Once the MCAS poster child Tron, was killed minutes after his last offer of rescue MCAS (the animal control agency for Multnomah County, Oregon) began the process of immediately erasing him from their pages.  His transformation from “adoptable” to “unhealthy and untreatable” without any change in history or incidents was outlined in an earlier post.

The only notice Tron was dead, despite the continuing multiple offers of rescue and adoption appeared on January 17, 2020, when, after the plea for his life was made public, MCAS management removed his featured picture from the website. That is how MCAS responds. It makes public concern a moot point by killing. In Multnomah county, the evidence, in this case a picture of the dog in question, is disappeared as if the animal never lived and the concerns never happened.    

Tron was killed because that was the only way to cover up the incompetence and inflated ego of the public employee who demanded it and the only way to protect an agency that cannot admit being wrong. All that made him “dangerous” was the risk that his story created to the agency. It was the reason too that they forbade outside professional expert consults. They prefer to kill rather than admit wrongdoing.  

What is truly dangerous is the ongoing supporting role played by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and the Department of Community Services, both of which have eschewed public service in exchange for saving colleagues first.  Inconvenient facts interfere. Government is always right.  

The time sensitive correspondence (attached) offering rescue for one dog, Tron, was never acknowledged by any of the government officials to whom the offers were addressed.   Nothing ever is. Citizens have learned over the past   years that they have no say in this government. It is not democratic. The public pays MCAS’s 10-million-dollar budget and is then told to shut up.  

MCAS continues to deteriorate under the leadership of Interim Director Wade Sadler, an individual without any background in public sheltering, (he was once a retail merchandising manager) who is an acolyte and protégé of disgraced former director Jackie Rose. Animals continue to be killed in escalating numbers. A staff and volunteer exodus continues. The loss of morale deepens.

The future holds no promise.  The government officials in charge of recruiting the new MCAS director have no background in public sheltering and after 9 months have reported nothing to the public about the search for the New Messiah. These are the same individuals who hired an enforcement field services manager who stole from the county under Jackie Rose’s watch and Jackie Rose herself, an individual who upended and changed the course of MCAS under the watchless eye of the Department of Community Services. While the Department of Community Services failed its supervisory responsibilities, Jackie Rose moved the shelter’s direction from No Kill to “Why not kill?” and re-shaped sheltering into a volume sales bargain basement for second hand animals.  

Why should anyone place their trust in Multnomah county government?  In the end democracy is a fragile thing. When not watched, careless indifference rules and then despots fill a power vacuum with propaganda, false assurances and platitudes. That is what happened. That is why we should not trust Multnomah County’s government. That is why Tron died.

The following government assurance made by a Multnomah County government official is a heart-breaking lie.

•  “Access means that when people come to one of our buildings they feel safe. They feel they can give input and feel like they are being heard. It also means we’re transparent - providing services and information in a way that is clear and accountable…If we can’t communicate with people, we cannot serve them.” Marissa Madrigal, Chief Operating Officer, Multnomah County.

The governing rule in Multnomah County from the top on down is protect your colleagues first even when public service and the truth are sacrificed.

 “What a long strange trip it’s been” (Jerry Garcia) from faith in government to fear."

Gail O’Connell-Babcock

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Portland Shelter Adoptable Dog Blog: “Tron”
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T9DlVAssleHBB4FdoM-NDUaTT1r09qKt

Tron's Rescue Applications:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13MEjF_3xiTD0UHWvLzXZ9cmDIiVJwoiY