Companion Animal Care Articles from All-Creatures.org

The Short Life and Tragic death of Bowie

From Nathan Winograd
January 2023

"People here don’t do the things they are supposed to do, like make sure animals who need it get their medication or follow up with people calling to adopt. They will not do things they do not have to, like work with scared dogs to get them ready for adoption. It is just easier to kill them."

Bowie sat in Building 3, locked away from public view, in a cage by himself. Still, Bowie had an out. A rescue group came forward to give Bowie what staff at LACDACC would not: safe harbor and time — time to abandon fear, to forget a haunted past, and to learn that humans can be trusted after all. Most importantly, they offered to provide him with a loving home. It would be of no use. The same day that rescuers expressed interest in Bowie, LACDACC had killed him without warning.

On November 10, 2022, a little 10-pound terrier named Bowie was surrendered to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care & Control (LACDACC), the pound run by Marcia Mayeda. The family informed staff that they could not keep him because of their landlord’s no-pet policies.

Bowie was terrified, but while he sat at the shelter for over three weeks in one of the country’s wealthiest and most cosmopolitan communities, no one on staff socialized him. No staff member tried to get him out of his shell. No one showed him the compassion and kindness that studies prove make a life-and-death difference for fearful dogs, like Bowie. According to a LACDACC insider who spoke to me on condition of anonymity:

People here don’t do the things they are supposed to do, like make sure animals who need it get their medication or follow up with people calling to adopt. They will not do things they do not have to, like work with scared dogs to get them ready for adoption. It is just easier to kill them.

Bowie sat in Building 3, locked away from public view, in a cage by himself. Still, Bowie had an out. A rescue group came forward to give Bowie what staff at LACDACC would not: safe harbor and time — time to abandon fear, to forget a haunted past, and to learn that humans can be trusted after all. Most importantly, they offered to provide him with a loving home. It would be of no use. The same day that rescuers expressed interest in Bowie, LACDACC had killed him without warning.

Instead of a new beginning, the little dog who should have had his whole life ahead of him, who posed no threat to anyone, was injected with an overdose of poison and turned to ash. He was barely 15 weeks old.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

 

A volunteer also took a video of Mr. Pickles meowing for attention and rubbing against the bars of his cage. She saw that despite being labeled “feral” — a death sentence because LACDACC does not have a community cat sterilization program — Mr. Pickles was social with people, as if the colorful collar and little orange bell that he was surrendered with weren’t enough of a giveaway. She had hoped the video would get him moved to the adoption room. Others did, too; one of them writing in large block letters on his cage card: VERY SWEET CAT. It, too, would be of no use.

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