Pepper (Romeo), ID #359221
The corruption of MCAS made its debut with the County Chair and Board of Commissioners when years of MCAS failures described by citizens, staff and volunteers were finally documented, investigated, and reported by multiple media sources, including The Oregonian and Koin News.
On every measure, MCAS is worse now. What should have been a wake up call became a white wash.
At the time of the investigative media reports about MCAS, the reaction of those in charge, in particular County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, was to express ringing regret and devise a “review,” not an investigation, including a belated attempt to address MCAS’ failure to implement the MCAS 2016 and 2018 audit recommendations. (“Animal shelter needs a system of accountability not another review.” Nick Hanauer, Special to the Oregonian, March 15, 2023)
The failure to investigate led to the continuation of bad leadership habits and practices that have included the removal of all checks and balances, and ignoring or changing policies intended to protect the public and shelter animals they find onerous or tiresome. Those habits are ongoing.
One of these policies concerns necropsy investigations of unexplained sudden animal deaths either at MCAS or shortly after leaving MCAS. The failure to honor this policy is not a “one of a kind” failure. There are at 3 least recent case examples now including the most recent: Romeo, also known as Pepper (public records attached).
By MCAS policy, a necropsy for sudden unexplained deaths is required for clear reasons: agency illnesses that could affect the entire shelter population versus an isolated death without agency wide animal health implications. The necropsy policy has been functionally eliminated by simply ignoring it. It has been replaced by ‘I am so sorry,’ private cremations and a paw print if an adopter was the owner of the sudden death victim.
What follows is not a complete list of ignored or sabotaged policies:
- MCAS has normalized failing to spay and neuter animals before adoptions with “Cry Baby” excuses.
- Dolly’s Fund, intended for the medical needs of shelter animals, isn’t used for animals.
- Adoption sales for $25 or less, a temporary measure started in June 2022, continue to the present with new specials named every month. What was temporary has been made permanent, “normalized.”
- “
Hot Deals, Cool Pets Adoption Special
Summer’s heating up, but our adoption fees and pets are as cool as can be!”
- “
- Waivers disclaiming all responsibility for shelter animal health and behavior concerns, for example, diarrhea, kennel cough, low body weight scores, fear, jumpy mouthy, etc. have replaced proactive plans and interventions and health care for shelter animals: For example, dental waivers. After paying a $25 adoption, adopters are advised to seek expensive dental care at a cost that far exceeds the adoption fee. How many will? MCAS once did dental cleanings as recommended as part of the adoption. Now all animals are adopted “As is” including neither spayed nor neutered: the Breeders’ special.
- Pet retention and redemption mission goals: Owner retention and redemption rates are at an all time low. Approximately 25% of MCAS stray animals are returned to their owners. MCAS leadership has dealt with that failure not by improving its practices but by changing its assigned goal, abandoning pet redemption and retention for pre-selected $25 adoptions during the stray and owner hold time.
This is just a short list for the ‘Somewhere Multnomah County Lost Its Shelter’ Academy Awards nomination. It happened because MCAS leadership has normalized failure and achieved ‘success’ by removing all accountability and eliminating all policies that they don’t like because these policies don’t work for them. And that failure comes from another failure: The County Chair who looked away. It cannot also be attributed to the County Board of Commissioners whose subjects are ill served. The Commissioners in Multnomah County have little power by design. The county board has become a strange marriage of autocracy and democracy.
It isn’t not working.
Gail O’Connell-Babcock
Pepper’s/Romeo’s redacted records
Multnomah County Animal Services’ Necropsy Policy