Rosie, MCAS 118122, was a very young grey female American pit bull, just a year and a half old, when Multnomah County Animal Services ordered her killed her as “unhealthy and untreatable.” This was the label applied despite the fact that until the day she was destroyed she was classified “healthy.” She was the dog of a fragile young woman who was psychiatrically ill. Rosie’s presence made her feel safe. When Rosie was taken away to the pound following a bite incident, her owner lost any sense of safety in her house and moved onto the streets. Rosie’s record demonstrates the corruption and cruelty inherent in the process that led to Rosie’s unnecessary death on April 26, 2018. Rosie and her owner were doomed without consideration of mitigating circumstances or ways to prevent future incidents. The reported history of general friendliness from others who knew Rosie, or her owner’s fragile psychological health were not considered. The bite incidents were driven by the unusual circumstances of Rosie’s and her owner’s lives. But these were not considered. Instead, Ms Rose, MCAS Director, and Mr Mathias, shelter operations manager, appear to focus on color pictures of bites magnified for effect, appealing to the most primitive part of their brains, skirting logic. No follow up images are ever viewed. Excluded from this process is everything else: the entire picture, other evidence indicating a good prognosis, other professionals, rescues or re-homing. The reasons for killing are always recorded and described vaguely and dubiously without thought: “Shelter Review met and recommends humane euthanasia due to aggression.” Rosie’s dog misdeeds would have been charged a level 4, the commonplace designation for a bite incident with penalties of a 2-year probation, muzzle required in public. MCAS ethical misconduct and probable legal violations: The county, fully aware of Rosie’s owner’s fragility and uncommitted to fairness, killed Rosie during the appeal time. Nothing interferes with Director Rose’s rush to achieve her goals. MCAS Management’s commonplace exploitation of vulnerable populations: MCAS deliberately exploits the vulnerability of mentally ill, homeless, and poverty-stricken populations to “win” instead of seeking thoughtful solutions that both preserve public safety and the lives of companion animals. In Rosie’s case that exploitation began immediately. Officer Pelland waited until after 4 separate incidents had occurred before intervening in a chaotic household that placed both Rosie and her owner at risk, living circumstances that should early on have resulted in contact with social services. After issuing the cumulative tickets Officer Pelland demanded that Rosie’s owner surrender her despite the fact that Officer Pelland and MCAS knew full well about the problematic circumstances under which the owner and Rosie were living. Transients and others had moved into the house and MCAS knew that the owner was completely unable to protect or defend herself from their opportunistic predatory conduct. MCAS did nothing. The agency did not call in social services; it chose instead to exploit the owner’s vulnerability and then issued tickets to compel Rosie’s surrender. They knew of the owner’s fragility, her inability to separate the objective world from subjective fantasy, and her inability to protect herself. That is the world Rosie lived in. Rosie was her owner’s only protection. Those circumstances were highly unusual. Without that provocation, Rosie was not a bite risk. Had MCAS intervened when it should have, there would have been one incident, not several. That is how MCAS traps vulnerable populations. They stand by, do nothing. MCAS and Director Rose view animals as nuisances, pests, and liabilities that must be eliminated. Rosie’s MCAS history: While incarcerated at MCAS without any socialization or enrichment, Rosie was routinely charted as friendly in the daily kennel logs. Her evaluation category until April 23 was listed as “healthy.” She did very well on the agency in house temperament test despite months of solitary confinement. Her Behavior assessment experience was the first and last time Rosie got out. But, focused on killing MCAS altered the entry to read “unhealthy/untreatable” the day they killed her. Her healthy self just “disappeared.” Her summary behavior assessment read: -- “Very boisterous at kennel door; difficult to loop leash; jumps; soft body, soft eyes, soft ears, allows all handling and restraint; head whips once for collar adjustment/ recovers quickly; very toy focused at first; then drops it; engages strangers; soft body/ears/eyes; jumps on stranger” followed by the statement “Recommending Disposition under Final Review due to history of bites (high severity and frequency).” -- Once again MCAS began from their goal discrediting Rosie’s positive behavior after a long isolated kenneling. The statement that the bites were “high severity and frequency” was misleading and false. All occurred during month MCAS stood by, watched and did nothing. They were provoked by chaotic volatile household circumstances. The severity was no different than found among dogs living throughout the community. MCAS killed Rosie and knowingly did untold harm to a psychiatrically ill person. It was an act of aggression that should not be tolerated. There were many safe humane options. They didn’t care. The agency’s systematic targeted aggression toward the mentally ill, homeless and fragile populations, continues, the response should be “Never Again.” MCAS must be investigated for its practices; the management dismissed from their positions of power. --- Rosie's MCAS Records: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LzSnx1GoLthBiNon01C2Nccd6_H2lfo2