Mayor Daley's Animal Care and Control employees need to learn to park right.

Chicago animal care and control 1.jpg Dudes, do not park here. This picture was taken today at Superior and Hudson. Do not kill dogs. Dogs are nice.]]>Mayor Daley plays down deaths of dogs at city pound
Calls four mistaken deaths 'a mistake. They deal with thousands and thousands of dogs.'
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July 16, 2010
By FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
At the risk of alienating dog-lovers, Mayor Daley on Friday downplayed allegations that Chicago's Commission on Animal Care and Control mistakenly euthanized four dogs, destroyed records to cover it up and administered narcotics without "legally-required supervision."
Daley said the four deaths are a drop in the bucket, compared to the "thousands and thousands" of dogs handled each year by the $4.5 million-a-year agency.
"Mistakenly. Four. Four. … Mistaken. It's an accident. So, they corrected it. It's a mistake. They deal with thousands and thousands of dogs. Thousands. Thousands. FOUR," the mayor said of Inspector General Joe Ferguson's bombshell report.
"Let's put everything in perspective. I know you need news. But, put things in perspective."
Reminded that Animal Care has been accused of chronic negligence over the years, the mayor said, "Well, it should not take place. … We have a good commissioner there who's worked very hard."
He added, "The commissioner will respond to it appropriately and she's been working with the inspector general. When someone issues a report, they sit down and say, 'This is the facts on that, then all the sudden, it changes. That's what you really have to look at. There's nothing wrong with a report. But, then you have to get the facts on the report. We deal with facts and not just rhetoric."
Dr. Robyn Barbiers, president of the Anti-Cruelty Society, was somewhat surprised by the mayor's remarks.
Four dogs mistakenly euthanized over an eight-month period were all the inspector general's office could prove, but there may well have been many more such mistakes in recent years, sources said.
"It was a tragedy that it happened at all. … I'm certainly glad it wasn't more. But even one mistake like that is a tragic incident," Barbiers said.
"If it happened to me — if I was the person who made the mistake — certainly there would have been an apology. … There may have been an apology [from the city]. This happened several years ago."
She added, "Instead of harping on things that happened several years ago, let's make sure that things have changed and practices have been put in place so that it never happens again."
The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2006 that a police lieutenant's dog was euthanized when it was supposed to be held for a 10-day rabies observation, triggering the inspector general's investigation.
The lieutenant who lost his dog could not be reached for comment on the mayor's remarks.
Three Animal Care employees have been fired, including the chief veterinarian, and five others have been disciplined in response to the inspector general's report, released this week.
The housecleaning at a 68-employee agency that's had a revolving door at the top prompted Ald. George Cardenas (12th) to suggest that the city privatize animal care because, "Obviously, we're not doing it very well. … Look at the poor supervision. Look at the lack of controls. It's a mess."
It wasn't the first time the Commission on Animal Care and Control has been accused of mistreating animals.
In 2005, then-Executive Director Nikki Proutsos resigned her $87,756-a-year job amid allegations that dogs at the city pound were lying in their own waste and power-washed while inside their cages. The allegations came from volunteers who donate their time at 2741 S. Western.
Proutsos' predecessor, Anne Kent, was a former Streets and Sanitation deputy with no background in animal care.
Current Executive Director Cherie Travis has responded to the inspector general's report by saying she intends to bring in managers and supervisors who "know how to be accountable for things that go on in the building."

4 Replies to “Mayor Daley's Animal Care and Control employees need to learn to park right.”

  1. Can you imagine how many just “regular” dogs have died “mistakenly”—if a Police Lt’s dog died under these kinds of circumstances you can just imagine the “thousands and thousands” of dogs that have died this way too. Dogs that didnt have a Police Lt. waiting for them.

    The Mayor is certifiably incompetent now. He’s clearly drinking and taking some kind of psychotropic drugs, which never should be mixed. He’s not making sense, looks disheveled, ill at ease, and paranoid. Look at pictures of him from the 90’s and even early 2000, then look at him now—that aint just aging, thats drinking, worry, and prescription drug abuse. He’s a complete incompetent. His Leadership style is the biggest clue.

  2. Former Streets and San boss Al Sanchez convicted again
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    July 21, 2010

    By KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter
    Former Chicago Streets and Sanitation boss Al Sanchez was convicted for a second time Wednesday of corrupt hiring practices.

    A federal jury took four hours to decide that the former key member of Mayor Daley’s inner circle was guilty of running a system that illegally rewarded the mayor’s political foot soldiers with jobs.

    Originally convicted of mail fraud charges in 2009, Sanchez faced a two-week retrial after a federal appeals court judge tossed out the original conviction in December, saying prosecutors had failed to disclose the criminal background of a witness at the first trial.

    At the retrial, lawyers for Sanchez and his co-defendant, Aaron DelValle — who was also convicted Wednesday of lying to a grand jury about the alleged scheme — argued that both men acted in good faith, blaming the mayor’s convicted patronage chief, Robert Sorich, for the illegal hiring.

    But prosecutors said Sanchez had used his role overseeing 4,000 city jobs to build up the pro- Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization, “pulling the strings” to make the “sham” scheme work, and leaving qualified applicants without political connections no chance of being hired.

    Sanchez nodded and held his hands together as the verdict was announced in Judge Robert Gettleman’s courtroom at the Dirksen Federal building downtown Wednesday.

    He left without commenting, but his attorney, Thomas Breen, said Sanchez had “given great service to the city of Chicago” and was “disappointed” with the verdict.

    Convicted of one count of mail fraud, Sanchez faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year.

    DelValle faces up to five years behind bars for perjury.

    His attorney, Martin Dolan, said “there’s a lot bigger fish out there than Mr. DelValle and Mr. Sanchez,” for the government to pursue.

    Dolan declined to elaborate, but said it was “obvious” who was responsible to anyone who followed the trial.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Manesh Shah said the government does not discuss ongoing investigations but said Sanchez and DelValle were being held responsible “for their own actions.”

    “Lying to give people [city] jobs is fraud,” he said.

    Both men are due back in court Oct. 18.

    The charges arose out of the Hired Truck scandal, first exposed by the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004.

  3. Just leave. Please. We have had enough.

    Tearing up meigs field in the middle of the night.

    The hired truck scandal.

    The parking meters

    The skyway

    Police deaths

    Civilian deaths

    Both increased by your total disegard for Police safety by failing failing to keep a fully fucntining police department

    Jodi Weiss who makes more than you and has no police experience yet is somehow in charge of the Police Department.

    Your son’s friend that somehow ended up with a great deal for Taxis in chicago.

    Your nephew’s shady deals with tax payer money.

    Just leave. Please.

  4. Hay can I have my guns back,since the supreme court said the city broke the law,by enforcing a city ordance that was unconstitutional.Also did you read the suntimes today,they had a story about an Aprial weekend when 40 people were shot and 7 were killed,that was in 2008.How could that be! the cops from 111th street came all the way to the northwest side to take away my firearms,but still all those people got shot.Why not take guns away from the people who are committing all the crime? of course not lets go after the lawabiding people of this city.Who’s to blame for all this crime,who’s to blame when a Police officer is murdered by these animals?Who’s to blame for the way the city is falling apart?We are! that’s right we need to get our butts out there and VOTE! we broke it and we can fix it!I belive that this is the greatest country,city in the world, that is why I wear the uniform of the United States Army.God Bless America,thank you.

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