The Memphis Animal Shelter is no stranger to controversy, and a new 22-page report by the Memphis Rotary Club’s Animal Shelter Evaluation Committee alleges that shelter employees have ties to area dog fighting rings.
Mayor A C Wharton reviewed the report and said he was turning it over to the district attorney’s office immediately. “I’m a pet lover, it hits me emotionally,” said Mayor Wharton. Wharton said he hopes that the disctrict attorney will subpoena shelter employees in order to identify those engaged in any form(s) of animal abuse.
The Rotary report recommended a public education campaign about dogfighting in order to correct the city’s “attitude that animals are disposable.” The report also states that “The employees at every level, while not willing to say so on the record, will readily volunteer that there has been a relationship between certain individuals and the illicit dog-fighting rings in the community.”