#new Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed oversaw Detroit’s animal shelter when it operated with a 74% kill rate with
conditions that whistleblowers described as a slaughterhouse including feces and urine backing up into kennels plus rats and cockroaches.
#Michigan
The city paid $63,000 to settle a related lawsuit all while Mohamed El-Sayed’s Health Department was watching over operations.
The high kill rate and horrid conditions were documented around 2015.
#dogs
Mohamed El-Sayed served as Executive Director (and Health Officer) of the Detroit Health Department from late August 2015 until mid-February 2017.
Former animal control officer Brittany Roberts filed a whistleblower lawsuit in late 2015 after she said she was fired for raising alarms.
She said:
🔸️Drains were clogged so feces and urine flooded kennels and contaminated food that was served on the floor,
🔸️The shelter was infested with rats and cockroaches,
🔸️Dogs were confined in undersized cages without exercise,
🔸️Animals were neglected until they died rather than properly euthanized, and
🔸️Staff routinely failed to scan microchips that could reunite pets with owners.
️Roberts and advocates called the operation a slaughterhouse; photos and accounts described dogs left in blood, vomit, and waste.
Detroit City Council approved the $63,000 settlement with Roberts in July 2016.
Mayor Mike Duggan shifted Animal Control from the police department to the Health Department under El-Sayed in 2015.
A new director – Melissa Miller, was hired, and the mayor doubled her budget. Miller was able to reduce the kill rate to about 35%.
#ChristinaAguayoNews
