Montcalm Killing Fields
Written by:  Justine DePalma
Published: March 31, 2008



March of 2008 may turn out to be pivotal for animals in Montcalm County. Light started to shine on the Montcalm County Animal Shelter and it revealed some dark secrets. The truth is finally rising to the surface, albeit slowly and painfully. This is the first of a series of articles about the Montcalm County Animal Shelter.

From the beginning

Petfinder.com and pets911.com appear to be an indicator of whether an animal shelter is merely a place to house animals before they are killed. Refusal to use the free internet pet adoption services is indicative of a poorly run operation that is not trying to find homes for the animals housed at its facility. Montcalm is such a shelter. Even though citizens have volunteered to do the work, take the pictures and load them onto petfinder.com or pets911.com, the shelter has refused to participate. This means that even highly adoptable purebred dogs and cats have little chance at finding new homes, since no one knows they are at the shelter. Well, almost no one, but more on that part of the story later.

Many shelters rely on rescue groups to reduce the number of animals needing homes. Montcalm is not a rescue friendly shelter. Rescue groups are required to pay the same amount as the general public, $70. Rescue groups cannot count on the shelter holding animals past the stray hold date, even if they alert shelter staff that they wish to assist with a certain animal. Roadblocks for rescue groups are another sign of a shelter that is not interested in saving lives.

A Bad End for Dogs and Cats

The odds are not good for dogs and cats entering Montcalm's animal shelter. In 2007, 75% of the dogs and cats that entered the “shelter” were either killed in the CO2 gas barrel or given to USDA Class B research dealer R & R Research.¹ Not exactly an example of a governmental agency striving to do great work. Overall, from 2004 through 2007 84% of the “shelter” animals were either gassed or given to R & R Research. R & R Research in Howard City purports to have a contract with Montcalm County that allows R & R to take any animal it wants in return for gassing the animals as requested by staff.²

2004 through 2007 shelter statistics

                                        Dogs              Cats                   Total

Admitted:                           4109             3926                   8035

Returned to Owner               550                  6                     556

Adopted                               431                99                     530

Given to Research                519               297                    816³

Killed by Gas                     2271             3382                  5653

The shelter reports reveal that no attempt to save animals lives is made by the Montcalm County Animal Control Shelter. Less than 10% of the dogs and cats are returned to their homes or adopted. Research dealer R & R took 14% of the shelter animals and gassed the remaining 70%.⁴ If the shelter adopted just the 816 dogs and cats given to R & R, $16,000 in revenue would have been generated for the shelter.

Animal Control Director Resigns under Fire

Given the abysmal record of the Montcalm Animal Shelter it shouldn't have surprised anyone when Director Kevin Weaver resigned under fire. Besides the horrible adoption statistics, he is accused of animal abuse by a shelter employee. Supposedly, the Montcalm County Sheriff Department is investigating the allegations of wrong doing. The Montcalm County Administrator Chris Hyser is charged with overseeing the operation of the Animal Control Department, he has not returned phone calls before publication of this article. Currently, the county is searching for a new animal control director, however, local activists do not believe much will change since there are not any qualified individuals wiling to undertake a shelter where county policy dictates that animals are either gassed in a barrel or given to a research dealer.

Coming this week: Learn Who Had a Key to the County Animal Shelter, What Happened to the American Eskimos, Why Did Six Year Old Cocoa Suffer for Days with a Severe Injury, Six Lakes House of Death and Where Does the Montcalm County Animal Control Department Go from Here.

Annual Shelter Reports

DOGS

CATS

Are You Mad as Hell?

Activists urge you to get involved and make a difference. Jeannie Urbanski from Montcalm County suggests that the Montcalm County Commission is the place to start since the Commission is responsible for animal shelter policy. Write or email the commissioners and let them know that you are not satisfied with what is happening at the shelter. Remember that threats or nasty language will not be helpful in getting your point across.

Jethro's Place Animal Sanctuary in Ferndale Michigan is calling for a boycott of all Montcalm County businesses. They are asking animal lovers to drive right through the county without stopping for even a stick of gum, hoping that loss of economic activity will have some impact.

Contact United States Senator Debbie Stabenaugh and ask that she keep the Pet Safety and Protection Act in the United States Farm Bill. The Pet Safety and Protection Act will stop Class B Dealers from selling shelter pets. Finally, contact your Michigan Representative and ask him/her to support HB 5263 which will prevent shelter from giving or selling animals to research dealers or institutions.

Mich Animal News articles about Montcalm County: An Unholy Alliance

Mich Animal News article about Companion Animals in Research

1The State of Michigan Department of Agriculture is the agency charged with enforcing Michigan's statutes and regulations concerning animal shelter and research dealers. Pursuant to Michigan statutes, Montcalm Animal Control Shelter filed Annual Shelter Reports for the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The statistics and raw numbers used in this article are taken directly from the Annual Shelter Reports.

2Legal experts opine that the contract may be illegal and unenforceable by the research dealer.

3According to R & R Research USDA license application; R & R sells animals for an average of $311. Assuming all 816 animals taken from Montcalm from 2004 through 2007 were sold, Montcalm animals’ sales by R & R would be $253,776.

4Complete annual statistics can be found at the end of this installment.

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