(no subject)
This is what my sister sent into the newspaper for where she lives:
Hutchison, KS. You know.. it is people like this "Officer Williams"
that make me want to cry. How can some people just be so dismissive
like that? I feel sorry for her, if she's really as awful as my sister
has me believing after all of this.
I would like to make the tax-payers of Hutchinson, Kansas aware the
your pets are nothing more than common, everyday garbage. At least to
some city empolyees they are. If you are an animal lover and see pets
as family, not just animals, please read on.
On Tuesday,
September 21st 2004, our beloved Tyson ran off from home. Tyson was my
husband's 12 year old, black lab. While this was not the first time he
had done this, he was never left unattended to run freely, he was just
very good at sneaking off. I understand that is not permitted to let
your dogs run free in the city and to some a loose dog is annoying. I
apologize to anyone that he may have bothered on his "outings" and
thank those of you who called us and ensured his safe return.
Unfortunately, when Tyson ran off on Tuesday he would not be coming
home. He was struck by a car on Apple Lane, sometime Thursday morning,
and left on the side of the road because the cowardly, inconsiderate
driver who struck him did not stop.
My husband already had a
late work day scheduled and I attend an evening class on Thursdays that
I just happened to be going to straight from work that day. We arrived
home shortly after 9 p.m. and while going about our business, my
father-in-law came through the front door with a yellow slip of paper
in his hand that had been stuck in our storm door. Please keep in mind
that we enter and exit our home through the garage and our front door
is hidden by a half-wall. This yellow slip of paper was from the City
of Hutchinson Animal Control Department and on one side stated that at
10:50 a.m on 09-23-04 they attempted to contact us regarging Tyson our
black lab. It was signed at the bottom by an Officer Tina Williams.
Officer Williams then wrote a note on the back that read, "[y]our dog
was loose again on Apple Lane. He was hit by a car & is at 2609
Apple Lane. I did not pick him up so you could bury him." This was
followed by a phone number.
My father-in-law went to this
address to retreive Tyson's body with no success. It was gone and
despite numerous phone calls, no one knew where it was at. We had the
police dept. call Officer Williams at home, but she did not answer.
The next morning my husband called the animal control office and spoke
with Nancy Scott. My husband questioned where Tyson's body was and why
no one contacted him by phone. Our address and my husband's cell phone
number were on Tyson's tag, on the collar he was wearing. Officer
Williams had no problem finding our house to stick a note in the door,
why didn't she try the phone number. As you can assume he never
recieved a straight answer only that Officer Williams admitted that she
had not tried the phone number and was wrong in not doing so. My
husband was then told that since Tyson had not been picked up by 4:30
p.m. the his body was "dumped" at the landfill. I wasn't aware that
dumping animals bodies at the landfills was legal. I know in many
cities it is not.
At 10:50 a.m. on 09-23-04, animal control
"attemped" to contact us and by 4:30 p.m. on that same day he was taken
to the city dump and disposed of. I attempted to contact Nancy Scott
myself the following day, but my calls were never returned. Tyson did
not desrve to be tossed out like yesterday newspaper. He was a part of
our family who was loved and will be greatly missed. We did not get to
say good-bye and we will never have any sort of closure thanks to
Officer Williams and her callous actions (you could have at least saved
his collar and returned it to us). I do not expect anything great to
come out of this, but to you animal control officers: when there is a
phone number present--use it! If the number on Tyson's tag would have
been tried even once, I can guarantee you he would not be in the city
dump. The practice of disposing unclaimed animals at the city dump
needs to stop. If not just for the humane reasons alone, do it for
obvious environmental reasons. Lastly, you must give people more than
5 1/2 hours to claim their pets. The short time span you gave us in
the middle of the day on a work day was simply unfair. To Officer
Williams and Nancy Scott, you both owe my husband a sincere apology for
the hurt you have caused. Tyson was not just his dog for the last 12
years, he was his friend.
Erin Harris
I want you people to read that. It's important to me. *sniffles* I'll miss Tyson..
Hutchison, KS. You know.. it is people like this "Officer Williams"
that make me want to cry. How can some people just be so dismissive
like that? I feel sorry for her, if she's really as awful as my sister
has me believing after all of this.
I would like to make the tax-payers of Hutchinson, Kansas aware the
your pets are nothing more than common, everyday garbage. At least to
some city empolyees they are. If you are an animal lover and see pets
as family, not just animals, please read on.
On Tuesday,
September 21st 2004, our beloved Tyson ran off from home. Tyson was my
husband's 12 year old, black lab. While this was not the first time he
had done this, he was never left unattended to run freely, he was just
very good at sneaking off. I understand that is not permitted to let
your dogs run free in the city and to some a loose dog is annoying. I
apologize to anyone that he may have bothered on his "outings" and
thank those of you who called us and ensured his safe return.
Unfortunately, when Tyson ran off on Tuesday he would not be coming
home. He was struck by a car on Apple Lane, sometime Thursday morning,
and left on the side of the road because the cowardly, inconsiderate
driver who struck him did not stop.
My husband already had a
late work day scheduled and I attend an evening class on Thursdays that
I just happened to be going to straight from work that day. We arrived
home shortly after 9 p.m. and while going about our business, my
father-in-law came through the front door with a yellow slip of paper
in his hand that had been stuck in our storm door. Please keep in mind
that we enter and exit our home through the garage and our front door
is hidden by a half-wall. This yellow slip of paper was from the City
of Hutchinson Animal Control Department and on one side stated that at
10:50 a.m on 09-23-04 they attempted to contact us regarging Tyson our
black lab. It was signed at the bottom by an Officer Tina Williams.
Officer Williams then wrote a note on the back that read, "[y]our dog
was loose again on Apple Lane. He was hit by a car & is at 2609
Apple Lane. I did not pick him up so you could bury him." This was
followed by a phone number.
My father-in-law went to this
address to retreive Tyson's body with no success. It was gone and
despite numerous phone calls, no one knew where it was at. We had the
police dept. call Officer Williams at home, but she did not answer.
The next morning my husband called the animal control office and spoke
with Nancy Scott. My husband questioned where Tyson's body was and why
no one contacted him by phone. Our address and my husband's cell phone
number were on Tyson's tag, on the collar he was wearing. Officer
Williams had no problem finding our house to stick a note in the door,
why didn't she try the phone number. As you can assume he never
recieved a straight answer only that Officer Williams admitted that she
had not tried the phone number and was wrong in not doing so. My
husband was then told that since Tyson had not been picked up by 4:30
p.m. the his body was "dumped" at the landfill. I wasn't aware that
dumping animals bodies at the landfills was legal. I know in many
cities it is not.
At 10:50 a.m. on 09-23-04, animal control
"attemped" to contact us and by 4:30 p.m. on that same day he was taken
to the city dump and disposed of. I attempted to contact Nancy Scott
myself the following day, but my calls were never returned. Tyson did
not desrve to be tossed out like yesterday newspaper. He was a part of
our family who was loved and will be greatly missed. We did not get to
say good-bye and we will never have any sort of closure thanks to
Officer Williams and her callous actions (you could have at least saved
his collar and returned it to us). I do not expect anything great to
come out of this, but to you animal control officers: when there is a
phone number present--use it! If the number on Tyson's tag would have
been tried even once, I can guarantee you he would not be in the city
dump. The practice of disposing unclaimed animals at the city dump
needs to stop. If not just for the humane reasons alone, do it for
obvious environmental reasons. Lastly, you must give people more than
5 1/2 hours to claim their pets. The short time span you gave us in
the middle of the day on a work day was simply unfair. To Officer
Williams and Nancy Scott, you both owe my husband a sincere apology for
the hurt you have caused. Tyson was not just his dog for the last 12
years, he was his friend.
Erin Harris
I want you people to read that. It's important to me. *sniffles* I'll miss Tyson..