckinney · Mar 15, 2016

hey guys! sorry for being MIA for a bit. i've been pretty active on FB though concerning poor lil cooper.

as an update, his rescue worker took him to the vet and he had the surgery he needed. he's recovering quite well and in a safe place, in capable hands.

however a day or two after the news broke, the shelter put down about 8-9 cats they deemed "feral," some of which weren't out of time yet.

if you want to read more horror stories from rowan county, some of these facebook pages are worth checking out:

https://www.facebook.com/rowancatskittens.1/

https://www.facebook.com/FireClaiMartin/

^ that one specifically is asking for the resignation of the director of the shelter, Clai Martin.

and here's the page for Cooper if you want to keep up to date on him:

https://www.facebook.com/savingcoopernc/

and i ABSOLUTELY recommend going to the hearing in april. pretty much everyone i know is going (i'm also in NC)

hmckinney · Mar 15, 2016

Ginny said:
I called the number listed for the Attorney General - the number listed to submit complaints. They actually did not even take my complaint. It was simply the AT's hotline number, it's not the AT office. I was redirected to the NC Dept of Agriculture, which, like the article and the news segments says, is now handling the investigation. I left a message for them asking for information on the kitty. It may be that the kitty is now in their hands for the moment.

Several things I hate about the news segment and article: one is the officer is on paid leave. He should have been fired.

Another is, this kitty was an owner-surrendered kitty. I wish I knew the particulars of that situation. Was he owned by an elderly person who just got put into a nursing home, or was he adopted from Rowan's shelter and then returned for "bad" behavior? it just breaks my heart he is going through all this uncertainty and stress and then suffer such a horrible injury.

I also hate that this rescue owner didn't speak much more harshly about this animal "shelter" about this abuse. She must want to maintain a good relationship with them but it angers me that she didn't call a spade a spade! There's no excuse for it! He wasn't feral, he was owner-surrendered.

Anyone who knows cats and loves them knows good and well you can't put a kitty through the amount of stress he's been under with all the relocation and then expect him to act like a model citizen. They denied him medical care AFTER they injured him. The rescue group owner is the one who noticed he was bleeding. And the shelter had the gall to blame the vet.

I wish I could somehow be handed the job of director of that shelter. Believe you me heads would roll! And that

idiot officer would serve time.

yeah, i'm sure he was just scared.

literally if the officers don't know how to handle a scared kitty better than this they ought not have the job. and there's no telling how long he was in there, in pain and bleeding...

i heard that they're pretty hostile to fosters/rescue groups, which is a shame.

Margret · Mar 16, 2016

So, they need a committee to tell them that abusing animals in their care is wrong (not to mention illegal)?

Fine. I can't come all the way from Colorado, but please, anyone in the vicinity, go to the meeting. Explain it to them. Politely, so they won't have any cause to complain. Preferably in words of one syllable, because we're obviously dealing with total morons here (but you needn't explain that part to them).

Margret

ginny · Mar 16, 2016

I think the "new cat wing" and the public forum is just damage control. There needs to be an undercover investigation and heads need to roll at that place!

ginny · Mar 16, 2016

And for those of you who like me don't have Facebook, here's the change.org petition:

https://www.change.org/p/rowan-coun...-the-rowan-county-nc-animal-services-director

kittens mom · Mar 16, 2016

Margret said:
So, they need a committee to tell them that abusing animals in their care is wrong (not to mention illegal)?

Fine. I can't come all the way from Colorado, but please, anyone in the vicinity, go to the meeting. Explain it to them. Politely, so they won't have any cause to complain. Preferably in words of one syllable, because we're obviously dealing with total morons here (but you needn't explain that part to them).

Margret

Perhaps we should ask the nice shelter worker to demonstrate their preferred method of micro chipping a scared cat.

hmckinney · Mar 16, 2016

i'm really excited to share that i shared links with one of my foster friends and now she and her foster network are talking about rescuing 10+ babies including a pregnant mom from this shelter!!! including four baby labrador mixes that are on death row.. ugh. i can't even deal with how ridiculous this shelter is..

guys cross your fingers, i REALLY hope the shelter will work with them to get these babies out before they get euthanized, it will be devastating if they don't..

ginny · Apr 6, 2016

Here's an update, from 3/21 - only days after my last post. This time it was a different station covering the details. Trust me, you won't like this:

http://www.wbtv.com/story/31527990/animal-shelter-cleared-after-cats-jaw-broken-during-microchipping

Note that the story is changed and now they say the cat got treatment for his injuries within 30 minutes of the accident. It also says the cat was "misbehaving"!!! This makes me SOOO ANGRY!!!!

****WARNING****** Disturbing picture posted in the article.

nurseangel · Apr 6, 2016

Ginny said:
Here's an update, from 3/21 - only days after my last post. This time it was a different station covering the details. Trust me, you won't like this:

http://www.wbtv.com/story/31527990/animal-shelter-cleared-after-cats-jaw-broken-during-microchipping

Note that the story is changed and now they say the cat got treatment for his injuries within 30 minutes of the accident. It also says the cat was "misbehaving"!!! This makes me SOOO ANGRY!!!!

****WARNING****** Disturbing picture posted in the article.

This does make me very angry. It definitely sounds like a huge cover-up. I was mad and didn't read the whole article. Was the final decision made by the elected official who is over the Department of Agriculture?

ginny · Apr 7, 2016

nurseangel said:
This does make me very angry. It definitely sounds like a huge cover-up. I was mad and didn't read the whole article. Was the final decision made by the elected official who is over the Department of Agriculture?

The story has completely changed and I suppose that "officer" who was put on leave with pay is back at work dealing with new "misbehaving" kitties. This makes me so angry I could spit! Of course it's a cover up! The foster mom who came and got the kitty said he was still bleeding and his jaw had not been fixed. Now, all of a sudden, the story has changed to Cooper got care within 30 minutes of his injury??? They must take us for fools. This makes me very ashamed of the Department of Agriculture. They must have lots of friends in Rowan County who didn't need any more negative publicity.

Justice was not served. I can only hope there is a hell for idiots who abuse animals, the very ones who are supposed to CARE FOR THEM, and then get away with it.

ginny · Apr 7, 2016

Sorry, @nurseangel , I meant to answer your question. I don't know who made the decision at the Department of Agriculture, but there's definitely corruption going on there as well as in Rowan County.

nurseangel · Apr 7, 2016

Ginny said:
Sorry, @nurseangel , I meant to answer your question. I don't know who made the decision at the Department of Agriculture, but there's definitely corruption going on there as well as in Rowan County.

That's okay. I understand your outrage. I distinctly remember there being candidates on the ballot in the primaries for the Department of Agriculture. Hmm...

Cat's jaw broken while in care of Rowan County Animal Control, NC

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.

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Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.

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Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.

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