Saylor Knox was seen by shelter employees Aug. 27, moving a dog into the shelter in a way that prompted them to contact the city.
The video shows Knox leading a small dog from his truck into a holding kennel at the shelter. The dog appears unwilling to move and, at one point, splayed all four of its legs looking to stop momentum.
“Animal control officers have to be above reproach when it comes to their conduct and handling of animals, and certainly we always have to be cognizant of the perceptions of the public and what they see; what the shelter sees,” said Environmental Health Supervisor Buck Farrar, who oversees Knox.
“We are not going to condone that or tolerate that.”
In an employee counseling report, Farrar explained it was vital for officers to treat animals well because they enforce laws and write citations for improper treatment of animals throughout the city.
Farrar said that while nothing excuses the behavior, the office was short-handed that day, Knox was hurrying, and the dog was behaving in an unruly manner.
[So, nothing excuses his behavior... but then he gives all these excuses TO EXCUSE HIS BEHAVIOR. Hmm, yeah the daycare worker was short-handed so that's why she dragged the baby around by its leg across the room and outside and then back again. Also, the baby was uncooperative and simply didn't want to do what the daycare worker wanted him to so there's that...]
“There is nothing that can condone taking action that can be perceived as abusive toward the animal. Do I believe that there was any ill intent on his part, that he was deliberately doing that? Absolutely not,” Farrar said.
“It’s the perception. We have to be out in front of that always, and that is why we took the action that we did.”
Farrar said it was the first time Knox had been disciplined for behavior toward an animal.
Knox declined to be interviewed, but wrote a letter to the humane society as a part of his discipline.
“I apologize for the way it appeared and for anything I did that implied I intended to harm the animal in any way,” Knox wrote.
“I was attempting to expedite the call quickly being that the dog was being extremely unruly and vocal in the eyes of the public. I did the best I could in the circumstance, taking ample time both on the truck as well as once I had the dog secured in the animal control officer run, trying to get the dog to warm up to me.”
[Hey, ACO. Here's a suggestion: next time you have a 'small dog' which is unwilling to walk -- PICK IT UP! If it's not friendly enough for you, cover it's face with a towel or use a leash to make a temporary muzzle. It's a LOT faster to simply pick up the little guy and take it where you want rather than dragging it.
My guess, Mr. Knox, is that this is not the first time you've done this, it's just the first time you got caught doing it.
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| Saylor Knox |
You can see in the video he doesn't just drag it five feet into the shelter. He drags it from the truck through the parking area into the shelter hallway and then turns around and drags the dog back down the hallway and back into the parking area -- BY THE NECK!!!]
Knox wrote that he was unhappy with the video.
“Both on and off the job my character exhibits compassion and integrity when it comes to my behavior and relation to other people and all living things. Never would I have cruel intentions towards anything, and I myself was unhappy with what the video portrayed,” he said.
Last year, Knox worked to renovate homes for families in the community, prompted after seeing conditions of houses he was called to while serving as an animal control officer.
A request for interview placed to the Humane Society of Northeast Texas’s executive director was declined, with inquiries being directed to the city of Longview.
One other city employee was suspended during the month of August.
According to documentation obtained from the city, Housing Services Specialist Venita Howard was suspended for two days after administrators discovered she incorrectly filed paperwork for several months, leading to inaccuracies in documents from October through May.
(Longview News-Journal - Sep 13, 2014)
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