UPDATE: On August 15, 2017, activists started a petition on this site seeking support to spare the life of a senior German Shepherd called Chucky, held in solitary confinement at Multnomah County Animal Services (MCAS) in Multnomah County Oregon, condemned to death after killing a small poodle while he was at large. Although preventable, the county rejected every humane solution from building a secure kennel to re-homing with another family who sought to adopt him.

The short slide from democracy to authoritarianism that began in October 2015 has escalated continuing into the present. MCAS managers successfully reversed public efforts to establish humane sheltering in the county.

Policy after policy has been transformed to exclude citizens, deny rights, stifle dissent, and remove transparency, critical to governing a humane open public animal shelter. Singular authority over the lives of shelter animals is now exclusively in the managers’ hands.

The Multnomah County Chair and Board of County Commissioners charged with MCAS oversight, have given up their authority and their responsibility for accountability to MCAS managers. They have elected to protect their colleagues instead of the citizenry and animals.

The victimized are workers, volunteers, and MCAS’ significantly and increasing vulnerable demographic: lost, stray, injured, sick, abandoned, and often neglected animals in Multnomah County. Volunteers and workers who speak out are punished or forced to leave for describing abuses to the public.

Now, the ongoing abuses will be documented on https://mcas-sheltershock.com/posts/