Problem Shelters: The Disaster at Kern [Kern County, CA]



			HOME \| Get Involved \| Donate \| Act! \| News \| Issues \| Contact \| Search \| Members \| Store \| Events

"That this happened at all is an atrocity. That it happened while in the 'care of qualified professionals' is absolutely criminal."

- Dawn Taylor Bechtold, U.S. Animal Protection

Problem Shelters

Publicly funded Kern County Animal Shelter in California is a labyrinth of nightmarish proportions

Francis...JUST a dog. His little body sold for cash, then abandoned by the apathetic purchaser of his soul. Damned to a slow painful death alone on a slab of concrete. An angel finally came and tried to save him, but all that was left was to ease his pain and let him pass from this life with dignity, as someone who loved him shed tears of regret and frustration for him. Francis came to the Bakersfield CA shelter, and languished for ten days with no veterinary care. He was unable or unwilling to eat and ultimately died of the starvation he suffered while in the care of a public shelter funded by tax dollars. He was thirty pounds underweight by the time he was pulled from the shelter and taken to a vet by a rescue volunteer.

How on earth in the year 2005, in the United States, in California- the land of milk, honey, fame and money did this cruel tragedy happen?

If there is no mercy in this life for a little brown dog, how do we propose to care for one another? A dog is much easier to love than a person, it is much more simple. How can we believe ourselves safe if we cannot or will not meet the basic needs of this animal? Until the least among us had dignity...

Francis, as turned over to a vet for treatment, after 10 days at Kern

Francis' starved organs could not regenerate even under the care of a vet

Francis hung on for as long as he could. He could not recover.

Francis died of a disease called human apathy. There is no vaccine for this deadly disease. There is a cure however: responsibility and commitment.

That this happened at all is an atrocity. That it happened while in the 'care of qualified professionals' is absolutely criminal.

More about Kern County's shelter:

Rescue Notes on KERN CO. SHELTER

Other Offenders:

Morgan County Georgia

USAPE officials further want to see the release of Spalding County Animal Shelter's animals pending a pitbull fighting and cruelty case and a court date set for the convicted felon being held for his involvement. He still walks free after more than three years of delays and postponements. Please assist us in writing letters requesting the release of these animals.

"Stop the Profiteering. It Costs Us Everything."