Montcalm County's Deal With the Devil

She was a sweet, shy yellow Lab named Liz. Dainty for her size, she would pad softly up to you and lightly touch her nose to your hand, asking for affection, wanting to be loved. She was bright, affectionate, and exceedingly gentle. By all accounts, Liz should have been adopted quickly, but for whatever reason her time ran out at the Montcalm County animal shelter in Stanton, Michigan last week.

Montcalm County has a sadly outdated animal control facility that still gasses the unlucky souls within its confines.  Unfortunately, however, Liz was not gassed. The ending of her story still has yet to be told, and the fate of her remaining days is most certainly an exercise in painful torture.

Gentle Liz would have counted herself fortunate to have been murdered by a choking gas that seared her lungs and stole her breath. Her fate, however, was much, much more terrible.

 

Twisted Sisters

Montcalm County has forged a deal with the devil to alleviate the expenses associated with the euthanasia and dump fees from its animal pound. In a cost-reduction effort by the county, and in exchange for the privilege to cherry pick among the facility’s still-breathing pets, R&R Research euthanizes the rest (by Co2-barrel gassing), removes all carcasses from the building, and pays all related disposal fees.

R&R is a USDA class B dealer licensed to sell “random source” animals to various research facilities. So while you and I have to pay the full adoption fee to spring a pet (and yes, that includes rescues, too - no discount for you!), R&R gets them for free-and makes a nice, tidy profit to boot.

According to Michigan Animal News, In 2006, R & R’s gross receipts totaled $196,272 based on sales of 621

 dogs and cats.  Montcalm County gives dogs and cats to R & R and based on its submission to the USDA, R & R resells the animals for an average of $311 each. 2008 shaped up to be a bumper year for R&R with possibly well over 800 animals rounded up and hawked off to research labs. If confirmed, their gross receipts for the fiscal year should equal almost a quarter of a million dollars. Apparently, the soulless torture trade is recession-proof.

So while an influx of owners during our country’s economic crises are tearfully relinquishing their pets to the pound when faced with the decision of feeding the kids or feeding the dog, James Woudenberg, owner of R&R Research, is gassing all the way to the bank.

And sadly, the actual shelter seems to have no inclination (or incentive) in trying to find adoptive homes, or contact owners of these lost pets. Michigan Animal News reports that in 2007 Montcalm adopted or returned to owners less than 10% of all pets received, while R&R managed to snag almost 15% of total intake in its grisly practice of death-dealing. The remainder, all 75% of them, ended their lives gulping toxic gas inside a rusty 50 gallon drum.

So is such a practice really on the up and up?  Well, maybe not. The contract between R & R Research and Montcalm County requires R & R to haul away dead animals and dispose of the bodies, yet a search of state and federal licenses shows that R&R Research is not licensed for the disposal of dead animals.  James Woudenberg of R & R Research is not a licensed animal control officer, nor is he a licensed veterinarian so he cannot legally “euthanize” the animals at the Montcalm County Animal Control Shelter, yet has been doing so for years now.

And still, Montcalm officials turn a blind eye.

The use of animals in research facilities has long been a heatedly controversial one, but the sisterhood between a city-run animal “shelter” and a for-profit organization that guarantees a cruel, inhumane, and certain death in a lab somewhere is unimaginably repulsive. The absolute lack of comprehension by this county’s leaders as to the ethics of such a ghoulish venture would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so very tragic.

And astonishingly, it’s not just Montcalm County.

 

Michigan, we have a problem.

Gratiot, Osceola, and Mecosta counties, as well as the City of Inkster Pound in Michigan, all have unholy alliances between their animal control shelters and Class B animal dealers.

Michigan is one of the thirteen states left where “random source” animals (animals not specifically bred for research) can be obtained by licensed dealers from city run shelter facilities or private individuals. In effect, the animals used for research in these fringe states comprise of abandoned or lost pets. While animals bred specifically for research is a horrific thought in and of itself, it’s the ultimate betrayal of trust to a once beloved pet that is so deeply abhorrent to animal activists, lobbyists, or just plain humans with an ounce of compassion.

And not a single one of these shelters posts a public notification anywhere, nor do they inform the public when surrendering a pet or stray of the possibility that the animal may be sold to a research lab. And why should they? There is no law stipulating they must, and to inform the general public of such shady dealings could be a public relations fiasco waiting to happen.

But then again, from a purely animal perspective, there are even worse consequences.

 

Can’t win for losing…

In 2001, the River Rouge animal control shelter in Michigan had an agreement with Hodgins Kennels, another Class B dealer in the area.  A local Fox affiliate investigative reporter aired an undercover story revealing the scandalous agreement between the death merchants and the city run animal shelter. 

Their knee jerk reaction? River Rouge stopped adopting out all animals. All animals. That’s right - since 2001 not a single animal that winds up at River Rouge has a snowball’s chance in making it out of there alive. River Rouge has a 100 percent kill rate, and uses the gas chamber as their preferred method of inflicting death.

This should not suggest to anyone that the ghastly practice of live animal pandering from taxpayer funded, city-run shelters to Class B dealers shouldn’t be fought on every front, because it should. And it should be fought in a lively and vigorous manner.

Obviously, River Rouge is the poster child of doing it wrong, and should be the example at the other end of Michigan’s spectrum.  River Rouge is definitely the “before” picture. But prior to their blasphemous policies being in enacted, didn’t any River Rouge policy maker consider the theory of killing all animals to ensure none would ever be sold to Class B dealers (thereby avoid all bad research-related press), was a fundamentally flawed theory to begin with?

How ridiculously obtuse. Makes one wonder if their knuckles get skinned when they cross the streets, doesn’t it?

But I digress. Montcalm‘s story is far from over. It remains to be seen if after the dust settles at the next Council meeting whether they, too, will be placed in the “before” pile, or have enough foresight to drag themselves out of the middle ages.

However, unless concerned, I daresay, outraged, citizens act fast and act now, Montcalm may become just another example of history repeating itself over and over.

The current director, Patricia Lentz, after taking over Kevin Weaver’s position (who was fired for animal cruelty), has stated she hopes to ban the gas chamber as an accepted form of euthanasia. Almost as an afterthought, she agrees the sale of pound animals should probably stop, too.  (That video is the first in our sidebar player).

However, until the practice is finally abolished for good, as it should be, perhaps Ms. Lentz should consider

hanging a large notice informing people of the contract between R&R and the shelter, and possibly handing out to all people wanting to surrender their pets to the shelter one of the downloadable brochures from Jethro’s Place, which succinctly outlines the details of what Class B Dealers and bunchers [people who help collect animals for the dealers] are, as well as what could happen to their pet. Furthermore, a listing of all area rescues as well as owner resources available for desperate pet owners would go far in helping many pets stay where they belong - home.  Doing so would only prove Ms. Lentz is serious about wanting to make changes to the fate of her charges, and would be of great service to the public in general.

In the past, Montcalm county officials have made their allegiances well known. Some years ago, in an effort to quiet the mounting displeasure of the constituency, Montcalm leaders decided to sign five year instead of one year term contracts with R&R, and this year - the contract is up.

Will Montcalm choose to continue being a death camp with a twisted purpose for another five years, or will they finally make the decision to get out of bed with Judas and back into the good graces of the Michigan public?

So while officials decide where their loyalties lie this time around, it is time now for Ms. Lentz, the Montcalm community, and the public in general to loudly acknowledge theirs.

 

So what’s a girl to do?

January 12th, 2009, Montcalm’s contract with R&R is up for renewal. In an effort to urge city authorities to abandon the practice of Class B animal dealings, the Concerned Citizens Coalition, or CCC, has created a two-pronged approach to the problem. A petition has been uploaded to their website, as well as form letters for people to easily contact their city officials before the January 12th contract is signed.

“Our town is so small…so rural,” says Sue Maguire of CCC, “…most of our citizens don’t even know what our animal shelter is doing. We need help. We need as many people as possible to voice their opinions to our community leaders…to let them know this is not acceptable in this day and age.”

Also, CCC focuses on rescuing animals as fast as they can, before R&R can cart them off to be sold for research.  ”Pits are one of the first to go,” says Maguire. “Woudenberg …knows that pits are, for the most part, easy to handle by humans…they’re perfect for research use…”

Kitt Halo from Chicago, a most surprising independent rescuer, is not affiliated with any major organization or network. She doesn’t have the blanket of a 501c3 to garnish the big donations. She doesn’t have a flashy website, or an intricate network of electronic support. In fact, Halo is by all accounts just your average-joe-animal-lover who never met a furry face she didn’t like.  But she is proving to be a valuable ally in the fight to save the Montcalm pets.

“I almost didn’t believe it when I heard about it,” said Halo. “It’s horrifying… I knew I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.”  

Scraping together as many donations as she could, as well as using her own personal funds, Halo called on a few friends and kind-hearted drivers, and has managed to adopt over a dozen dogs over the past 30 days.

And, in an act of Christmas charity, made a miracle happen.

 

Liz’s Reprieve

Hearing of Liz’s fate, Halo sprang into action. Immediately after R&R chose Liz as a candidate for research, Halo frantically began calling numbers.

“I spoke to the county administrator, three commissioners, and a commissioner’s wife,” says Halo. I didn’t know what I was going to say when I called, but I knew I didn’t want a single one of those dogs sent to R&R right before Christmas.” Whatever she said, and whoever she said it to, worked.

Liz, the sweet, shy, dainty Lab, was given the gift of a future this Christmas. No filthy gas chamber and no electrodes protruding from her body will end her life. With a little luck and a lot of love from her new family, whoever they turn out to be, precious Liz will have many years ahead of her, catching only a glimpse of the horror her lifetime might have been.

Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus.

 

What you can do

Take a moment today to tell the Montcalm county authorities what you think of the barbaric practice of selling pets to Class B dealers. You can make a difference!

Act quickly-do NOT delay! This contract is set for possible renewal on January 12, 2009.

Donate

o You can contribute to Kitt Halo and her merry band of independent rescuers via ChipIn

 

Write

o To contact the Montcalm County Commissioners and Michigan State Representative, Mike Huckleberry, please visit the CCC web page

o Sign the CCC petition

 

Volunteer

o If you are in the general area and would like to volunteer your time and gas by helping to transport the Montcalm pets to safety, please contact Kitt Halo at savemontcalmdogs@yahoo.com

o If driving is not possible, perhaps you can give your time to help save these animals lives? People are needed by CCC to attend Commissioners meetings and to pass out brochures. Please contact them at their website.

 

Stay Informed

o Although we will print updates periodically, Michigan Animal News is an excellent source to stay abreast of this developing story. Please visit them today.

  

The fate of these pets speaks directly of our humanity. Please don’t let them, and us, down.

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