So recently a group that we have tremendous respect for, and work with frequently, contacted us about the Chesterfield, SC shelter. This is the shelter that some time ago was attacked for being one of the cruelest in the nation, (allowing dogs to maul each other, killing dogs that had rescues or homes lined up, not feeding the animals, etc etc). There was also a huge outcry from the public to dismantle their barbaric gas chamber (that went un-inspected for years and basically TORTURED the dogs to death) and to stop the other horrors that went on. Their response to the naysayers and the whistle blowers? They sneered and killed ALL the dogs – EVEN THE ONES THAT HAD RESCUES WAITING FOR THEM.
Well. That sure taught all those naysayers a lesson, didn’t it?
The group we work with stopped helping there after that. They were so sick about this, so deeply sick and wounded that all these dogs died as “retaliation” that they couldn’t go back and help anymore. Did that mean anything to the shelter workers? No. They don’t CARE people. Do you think I’m kidding? Lying? Making this up? Exaggerating? I’m not.
These people are easily capable of taking puppies and young, happy, healthy dogs and murdering them – dogs that in some cases already had HOMES with loving people waiting for them – because they were ticked at some of the rescue groups for objecting to their inhumane treatment of the animals in their “care”. Speaks volumes, doesn’t it? And seriously…come on…what MONSTER KILLS PUPPIES???? WHO THE HELL KILLS PUPPIES?? Who the hell gets up in the morning, goes to work and murders freaking puppies? ESPECIALLY puppies that had rescues waiting to take them in!
OK, so let’s get back to the story, and readers, if you think this is the EXCEPTION to sheltering in this country and this is a RARE case, then I tell you WAKE UP.
PAY ATTENTION.
GET YOUR DAMN HEAD OUT OF THE DAMN SAND.
This is NOT the exception. Crap like this goes on EVERYWHERE and this is one of the MANY reasons we need Oreo’s Law passed – to stop this from happening by people that don’t care about our animals. People that will KILL animals to teach other’s a “lesson” and smirk while they do it. THESE are the people that are running your shelters and they absolutely MUST be stopped. Not tomorrow, not the next generation, NOW.
Passing Oreo’s Law is the single most important
thing you can do for animals in your life time.
Why? Because once NY gets this law – all the other states will follow. If you want to make an impact for animals NOW, in YOUR generation, then help get this passed. If this was in place then those rescue groups could go in there and say “NO, you aren’t murdering this puppy. We are a rescue group and we are taking this puppy to his new home now. Go away you tired little man who murders puppies, you have no power now. The people have spoken and they are stopping you.”
But…alas….that tired little man can do exactly what he wants. It is perfectly legal for him to murder animals while rescue groups stand there with their arms extended and homes waiting. That tired little man (or woman) has ultimate power over life and death to the animals that are down on their luck and have come to them for help. Have wound up in their shelter and have asked for help. They do not get it. They get killed instead.
THAT is what happens in these disgusting shelters and what murderous shelter directors across the nation do every day. You think it is only in the south? Oh no, my dear friends. This has also happened to Pets Alive, with dogs just miles away from us, when we have empty runs and homes waiting. How do we stop it? It will stop when we have a series of Oreo’s Law’s in place in every state and it starts here in New York.
So back to the wretched Chesterfield shelter. Here’s some information I have been gathering from various sources and we are pulling together proof for most of this, although right now it is mostly word of mouth from people I trust very much and have seen it and experienced it with their own eyes.
In Chesterfield:
- They are showing that 70-90 dogs are being killed each month, yet purchase orders for lethal injection show enough for just 10 dogs or less each month. What does that mean? Aren’t you paying attention? Or are you just having trouble really absorbing and believing this? Yes. Truly. I understand. What that means is that the rest are being slaughtered. They aren’t getting a humane lethal injection death.
So just HOW are they being killed?
Keep reading.
(Stop it! You aren’t leaving this page now because the truth is too much for you to stomach. YOU are needed on the front line of this war against our animals. You are needed to look, read, understand and step up to STOP this. Do not turn your back. Keep reading, I will NOT say anything graphic.)
- The sheriff’s department lets the dogs loose in the landfill and then uses them for target practice. That is how they are “euthanizing”.
- Prisoners are in charge of care of the animals and are brought in once a day to see to their care. Prisoners. Yes.
- Prisoners are routinely left ALONE with the dogs while the ACO’s go to do animal pick ups.
- There is no budget for the animal shelter. It is run solely on donations and if there is no food donated, the animals are not fed. Yet the budget allows for the animal control officers to all drive brand new SUV’s. There are four of them purchased within the last two years, all brand new…but no money to feed the dogs. Please read this one again. The ACO’s drive brand new, souped up SUV’s with all the bells and whistles, but there is no money to feed the dogs.
- There are local rescue groups working and getting the dogs out but multiple times in the past year if they spoke against the shelter, the shelter euthanized ALL the dogs – EVEN THOUGH ALL THE DOGS HAD RESCUE. They were killed as retaliation for the groups speaking out against the horrid conditions and inhumane treatment.
- The sheriff”s department are the ones slaughtering the dogs, yet the sheriff’s department is the group that is “investigating this”
Hmm.
Interesting.
So let me get this straight.
I’m a county sheriff.
I am killing dogs by using them for target practice and shooting them in the landfill.
Someone complains.
OK, I’m going to open up a case, assign it to myself and investigate it.
BRILLIANT.
I’m gonna go ahead and give this a couple of days until the “animal whackoos” calm down and then I’m gonna mark this “INVESTIGATED” and no charges pending. Yawn. Where’s my beer?
So what can we do? What can YOU do? Most of you have already gathered up your licensed firearms and licensed grenades and are in the car heading down to Chesterfield to shoot yourself some “dogs”. The HUMAN kind of dogs, of course, but stop! I say “nay-nay!”. Get thee back to thy chair.
We are “peaceable demonstrators”. Our power is not in violence (although I’ll ride shot gun with anyone that wants to go and spit in their driveway), but in the power of numbers. Thousands will read this blog. Thousands will pass it on. THAT is where your power is. We need you to bombard this sleepy little town, and this no-account sheriffs department, and this lazy mayor, with your words.
Call them. EVERY day. A few times a day. Tell them that the world is watching and this is unacceptable. Send them emails. Flood their email with your protests. Tell them that this is not the “old boys club” and that this will not be tolerated in OUR nation. That OUR nation loves our animals and OUR nation will see an end to these murders and that while we support no kill, that if they will not go no kill then they must be accountable for humane euthanasia. Not 10% of the time. But 100% of the time. That the murdering of animals that come to them desperate and in need of help, will not be allowed in OUR nation. That their old boys club is closed, and a new regime of caring animal lovers is in place. That any animal that has a place to go, should be given that opportunity at life.
So use those talking points and email the mayor and the council.
1. Demand the mayor have a separate group investigate the allegations.
2. Demand the mayor provide a budget for the shelter.
3. Demand the mayor investigate the prisoners left unattended with the animals.
4. Demand routine inspections and reports by an unbiased individual or group, each week, going forward.
5. Demand an accounting of how every animal is euthanized and WHY every animal is euthanized if there is another option.
6. Demand rescue access – allowing rescues to whisk those animals away to safety.
You can contact them here:
The town is run by the town council though, so be SURE to cc them as well: cftmclerk@shtc.net and ccgov@shtc.net.
Council members: http://www.chesterfieldcountysc.com/secondary.aspx?pageID=129
Also contact the governor:
Governor Nicky Haley
grassroots@nikkihaley.com
Then contact the Attorney General’s office and demand that the sheriff’s own office not be able to investigate themselves and that a higher authority do so.
The Honorable Alan Wilson
P.O. Box 11549
Columbia, S.C. 29211
803-734-3970
http://www.scattorneygeneral.org/ag/contact.html
The Sheriff? Here ya go!
Phone: 843-623-2101
Fax: 843-623-3534
Email: admin@chesterfieldsheriff.org
Animal Control
Brian Burch – Supervisor
Joe Campbell – Animal Control Officer
467 Goodale Road
Chesterfield SC 29709
Phone: 843-623-3585
Fax: 843-623-9223
Senator Lindsey Grahm
http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.LandingPage
Senator Jim DeMint
Phone: 843-727-4525
Fax: 843-793-6839
Rep. Mick Mulvaney
803-327-1114
FAX: 803-327-4330
Email Address: https://mulvaney.house.gov/Contact/default.aspx
WWW Homepage: http://mulvaney.house.gov/
Twitter: @RepMickMulvaney
You can also read these news articles about the mass massacre of these dogs, used for target practice. Warning, the second one has GRAPHIC images of some of the dead dogs. I suggest you avoid that one. I wish I had.
- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41920049
- http://www.friendburst.com/blog/20803/chesterfield-sc-animal-shelter-killed-dogs-shelter-target-practice22-dogs-puppies/
- http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/allegations-of-dogs-slaughtered-by-shelter-employees-south-carolina
- http://yesbiscuit.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/breaking-allegation-of-mass-shooting-of-shelter-dogs-in-sc/
- http://www.wsoctv.com/news/27093350/detail.html
- http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Many-angered-over-allegation-of-dogs-killed-at-shelter-117472104.html
- GRAPHIC picture of four dogs in landfill – DO NOT LOOK AT THIS unless you are one of the non-believers
Please be the voice for those that have none, and have been so unfairly abused.
To have done nothing wrong in their short, sweet lives but be born, and wind up in the wrong territory.
Don’t look away.
Don’t move on.
Take two seconds of your time and make a difference.
BE the difference that you want to see in the world.
THEY are counting on you.
YOU ARE ALL THEY HAVE.
Nancy,
I have spoken with county officials.
Mayor John Douglas
In this case the Sheriff himself runs the Animal Shelter. After asking the county to turn it over to him a few years ago its obvious Sheriff Sam Parker has turned it into a disaster. I am ashamed to know that our Sheriff is responsible for this debacle. Sheriff Sam Parker had to know that the drugs for euthanasia were not being purchased and he is over the shelter so he is the Man responsible. You have to ask yourself how many more times this has happened. Possibly thousands! We have a Sheriff who can afford to fly around in a helicopter and fancy new vehicles everywhere but we just can’t seem to come up with the money to buy the drugs to euthanize the animals legally.
This is a conflict of interest…having the Sheriff Dept investigate the Sheriff Dept. there will be NO JUSTICE SERVED! What if your family pet got loose, Animal Control picked it up and a day later they were using it for target practice??? How would you explain that to your family, your children??? If you have anykind of a heart you will look at your family pet and imagine this happening to them and see how you feel! Would you look them in the yes and outright lie to them?? Or would you be honest and say “because I didnt do anything when the torture of the 22 dogs was exposed, Fluffy is now DEAD! Imagine your children feeling betrayed by you. Please… you need to have this investigated at a state level and not the Sheriff Department. Wether you are an animal lover or not, you cant deny that this was a cruel and torturous way for these animals to die….for Fluffy to die
Correstion: Look your family in the eyes….
I too went to the Chesterfield County website. I “love” the little blurb on sheriff’s page:
“Welcome to the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office Web Site. It is my privilege to serve you as Sheriff. I am proud of the men and women who serve in this department. Our certified and non-certified personnel are committed to uphold
the laws of South Carolina and are dedicated to serving and protecting the citizens of this County. They diligently seek
the truth and maintain the highest level of integrity, honor and professionalism.
As Sheriff, I pledge to work with you and faithfully honor the oath of office that I took on January 6, 2003. We must
continue to work together to make Chesterfield County a better place to live. Feel free to contact our office with ideas or suggestions about ways we can improve our service to your community. I look forward to the coming years as we
make each year better than the previous.”
~ Sheriff Sam Parker
Sheriff Parker ought to re-read this and check the dictionary for the meaning of some of the words he used, i.e.,integrity, honor, professionalism. He also might want to get educated on what being “committed to uphold the laws of South Carolina” really means, and how to “faithfully honor the oath of office.”
Note to the Mayor: He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Note to Heather:
I’m on your side here – the continuation of insults does cause me pause.
Sincerely,
Mayor John Douglas,
TOWN of Chesterfield
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Matthew 7:1
i can only hope that these innocent dogs will be treated well .. placed in homes where they will be taken care of .. that they will have a shelter that treats them well until that time .. i hope these awful situations that were described will be made to stop & the situation set right .. for the sake of the dogs & the people will feel better if they do the right thing
Thank you Mayor Douglas for caring. Hopefully more officals from Chesterfield county will also speak out against this and we can see real change.
It is long overdue.
Mr. Mayor,
I truly hope you are on my side, the side of the posters here, and, most importantly, the side of the animals.
I apologize for offending you with the quote. I came across the quote just recently and it really spoke to me. I read and cry over articles about animal abuse and cruelty every day and up to this point, that’s all I have done. I am going to start doing what I can as a simple citizen of this country to stop animal cruelty.
….I can not believe,what I’m reading!!! Is it true,that Sheriff Office used dogs as a targets? If yes,this is just an awful. We have a law enforcement to protect the law,but not commit the crime. In this case,that is Not a law enforcement agency,but criminals.We don’t need such sheriff department. Such Sheriff must to step down, and deputies who fired firearm at innocent, defenseless animals have to be fired.This story bring me in a shock!!! I’m former police officer from Ukraine. For all my time in PD,I never pulled trigger on animals,NEVER!!! But I had situation to deal with danger dogs. I used alternative to stop them,but not harm them.
I just posted news few hours ago,on 31 page(now)….,,The Awful Tortures of an animals in the Russia,, If you want,you can read that. How many times I told to my friends in Russia and Ukraine, that american s love all animals.That we have nice shelters,where people take care of them. How many animals lives, police officers and Firemen saved. But what is it? That shelter,like a Gestapo prison for animals? Animal Control workers driving band new SUV,but no money for food? I do not have words to say, what I think.God is Judge for all of them.
People with a ,,Big heart,,!!! We can not to be silent.This info must to be in all newspapers, on a national TV, everywhere. But we have to STOP such ,,two legs animals,, who called themselves a human. Big ashame to such mayor,who can not make anything to stop this cruelty. What kind of a power he has? To sit in a warm chair and using our tax money for his income? Unbelievable!!!
This happens all over the world. The shelter here was not taking good care of the animals, or letting them get adopted out. It is still in the town meetings agenda, being constantly discuss at every meeting, progress is being made, but slowly. The only difference is our shelter is a no kill shelter. I think in this case everyone should contact the Sentor or nothing will ever get done. He does care about re-election and if enough people respond he will at least investigate.
Sorry, but in the Mayor’s defense, he really doesn’t have any say in this matter. He doesn’t make the laws, and he only has the city he can take of. This and almost all shelter fall under the County or State which would the Govenor or you Sentors to who actually make the laws.
Just wanted to give an update on how our local rescue groups are making me proud to step up about this ordeal:
http://www2.counton2.com/news/2011/mar/07/lowcountry-group-takes-labs-chesterfield-after-do-ar-1550471/
This is barbaric in the day and age of time.
I live in a small town too. Our local law enforcement is in charge of animal control.
A few years ago, We had a backyard breeder with a nasty situation. The pups & mom living on a chain tangled up tied to a tree. The food (can of beans) cheapest dog food at the store or leftovers. feces,puppies, food & mom’s all in the dirt. The local sheriff’s dept were called out. They said this was animal cruelty. They took pictures & wrote on a yellow notebook. The 6 puppies that survived were only 2-3 weeks old.
Then called the sheriff for advice. He told them to locate the owner. He was at work an hour away. He had to “take the mom’s & puppies out of his jurisdiction.” He instructed them to escort him to the county line.
Here is the problem. The sheriff says ” You didn’t hear me say that.” He refuses to admit that is what he did. However he keeps getting elected every 4 yrs. Going on 25 yrs now. Us residents believe the elections are rigged.
If anyone says anything against him, he makes their lives miserable. You or your family members will be stopped for no reason at all. Good ole boys club at work.
So I would suggest someone out side of the local government should intervene on Chesterfield ,S.C. I will share to get this story out there.
Please sign the petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-south-carolina-that-we-wont-put-up-with-animal-abuse
very good post
I posted a petition on Change.org to get people to try to get this stopped. (I didn’t quite use the language used here.) Please go sign the petition. Thanks!!
Great job Lowcountry Lab Rescue! Hope more people step up to get these dogs out of there. If I didn’t live across the country I’d foster 1 or 2 myself.
This is absolutely horrible, these people belong in jail for treating these poor little dogs like this. From what I can understand they only killed the ones who had places to go. I thin that any adults involved in this should go to jail. I am not even sure that will be good enough for them and they should never be allowed to have the responsibility of taking care of an animal ever again. I know that my baby had to go through a lot because he originated at puppy mill and I know that he had to have been abused before when we got him. He was abused am He was always very skiddish. He is finally coming out of that. We adopted another one who was a dumped dog who had a very bad anxiety problem, he was a dumped dog and I have every reason to believe that he was abused. I know he is a very anxious animal. They are coming out of the way they were tho and they will play and sit on our laps and enjoy time with us, which they wouldn’t do to start with. Any one who mistreats one of these who can not speak up for themselves need us to speak for them and they need to b locked up in a tiny tiny cell. If I am not making sense I am sorry, I have had no sleep and think I need to head to bed as it is 12:30pm here. God Bless all of those who do help our animals.
Great so the people we trust to ensure justice are serial killers! The lack of conscience in these individuals is cause for an immediate psych eval! God forgive us for not defending the helpless, voiceless, thousands that have so needlessly suffered so much.
Please contact me if I can help with this anymore. This broke my heart the first time I heard about it.
I just wrote to Senator Fair regarding his response to the letter written to him, where he stated he cannot become “overwrought” by issues of the mistreatment of animals while the killing of unborn fetuses is on-going (the disturbing views of some pro-lifers who feel that one cannot be involved in both issues). I wish I could copy and paste, but in essence what I said was that as a Senator, it is his obligation to his citizens to see that the concerns of all are addressed…If he cannot be involved in more than one issue of injustice at a time, perhaps he should turn over the responsibilities of his office to one who can multi-task. Of course; I am an ex-citizen of NJ, now residing in AZ, so perhaps he also,(referring to Senator Lindsay Graham) is so overwhelmed by other issues, that he won’t have time to read the messages from those not from SC.
I used to live in South Carolina when my ex-husband was stationed in the military there and I thought it was a gorgeous place to live and that was after hurricane Katrina. Now I live in Iowa and am actively involved in animal rescue and if i had the money and the space I would be down there in a heartbeat and pull every single one of those animals out of that shelter, oh I forget, slaughter house every single day of the week and bring them up here to new and furrever homes so they wouldn’t be targets or put to sleep inhumanely!! South Carolina I will be standing behind you on this one for sure!!!!
It’s sad to say, but the ‘good ole boy’ system is alive and well in the south. Often it’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know, and if you don’t play along with the boys you can find yourself in a heap of trouble. One can only hope and pray that SLED will play fair and do the right thing, and NOT sweep this horrific act of animal cruely under the rug.
The ‘good ole boys’, led by Brian Burch, need to be brought up on felony charges and to do serious jail time. The young people of Chesterfield need to see, by example, that actions have consequences, and that animal cruelty and abuse, as well as all of the unlawfull acts committed by the Sherrif’s boys, will NOT be laughed off. That those crimes will not be swept away.
My heart aches for all of the cats and dogs that died such brutal death, they deserved our love anad compassion, not to be beaten and shot.
if your article were not so full of inuendo and half truths it would be much more effective. I resent your implication that southerners are more likely to be cruel to animals and it is unfounded. horrible things happen to helpless animals all over the world and I applaud your efforts to educate people on that. I think you might have more luck if you were more realistic yourself.
this website puts the prisoners as the whistle blowers with assistance from paws and claws. So lets not assume they are neglectful or abusive because they are inmates.
http://www.seattledogspot.com/2011/03/07/sc-animal-shelter-responsible-for-shooting-22-dogs-is-closed-indefinitely/
I am an animal lover, and with all the work I have done with shelters and other agencies, I think that there is a place for putting animals down. I know that most people do not want to pay to be feeding stray animals when they cannot feed themselves (i.e. tax dollars) or put a roof over their head. At the same time they complain that they do not want animals killed for no reason, but they let their intact animals roam free to have more kittens/puppies with no where to go.
There are always going to be places where treatment of animals or people is a concern. Unfortunately in this case, it sounds like the police department is running the institution, which can cause conflict of interest. Most of the time the shelters have NOTHING to do with animal control and have totally separate budgets. As far as target practice, gunshot is considered a humane slaughter method as long as the other dogs are not witnessing it. So it is not inhumane unless the cop is a bad shot…
As far as the prisoners, typically the animals are very safe with them. If a prisoner were to kill an animal and the general population finds out about it, they better be very scary or crazy because there will be retaliation. Most inmates do not agree with animal cruelty and will not tolerate it. Also, animals with inmates can provide a great emotional bond that they cannot get with anything else in their life at that time. Especially if no one else has the budget or time, let the inmates work and clean up and take care of the animals. Yes there does need to be some monitoring and checking in with them, but a camera and recording system would take care of that.
As far as some of the animal organizations are concerned, especially peta, they have acted as terrorist organizations in the past. Planning attacks on people that work with animals and doing inhumane things to other people. If peta got what they wanted NONE of us would be allowed to own animals or use animals for food or agriculture. People should educate themselves a little bit before blindly choosing sides. I am all about animal welfare and humane care, handling and euthanasia. Just make sure you are going after the right people and that the law you are trying to pass will not make it harder to care for the animals we are looking to rescue.
There is a special place in hell for the people that do harm to animals.
The people who could commit such heinous acts have no soul whatsoever, may karma find them quickly.
What everyone needs to remember about people in a public office like this case is THEY ARE PAID BY TAXES.
That means citizens are paying them to do this!!
It needs to stop now!!!
What a waste of the taxpayers money when this corruption occurs.
This is one of the saddest things I’ve ever read. I simply can’t understand why some people think it’s ok to treat animals this way. We’re truly living in sad times.
Shirley
definitely an interesting read. i usually dont comment. signed plaque