Animal Activists Call for Change at Shelter

Residents countywide and from farther parts of Southern California Monday evening, April 7, converged at San Bernardino City Hall to ask city leaders for change, this time in regards to the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter. Public speakers and animal advocates asked the mayor and city council during the public comment portion of the scheduled meeting, which was ended after an hour of comment with still more audience members requesting the chance to speak that evening, to make changes to the shelter, which many alleged was ill-equipped, inadequately managed and called more harmful to stray animals than helpful as it purportedly participates in “retaliatory animal killings” in response to whistleblowers. The convergence of animal supporters came after animal advocate, videographer and shelter volunteer Maria Sanchez was arrested by city police April 2 in a confrontation occurring after Sanchez returned that day and claimed she saw Sue, a pit-mix, was still suffering from an illness Sanchez had noticed when she visited the shelter the previous Saturday, March 29, and claims she asked the shelter’s operations manager Debi Shuker that day to nurse the dog back to health. The shelter receives donations of medication from the public in order to treat the animals and help the shelter financially, after the city filed bankruptcy in August 2012. Sanchez claims she was arrested April 2 after demanding to know what Shuker would do with the sick dog. Following her arrest, Sanchez was told by police that she was not to return to the shelter for 72 hours, and on the weekend leading up to the April 7 council meeting, she asked community members and other animal advocates to join her at the meeting to speak out against the conditions at the shelter. (View videotape of the April 2 confrontation above.) The council, and members of the Colton, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda and Fontana councils—cities that contract animal control services through the City of San Bernardino—have also received hundreds of emails from animal advocates throughout the country and even as far away as Canada, some members revealed during the April 7 council meeting, and other public speakers confirmed in their speeches to the members on the dais. Valerie Ashton, a Carlsbad resident and founder and managing director of the nonprofit Upward Dog Rescue, which has worked with the city animal shelter over the last two years to adopt out stray animals to suitable homes, discussed a dog named Inky Binky who sustained a de-gloving injury and two broken back legs, whom she rescued. Ashton claimed the shelter was negligent of the dog and its health. “After being picked up by animal control, both of Inky Binky’s legs were bandaged, with instructions to change bandages every three days. That never happened. When I rescued him, he had the same bandages as his shelter intake photo. He smelled septic and I was overcome with nausea. If I took that poor care of a dog, my vet would probably report me to authorities,” she told the council. Ashton, like others, explained that there were plenty of community residents and animal rescue shelters who were willing to give their help to the city’s shelter. “Injured and ill dogs come into your shelter all the time. Your adoption partner rescues want to help them… My rescue and other approved 501c3 rescue partners are willing to take on the veterinary costs when we rescue these dogs. I believe this is a win-win for the city because it will save you money and leave an empty kennel,” Ashton said. Many other speakers referred to the shelter as “high kill,” and expressed they saw difficulties in adopting out the dogs when the shelter seemingly killed the dogs at random and often times, they claimed, with no reason. Sol Plente, a shelter volunteer from Corona who posts videos of the animals to the Internet to find them homes, asked, “(What) is the criteria for the killing? They say one day, it’s (because) the animals are long past their due date, if the animal is sick, or if the animal has no space. The (next) day, they say it’s because of behavior, that space has nothing to do with it. How do we know?” She continued, “We love these animals. We want to give these animals a second chance, but for us to do that, we need to work with the shelter. All I ask is to give me time. When is this animal going to be euthanized? I go home and we don’t know who’s going to be killed and why.” Marla Tauscher, a lawyer who specializes in animal law, said, “My only goal in our shelters…is transparency and accountability. From what I can tell, looking at this…facility for the last couple of years, it’s atrocious. What is happening there is nothing more than institutionalized animal abuse, cruelty and neglect.” She continued, “What’s going on there is unbelievable. This is not a bunch of hype…what’s going on there is a bunch of concrete violations of law. When I hear about animals like Inky Binky, who had this horrible injury, who was left for 10 days—if I did that I would expect to be prosecuted for felony animal cruelty. There’s no exemption…in the law for government workers. In fact, I would hold them to a higher standard because, theoretically, they have the knowledge to do better than this.” The shelter also does not have an on-site vet, she said, and she claimed there was no one at the shelter licensed to prescribe or administer drugs, purchased by the city, to the animals, and asked, “Where are they going? I don’t know where they’re going, but this is taxpayer money and it’s a significant amount.” Maria Sanchez did not have the chance to publicly address the council, but she told the City News, “I have provided the documentation of dogs being killed before the state mandated holding period, proof of owner-surrenders being killed within minutes of being surrendered, (and) countless photos and videos of neglect and suffering of sick and injured dogs who have been refused medical treatment. Here I am again, wondering how many more dogs like Sue...will suffer before those who have the power to create change will have had enough. I had no clue what I was getting into when I decided to dedicate my time to take photos and videos of the dogs at this shelter. The things I have seen cannot be unseen, but I will not look away. I am their voice and I will be urging (the council) to speak up for them right along with me.” Messages left by the City News for comment from animal shelter management were not returned by the end of the day Tuesday, April 8. Currently animal advocates like Sanchez are continuing to ask for support from other animal advocates around the world, with posts on social media websites like Facebook, listing the email addresses of city leaders in the cities of San Bernardino, Colton, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda and Fontana and asking residents to continue emailing these leaders for support.