FriendBurst Blog

Official Statement

Grace Avila

“A” Ward – October 22, 2010

I,
Grace Avila, work for Miami-Dade Animal Services as an Animal Care
Specialist, part of the kennel staff. On the day of Friday, October 22,
2010 I was scheduled to work in the euthanasia room commonly referred to
as “A” ward. My day started at noon, and the veterinary technician on
duty was David Perez. In the early afternoon, there was another member
of the kennel staff present, until her departure at 3:00 p.m.

The
day was fairly slow, leaving time for extra cleaning, and more time to
take per animal that needed to be put to sleep. David and I had taken
our lunches together and returned to A ward around 4:00 p.m. By this
time, we had started to pick up and get busy. Most of the animals coming
into the room at this time were cats and kittens with the occasional
dog here and there. These animals were coming from the receiving area
where they were being impounded as sick, injured, nursing, and/or feral
(unable to handle), and were thus deemed “non-adoptable.” This is common
practice on a day to day basis, and it was not unusual we were

ending
the day with cats. We also had received a cart full of cats that had
come from the “cat receiving” room. This room is where the cats that are
going out on the adoption floor are held until they are checked by a
vet tech. Once checked, they are passed, or in some cases not passed,
for adoption due to being fractious (unable to handle), or they are
determined to be ill and are sent to the euthanasia room. (Needless to
say,) By 5:00 p.m. the room was quickly filling with crated cats and
kittens that needed our attention and time was running short.

My
job as part of the kennel staff is to assist the vet technician any way
possible to help make things run smoothly, quickly, and without
mistakes. I am to help restrain, hold, muzzle, calm and comfort the
animal, and in general make the last few moments of their life pleasant.
The vet tech’s tasks are to complete the necessary paperwork, draw the
syringes with the proper amount of drug, and to humanely euthanize all
animals by lethal injection. To my knowledge, Miami-Dade Animal Services
has strict policy and procedure when it comes to the methods of
injection to be used. There are multiple ways to perform euthanasia, but
by standards of Animal Services Division, there are only two ways that
should be practiced. The first is called IV (intravenous), with the
injection done directly into the vein. It’s quick, less painful, and the
best option, but cannot be performed under certain circumstances (what
circumstances?). The second method used is IP (intraperitoneum), an
injection into the animal’s abdomen, lessening the stress and providing
greater safety. This method is best for wild domestic cats (feral)
and/or very young animals. The animal does not succumb to the IP
injection as quickly as by IV, but it is nonetheless humane!

There
is another commonly known method referred to as IC (intracardial). This
is when the injection is made directly into the heart chamber, causing
death within a matter of seconds; however, it should never be performed
on a conscious animal. Most research and published articles on the
intracardial method clearly state that the animal should be heavily
sedated or anesthetized. I have multiple training guides, as well as
books from the euthanasia course I took in 2009, taught by
representatives of the Humane Society of the United States, as well as
The American Humane Society. I am certified in most states to perform
euthanasia by injection myself, but Florida requires a separate
certificate from the Florida Animal Control Association. Intracardial
injection has been deemed unacceptable by the American Veterinary
Medical Association (2007), as well as by the Humane Society of the
United States (2002) because it causes stress, pain, and suffering to
the animal. Each city, county or state may have their own policies, but
regardless, the animal is to be fully unconscious or heavily sedated
before administering the

lethal solution of sodium
pentobarbital. In many states, this method has been made illegal,
however, according to Florida Statute 828.058, it is an acceptable
method in the state of Florida. It is, however, most definitely against
Animal Services Department policy for humane euthanasia.

I
firmly believe that in a shelter environment, an animal should
especially experience a peaceful passing. I stand by the emotions that
are felt during this difficult time. It’s not an easy task, having to
face this daily as part of our job, so to me each animal should be
treated as if it were our own. I am here now, to tell you about the
heartless act of cruelty that I witnessed on October 22, 2010.

David
Perez, the vet technician on duty that day, was to perform what should
have been a last act of compassion for the approximately 30 cats
remaining to be euthanized that day; what took place instead was a
disturbing massacre, simply because he was pressed for time! In doing
this he violated the established rules of conduct of his workplace.

At
6:42 p.m., David was going through the necessary paperwork and putting
information into the computer system. This can be clearly seen on the
video feed. You may also notice on the video that half the cats are
covered, and the other half are not. I assumed the ones still covered
would be the cats left for the morning. I was just outside A ward,
cleaning the holding cages as

part of my job. Once
cleaned, I realized the time, and started planning ahead, thinking we
would not be euthanizing all the cats before the evening ended. I began
to set up cages for the remaining cats to spend the night in then popped
my head in and asked David how many cats I should prepare cages for. He
replied, “No.”

At 6:46 p.m., David begins
euthanizing the cats. You will notice he has his back to the camera and
is standing directly in front of the table as opposed to standing off
to the side of it as usual. It’s as if he knew he was doing wrong. With
so many cats left to do, I didn’t think we would have the proper amount
of time to put the remaining cats to sleep. The vet techs usually leave
at 7:00 p.m., and kennel staff stays until 7:30 p.m. to clean the room
in its entirety. I had been in and out of the room many times waiting to
help him properly euthanize the felines by method of IP or IV.

At
6:47 p.m., I walk into the room. I was shocked that he had done so many
cats in so little time, and the way he was handling them. I was
standing to the side of the table appalled, and without words, I watched
him do several kittens by method of IC. They were screaming! After
watching him IC several kittens, and start on the adults, I left the
room. I could not bear to be in the room to see this take place, and
hear the cries of pain the cats were experiencing. I did not return to
the room for another five minutes in hopes that he had finished with his
unmerciful actions.

Note, on the video
feed at 6:51p.m., you can see David handling a black and white adult
feline, he scruffs it by the neck, and injects it. The video is not
clear enough to be able to see the needle penetrating the heart, but
watch as he places it back into the crate; the cat does not move at all.
By method of IP, the cats would still have had some motor skill
movement and reflexes.

At 6:52pm, I walked back into the
room. He had a couple more cats to euthanize. Still injecting straight
into the heart, the adult cats were also making cries of pain before
going limp in his arms. The clearest that you can see this taking place
on the video is with an adult cat. You’ll notice while he’s still
injecting, the cat goes immediately limp like a wet noodle in his hands.
The head falls in a second! He proceeds to place the cat in a crate.
This made me sick to my stomach, and so I left the room once again at
6:54 p.m.

After euthanasia takes place,
each animal must be checked by the technician to make sure they are
“clinically dead” before disposing of the bodies. David begins checking
the cats at 6:55 p.m. with a stethoscope. I came back for the final time
at 6:57 p.m. to help clear the crates out of the room so they could be
cleaned, and to help him properly dispose of the animals. In essence, he
managed to euthanize approximately 30 cats in less than 15 minutes.
Clearly, the cats he was able to handle could have been

euthanized
by intravenous injection, and I could have been there to help him with
the restraint and hold. It was made clear he wanted to do it the quick
way instead of the right way. Even the intraperitoneal, method would
have been more acceptable, but due to the IP process taking longer, he
chose to cheat the system. If each cat was given the one minute needed
to perform the procedure humanely (they deserved) the time frame would
have been much greater than 15 minutes.

David
closed out the computer program, locked up the sodium pentobarbital,
and left for the evening just after 7:00pm. I was left traumatized, and
to finish cleaning until my shift was over at 7:30pm. Once I left the
shelter, my mind was flooded with thoughts, and flashbacks of what I
just had witnessed. I needed to tell someone, but the question was who?
Everyone, like me, was gone for the evening. I wanted to go directly to
someone in the upper echelon, but the thought of not being taken
seriously, being scrutinized, (my report of the incident not being kept
confidential, and being found a “snitch” was lingering in my mind. But
what I saw was wrong by all moral standards I know, so the best thing
for me to do was to call a friend. Gisella Tacao is a personal friend,
but also works with the shelter as a puller for rescue groups, and
volunteers much of her spare time to help save the animals. She
dedicates everything into keeping the shelter pets from ever having to
experience the wrath of A ward. I told her, and she was disgusted by the
news. I specifically asked if she could report the incident to upper
management on my behalf without disclosing my name. Granted it was a few
days after the incident, but Gisella kept her word and went straight to
Dr. Sara Pizano, Director of Shelter Operations, after a volunteer
meeting on Tuesday, October 26, 2010. I was off the following days of
Wednesday and Thursday, but was informed by Gisella that she spoke to
Dr. Pizano and that it was going to be further

investigated.

This
is not something to be taken lightly, and I felt better knowing it
finally got to the people who care the most about the animals and that
appropriate action could take place. Upon my return to work on Friday,
October 29, I was summoned by Xiomara Mordcovich to speak about what I
had seen. It was brief, but I felt better knowing I could find comfort
in going to her personally with such matters in the future. She gave me
some guidance on the investigation that would take place, and told me
the video

feed from that evening was available for me to
watch I was also asked to record my recollections of the incident in
this formal statement.

I, Grace Avila, on
this day of November 1, 2010, hereby declare under penalty of perjury
that the statements made by me in this statement are true, complete, and
correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand statements
made by me are subject to verification.

Grace Avila

No-Kill,
demand justice for these cats continously being killed and the
treatment they receive while at the shelter. The lack of efforts on
promoting their chances of being adopted.

The shelter director must be removed including management and a No-Kill policy MUST be implemented.

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Miami, Florida 33128

Avenue, Suite 301M