Dillingham Haggblom

City Governments and Cruelty to Animals

On a recent Tuesday (12/08/09 if my memory is correct), a City of Dillingham maintenance worker went to the City’s animal pound, and found 6 dead dogs.  The heat was off in the building.  The CSO, who is also the animal control officer, who I’ve reported numerous loose dogs to, had not been to the pound to care for the animals for some unknown amount of time.  He was suspended from his job within 48 hours of the discovery.  The local radio station reported that it was believed Officer Travis Barnett could not bring himself to shoot the dogs in the head to kill them anymore (the City’s alternative to lethal injection).  The veterinarian, Dr. Jim Hagee, that flies out for weekend every other month, was to perform necropsies on the dead dogs to determine the cause of death.  Wonder how much he charges for that service, since he charges $200 to spay a cat?  And you wonder what your property tax goes for if you live within city limits?

The last radio blip for outgoing Chief of Police Richard Thompson was something about Barnett receiving proper training for his job.  There was a recent story in the lower 48, the state I can’t recall, that involved a city pound, cruelty to animals, and the Humane Society and the media exposing it.  There was also a more recent story in Colorado with a couple and 100 rescued sled dogs.  The dogs were dead, dying, or sick, when they were finally rescued from their rescuers.  That couple will most likely be charged with animal cruelty.  Will Travis Barnett? When will city governments take animal overpopulation, neglect, and cruelty seriously enough to prevent it?