A Damn Shame! Dep. Dog Warden Rehired After Abuse Allegations
Posted on 2008 under Crimes Against Canines, Just Sad :(, Laws & Legislation, News & Updates, Rescues & Shelters |17 May
But it gets even worse, one minute after they rehired him, they put him on paid leave “while they evaluate his employment status.”
Gary Tate, former deputy dog warden at the Stark County Pound in Canton, OH, was dismissed from his position last year after being accused of animal abuse. Seems he had a habit of using a snare pole to drag dogs by their necks, then using the pole’s noose to lift the dogs to second-tier cages, causing the dogs to hang by their necks. Hmmmm…. nice guy.
Now after a lot of legal wrangling, the county was forced to rehire him and also pay him all the back wages after an arbitrator ruled that Tate should not have been fired because the abuse accusations were “insufficient to justify anything more than some minor discipline.”
Wow, maybe that arbitrator should try the end of the pole that the dogs had to suffer being dangled from! Of course Tate says he wasn’t abusing the dogs, just using the pole to keep himself safe from them. Bet there are lots of really vicious dogs there! Funny, the 30+ volunteers that go in there every day never have to use a pole for protection and have no problems with the dogs. Perhaps the volunteers could demonstrate the proper handling of the dogs?
A number of people protesting the rehiring of Tate, many of them volunteers at the pound — expressed concern about the 25-year employee and reversing the progress they say Dog Warden Evert Gibson has made since 2004 when public outcry forced conditions at the pound to improve.
“We cannot at this time take a step backwards. We need to be careful (about) who is working at the pound,” said Mary McNally, one of the protesters.
I can see where they could be concerned. Since Gibson took over there’s been an increase in adoptions, they are now part of the Waggin Tail program that picks up dogs and transports them to areas where they will have a chance to be adopted and there’s also a spay/neuter program so that all animals will be altered prior to adoption.
I believe in fairness and legality but to me this is nothing more than abuse of the system. A man who was in a position to help and care for animals abused them, now he’s on what amounts to paid vacation with a big bonus to boot!! A damn shame!!
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by Katrina Blair, on May 18 2008 @ 8:59 am
What are these people thinking to bring him back?? I don’t care if they he’s nice guy nice to thier faces but abusive to animals… Nothing like going backwards…. move forward people and help these animals not bring him back he is not rescue freindly only abusive….. Where are your heads other then in the sand….
by ROBIN, on May 18 2008 @ 10:03 am
SOMEONE NEEDS TO PAY FOR THE CRIME DONE TO THIS DOG AND IT IS THE DA’S RESPONSABILITY TO PROTECT ANY VICTIMS RIGHTS IN THIS CASE IT WAS THE DOG. IF THE DA REFUSES TO PROTECT HIS COMMUNITY IN A PROPER WAY. HE NEEDS TO BE DISPLACE FROM HIS JOB AND GET SOMEONE IN THERE THAT CAN.
by Judy Byrd, on May 18 2008 @ 9:34 pm
He he….one of the commissioners has another charge, or more charges to bring him up on, and I guess the man is spittin’ mad! (Because he doesn’t know yet what he’s holding in the bag, so to speak…)
I hope on the next ‘event’ they have him nailed good, and legally, to suit even the union folks…to make it stick.
by kerry, on May 19 2008 @ 9:04 am
WTF!!That is all that comes to mind…Not a very intelligent response…but all I have…Makes no sense..
by Nancy Vernand, on May 19 2008 @ 12:54 pm
It never ceases to amaze me the ignorance of people we have in power to do something right that would make a difference, instead make ignorant decisions that only make things worse at the expense of inocent animals. This guy shoould be fired without pay and put in jail to erach everyone that abuse will not be tolerated. Instead we have an airheads making a unbelievable decision!
by Kathie, on May 19 2008 @ 2:47 pm
I believe what bothers me the most is the fact so many people knew about this right from the beginning and nothing was done. It’s not to say some didn’t try to make this right but with so many titled folks who are not animal lovers or even care about an animals welfare, unless we have a national outpouring of emails, faxes and calls, they continue to get away with this. I have spoken to Evert and it’s sad to think all he has tried to do with this shelter has now been squashed by some bureaucratic BS and morons who couldn’t care less about the welfare of any animal never mind one who finds themselves in the hands of this demon. Isn’t his salary paid by taxpayers? Don’t they have a right to decide what becomes of his future?