The “dirty little secret” known as pound seizure
Conan, a black and tan mixed-breed dog, was a treasured part of a Michigan family. In 2002, his family went on vacation and left Conan with a neighbor. But, unbeknownst to the neighbor, the mischievous dog escaped and wound up in a neighboring county’s shelter.
The shelter held Conan for the minimum five days and then sold him to a broker. When his family returned they learned of Conan’s fate.
Even though the dog was wearing rabies tags, nobody made an effort to reach his family. The broker sold him to a New York research facility where he was used as an experimental subject and then euthanized.
Conan’s story is one of several in a book by attorney and animal advocate Allie Phillips. She says that what happened to Conan is known as “pound seizure.”
The government-regulated process has been around since the 1940s, when it was common in taxpayer-funded shelters (government-operated “pounds”) around the country.
The original idea of pound seizure was to provide unwanted animals to research facilities for live-animal experiments that would lead to medical breakthroughs believed to be in the greater public interest.
But like the rest of society, medical research has moved forward, says Phillips. Resarch experiments are now usually done using more advanced methods. At the same time, public sentiment has turned against live-animal research, she adds.
Yet the practice of pound seizure continues across the country, Phillips argues in her 2010 book, “How Shelter Pets are Brokered for Experimentation.”
Today, the system is shot full of holes, she says.
Brokers often don’t meet their legal reporting requirements and sometimes acquire and sell family pets that have been stolen. (Docile family pets are favored in research over more aggressive animals, she writes.)
Shelters that participate in pound seizure often hide behind a cloak of secrecy, Phillips says. There are no signs in their facilities alerting the public that pound seizure is taking place, so a Good Samaritan who takes a lost animal there actually could be sentencing it to death.
Thieves known as “bunchers” swipe animals – even out of front yards – as their livelihood. The dogs and cats are moved across state lines. Researchers usually don’t know the animals are stolen, Phillips writes.
The system is policed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which lacks proper resources to adequately do the job, she argues.
Phillips says she is “pretty sure” pound seizure is going on in Colorado, where the law leaves the decision whether to sell animals for reasearch up to individual counties and shelters.
She adds that New Mexico officials have expressed concern that animals from that state were being sold to brokers in Colorado.
Doug Kelley, director of Denver Animal Control and Care, says he doesn’t know if anybody in Colorado still uses the process. The Denver Municipal Animal Shelter – the biggest taxpayer-funded shelter in the metro area – allowed it until the late 80s or early 90s but it was halted after that, he says.
Phillips’ book tries to make it’s case with a scattering of hard numbers. She says fuller numbers are hard to come by.
“It’s hard to say just what is going on,” Phillips says. “Those shelters that don’t have pound seizure are proud to say so. Others don’t want to talk about it. It’s a dirty little secret.”
Getting at the facts can be expensive and time-consuing, Phillips says. You have to be prepared to file requests for information under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Plus, she adds, shelters that cling to the practice will stonewall you or lie. Brokers sometimes resort to intimidation to halt an investigation, she says.
One thing Phillips does have on her side is experience.
The former prosecutor has worked for the Denver-based American Humane Association as the Vice President of Human-Animal Strategic Initiatives, and previously as vice president of Public Policy, She drafted and analyzed federal and state legislation to protect animals and children, including being the author of the 2009-10 legislative bill to ban pound seizure in Michigan, where she used to live. In 2000, Phillips co-founded Friends of Ingham County Animal Shelter in Lansing, Michigan
Later this year she will publish “Defending the Defenseless: Protecting and Advocating for Pets,” based on her shelter experience. She now lives in Virginia.
While it still exists, Phillps believes pound seizure is declining. In her book, she cites two reasons:
“First, research and university training facilities are evolving toward non-animal research practices, including the use of computer-simulated and mannikin programs.”
(The list of organizations NOT doing live-amnimal research with shelter animals includes the veterinary school at Colorado State University, and the University of Colorado school of medicine.)
“Seecond, more shelters have specifically banned the practice of pound seizure, often due to public outcry or recognition that pound seizure is contrary to the purpose of humanely sheltering animals.”
Why would it be happening at all?
One reason is the bunchers, Phillips says.
“Where are stolen dogs and cats going? People known as bunchers go around and snatch them,” Phillips says. “Millions of animals have been stolen. Every time I see a dog tied up outside a Starbucks, I go inside and tell the owner to be careful.”
Another reason is that some people still believe that giving up animals for research serves the greater good, she says.
Two states, Minnesota and Oklahoma, still have laws that mandate pound seizure, which is also known as pound release.
Also, she says, release policies can change as different people assume leading roles in county and shelter governance.
“And if it is allowed in a state bordering yours, there’s always a nagging doubt,” Phillips said. “If you do lose a pet and it winds up with a broker it could be shipped over state lines.”
Among Colorado’s neighboring states, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico allow individual individual counties and shelters to decide, like Colorado, and Wyoming has no law.
How can people find out if pound seizure is going on in their area? Phillips says they can try contacting their local county officials or local animal shelter. They can also check local animal advocacy groups. She has a chapter on “taking action” in her book with further tips.
How Shelter Pets are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure, by Allie Phillips .Published by The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2010. 236 pages.
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Reach John Davidson at JeDavidson@denverpost.com