I am about ready to BREAK something. Or someone.

[kellinator]

Okay, I've gotten into animal rescue lately, I've been meaning to make a post about how I got into it and stuff, but as usual life throws a curveball that breaks the pane-glass window of how I was neatly going to represent my life (my lord, that may be the worst sentence I've ever blogged) and here I go.

I attended Rep. Stan Watson's hearing in Decatur last week to discuss the conditions in Georgia animal shelters. He brought a little friend from the Department of Agriculture whose name I did not catch, much to my woe. At one point a citizen asked why the Department of Agriculture was not enforcing the 1990 Georgia Humane Euthanization Act. Said Department of Agriculture guy says rather snottily that there is no such thing as the Georgia Humane Euthanization Act.

Well, guess what hit the AP today.

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Georgia Department of Agriculture has been found in contempt of a court order for failing to enforce a 1990 law against using gas chambers to euthanize dogs and cats at animal shelters.

The state issued a favorable inspection report last May for Cobb County's animal shelter even though the facility was operating a carbon monoxide chamber at the time of the inspection, according to an order filed last week by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell.

Two months before the inspection, the court had ordered the state to begin enforcing the Georgia Humane Euthanasia Act, passed in 1990, which calls for lethal injection with sodium pentobarbital to be used in the vast majority of cases when dogs and cats need to be euthanized.

The law allows counties that were using carbon monoxide gas in 1990 to continue using their gas chambers, but not to replace them. The Cobb County shelter's gas chamber was installed in 1995, which state inspectors knew when they checked the facility earlier this year, court documents show.

The state was expected to comment later Wednesday on the court's contempt ruling, spokesman Yao Seidu said.

To have the Oct. 3 ruling thrown out, the state agriculture department must withdraw the favorable inspection report and issue a new one citing Cobb County's improper euthanasia technique, according to the court documents.

Plaintiffs' attorney Walter Bush called the contempt ruling an "embarrassment" for the state.

"We hope that the state will now finally realize what it should have been doing all along, which is enforcing the law," Bush said. "We hope they will now do their job."

The plaintiffs are Chesley Morton, the former lawmaker who sponsored the state law, and Jennifer Robinson, a former Clayton County Humane Society worker whose dog was gassed after being hit by a car.

The case was filed after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals received numerous complaints from whistleblowers in Georgia detailing the consequences of gassing animals in shelters, officials with the animal rights organization said.

Daphna Nachminovitch, director of the domestic animal department for PETA, called the court's ruling the "final blow" in the case.

"This is obviously very serious," she said. "The Georgia Department of Agriculture must uphold the law that it's been charged with enforcing all these years and has failed to."

So I'm mad as hell because this guy told us a bald-faced lie. What, did he think we couldn't read? How stupid does this guy think we are, really?

So what is proper procedure when a government official has lied to you? I'm planning a letter to the editor (will need the guy's name first) and a email asking Rep. Watson why I should believe anything he says when he brought Liar Liar Pants on Fire to this meeting and introduced him as his buddy, but that doesn't seem like enough. Now I think I understand why so many people drop out of civic life altogether.

Comments

[reannon.livejournal.com]

There is no procedure. You are doing the right things - letter to the editor, definitely letter to the congressman (who is probably embarrassed he was standing next to Liar Liar Pantsonfire). You might also send a copy of both letters to the plaintiffs in that case, as it bolsters their position.

But unfortunately, being caught in a bold-faced lie isn't illegal, unless you're under oath. It does, however, embarrass you in the court of public opinion, which is where your real recourse is.

[stormkitty.livejournal.com]

If it's a hearing....there should be a transcript available. I'd check to see with the Congress guy's staff and see how to go about getting that. 'Cause it should also have the Liar Liar Pantsonfire statement, too. :) Good luck!

Oh, and if there wasn't a transcript, there should at least be a list of who was there from an official standpoint.

*bang*

[adric]

Armed revolt or at least a good lynching...

*looks around*

Oh wait, never mind around here they just blog about it.

[jerel.livejournal.com]

Sad truth of it is, he probably does think you're stupid. ("You" being the general public.) Or maybe "ignorant" is a better word. If I were more paranoid, I would say his belief in the fact that the public is ignorant and apathetic is what lets him lie about who knows what else.

It's horrible enough that so many animals get euthanized because they aren't adopted. But then to do so with gas? Barbaric. Absolutely barbaric. My kitty went peacefully (injection), and it still made my heart hurt; the idea of dogs and cats choking to death on carbon monoxide puts me in tears.

[shes-not-there.livejournal.com]

So what is proper procedure when a government official has lied to you?

Elect him to office again?

[davidsfoley.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't see many people who "drop out" of civic life. Most people, from my observations, tend to maintain a fairly steady civic life level unless something really piques their attention - like windmills in their neighbors front yard or somesuch.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

My sisters are both very into animal rescue also and they also have a horrible time getting things done. Officials do apparently do think people who spend their time trying to make life better for animals are stupid, can't read, and are beneath contempt from some of the stories I've heard. It's really frustrating. Not to mention wrong.

Not that I have any advice for you. Just letting you know things aren't really any better in NC than in Georgia. I *think* they're better up here from friends I have who do rescue, but then they do rescue in NYC and New Yorkers are a loud bunch.

Are there any online national groups or lj communities you can check out for advice on how to deal with this?

[dustyskinandall.livejournal.com]

All of my family's dogs have been rescue dogs.

I'm actually looking to get a puggle in the near-ish future, but I'd much rather have a rescue, so if you happen to hear of a puggle up for adoption please contact me!

[jathomas.livejournal.com]

Good luck with animal rescue! Good for you!

Are you thinking of specializing in anything? You could be the bat-lady, or the prairie-dog-lady.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm the crazy cat lady, totally! ;)