MAS director discusses her first 3 months on job
For a little more than three months, Alexis Pugh has been the director of Memphis Animal Services.
Pugh’s appointment by Mayor Jim Strickland was seen as a step in the right direction in correcting the shelter’s issues, which have included police raids and arrests.
But Pugh has come under fire for recent botched euthanasia procedures at the shelter. She’s also viewed by some as not animal-friendly enough because of her stance that a nokill facility isn’t possible in Memphis as long as the city takes in an average 30 animals a day. After a contentious meeting of the MAS Advisory Board last week, Pugh agreed to sit down with The Commercial Appeal to answer questions about her brief tenure, the challenges she’s faced and what she hopes to achieve going forward.
Below are excerpts from that interview. You can listen to the full session online at commercialappeal.com. What is your background? “I am 38 years old. Born in Maryland, lived in New Hampshire for a little while but grew up outside Philadelphia. I went to the University of Maryland for college, and was a broadcast journalism major... I got offered a position working at ABC 24 here in Memphis and that’s what brought me here. Didn’t know a soul . ... That was in 2004, so I’ve been in Memphis for 12 years now . ... My family consists of my husband, our 6-month-old daughter and three dogs.”
Why did you take this job, after spending time heading both the local Humane Society and Mid-South Spay and Neuter?
“This vacancy came to be and I made the decision — and sometimes I wonder what was wrong with me — but I made the decision to come over here because I felt called to do it . ... Because it is time for this place to become a shelter we can be proud of. I couldn’t sit by and judge or question what had happened here if I didn’t try to come in and bring my expertise and ideas and passion to make that change.”
What trepidations did you have taking this job?
“Oh, so many . ... The term ‘between a rock and a hard place’ is an understatement. There are so many internal and external pressures associated with this position . ... There is a lack of willingness to give me time to achieve anything. There is false infor-
Law enforcement officers shot and killed two white men in Tennessee on Tuesday.
One was a robbery suspect in Decatur County. The other was a robbery suspect in Nashville. Both men were armed, police said.
Unlike police shootings in Tulsa and Charlotte, neither of these shootings made national news.
Neither provoked protests nor concerns from the federal government.
Neither shooting caused me to worry about my own safety or the safety of my sons or other men or boys in my family.
In fact, I assume the officers were defending themselves against armed aggressors.
What a luxury it is to be a middle-class white man in America.
To think everyone with a badge is more likely to be Mayberry’s Andy Taylor or NYPD Blue’s Andy Sipowicz than Birmingham’s Bull Connor.
To naturally trust police officers, black and white.
To instantly assume the lethal actions they take, especially against white suspects, are tragic but justified and unavoidable.
To sleep sounder at night knowing our law enforcement officers are on the job to protect and serve.
Not a single AfricanAmerican I know has that luxury.
I’d guess not a single black person in America does, with the possible exception of uniformed police officers.
That’s why nearly all of my white friends on Facebook are posting today about the latest cool or crazy things said or done by their kids or cats or candidates.
Shelby County has recorded its first death from West Nile virus since 2014, health officials said Wednesday.
The victim was a 67-year-old man who earlier this month was confirmed as the first resident in the county to contract the mosquito-borne virus this year.
West Nile virus usually causes only a minor illness, but it can trigger life-threatening inflammation of the brain.
As of Tuesday, 868 people had been infected with the virus in 41 states, resulting in 25 deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.