Animal Services head tagged for suspension
5-day penalty for mistaken euthanization
The administrator of Memphis Animal Services has been tagged with a five-day suspension after an animal was mistakenly euthanized earlier this year, city officials said Monday.
James Rogers, who took the MAS post in February 2012, was due to serve his suspension June 1-5, but has appealed the ruling. He will not have to serve any suspension until the appeal process is complete, city spokesman Dewanna Smith said Monday. There is no timetable for the appeal, she added, and no hearing has been set yet. Rogers makes $91,633.97 annually.
The suspension came after a local animal advocate asked that 12 animals be held at the facility for three weeks so that they could be featured in a magazine article on adoptable dogs and cats.
Rogers agreed with the request by Beth Spencer, who then went to the animal shelter to photograph each of the chosen animals. But by the time the article came out in Click magazine, one of the dogs — a large Rottweiler mix that Spencer named “David” — had mistakenly been killed.
Spencer protested to Rogers and other city officials, leading to an investigation. In a May 15 letter, LaSonya Hall, deputy director of the city’s Parks and Neighborhoods division, informed Rogers of his suspension.
“The consequences of this incident have resulted in an unfortunate loss of animal life, exacerbation of public trust in MAS operations and unwarranted media scrutiny,” Hall wrote in the report. “It was your responsibility to make sure that the 12 animals were protected until May 1. By your own admission, there was no substantial effort made by you or a member of your management team to notify MAS staff that the dogs were on hold.”
In the report, Rogers said he was in “total disagreement” with the charges against him. Rogers, reached by a reporter Monday, referred all questions to Smith.
Spencer said she thought the punishment wasn’t sufficient.
“I think it’s a slap on the wrist. He’s done this a lot of times. This isn’t an isolated incident, and his punishment should have been more severe,” she said.