"Now that you're watching that number, we'll start watching it too...." Unbelievable.

If the number of animals who "died in cages" is actually 43 and not 136 the discrepancy is too great to be explained as a clerical error. Employees were either never trained to correctly enter cause of death or they simply do not care. Neither is acceptable. It is also disengenous that Rogers says he never noticed the official records state that more than 10 animals a month were dying in their cages. Rogers reviews this data, including "died in cage" every month and presents a formal report to the City and the Advisory Board. It is impossible that this high number was never noticed. And whether Rogers never noticed it or did not understand it to be neither ordinary nor acceptable, it indicates he is totally incompetent and unqualified to be Shelter Director. This did not happen once. It happened every month for an entire year. His groping for possible explanations is insulting to the citizens of Memphis. Animals at MAS do not die in the yard or in hallways. They do not run off and get hit by cars. There are only 3 places an animal can die at MAS: in a cage, in the operating suite or in the euthanasia room. They can die from natural causes, disease, surgical complications or euthanasia. If the "died in cage" number is incorrect, then the euthanasia numbers are also incorrect. Finally, it defies reason to suggest that having MAS employees "pay attention" will reduce the number of animals who die in their cages. It is also disturbing that the Shelter Director says that his employees have not been "paying attention." The health, welfare and lives of animals depend on their care. The admission that employees have not been "paying attention" indicates that the procedures in place at MAS and the conduct of its employees have not been sufficient to safeguard the health, welfare and lives of the animals in their care. This is more than a moral wrong. It is illegal, if not criminal. MAS and its employees have a statutory duty to properly provide for the animals in their care.

How do you know they haven't already adopted animals? Not everyone has room for an animal or ability to take care of them. That doesn't mean they don't have the right and duty to "biatch" about the animal shelter situation.

you people need to stop your biatchin and go adopt an animal.

Now there is something else they will have to sweep under the rug or continue to put off. My heart breaks everyday for those sweet babies who are being abused and deprived in that place. How many more years Memphis? When it is going to stop?

It is time that Mr. Rogers is exposed for the fraud he is and for Mayor Wharton to stop protecting him. I plead with the city to hire an administrator that cares about the animals. Most of the employees feel their hands are tied and don't know how to go about reporting things that occur with management due to retaliation. Many complaints have been lodge with EEOC, The Ethics hotline, and downtown most have been unanswered it is time to do something. Clean house and start new!

Wake up Memphis! It's time to privatize!!

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanuel Kant "Cruelty has cursed the human family for countless ages. It is almost impossible for one to be cruel to animals and kind to humans. If children are permitted to be cruel to their pets and other animals, they easily learn to get the same pleasure from the misery of fellow humans. Such tendencies can easily lead to crime." ~Fred A. Mc Gran, 1895 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated" ~Gandhi (1869-1948) The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. ~ Albert Einstein 'nuff said.

Thank you to ABC News 24 and Jeni DiPrizio for once again shedding the light on the truth at what is really going on at Memphis Animal Shelter. I have heard so many people state that they think that the shelter is doing much better than in the past, but, unfortunately, that is not the truth. It astounds me that the City officials of Memphis, TN simply do not care to clean up the image of their city. There is a huge community that wants nothing but positive change for this shelter, and instead of someone actually doing something about it; they ignore their community’s requests. This says a lot about the City of Memphis and those who are entrusted to be in charge of the city, and there is nothing to be said that is positive. It is also outrageous that a news story is what brought this to the attention of the shelter administrator! He claims it was a data entry error, but then goes on to say: “You brought it up in your television report and it's something we need to focus on." And "I think that since we have focus on it now, I know that it will reduce." So, ABC News 24 has to point out what you are doing wrong, to get you to do your job right? Question 1: How many stories will the news have to cover on this city entity before the employees are made to actually do their jobs correctly without having to be told? Question 2: How hard is it to check and see if an animal is living on a daily basis? Question 3: Can the city of Memphis start hiring shelter employees that actually care about the well-being of animals? In my opinion, what Rogers said, is an excuse to shut everyone up. I just hope that ABC News 24 keeps uncovering this shelter’s dirty secrets because the people of Memphis deserve to know.

Thank you so much ABC24 and Jeni DiPrizio for keeping the public informed of the ongoing problems at MAS. It's unfortunate that Memphis is now well known for having one of the worst Animal Services in the nation, but until some major changes occur nothing can improve. James Rogers is in way over his head in this position, and it's too bad because I, along with many others, was hoping that he might be able to take the shelter in a new direction. Sadly, I think that he has not been given two important keys to the success of MAS: regular, timely, accurate information, and the approval (permission) of Mayor Wharton to make any decisions that could quickly and positively effect real change. This is an embarrassment to those of us who will always consider Memphis our hometown, regardless of where we may live today. Keep up the great work, Jeni-surely some good will come of your tireless work.