If you’ve been following this website then you will know that I’ve been claiming this to be true for almost the entirety of my time photographing dogs at the Carson shelter. The first time I ever visited this shelter in 2011 I met a dog that, within the next couple of days, gained online momentum and interest and then was resoundingly “failed” by this shelter’s version of a temperament test. She was called “highly aggressive” and “one of the most vicious dogs they’ve ever encountered” by select members of this shelter’s staff. Don’t let those phrases scare you, as I’m here to say that the millisecond that I heard these descriptions I knew that this shelter was full of you know what. Thankfully that dog’s life was saved, and due in no small part by a committed few that refused to let her down.

Fast forward almost 2 years, and countless events just as I’ve described above routinely playing out silently and unacknowledged by anyone, over and over. I’ve made plenty of noise about it, but through either very specific cases, or general rants, knowing that it’s going on but not having the transparent access I’d need to actually show the patterns in the irrefutable detail. There’s so many dogs that have came through that I’ve just never met. I’m only there a few days out of each month. I can only speak for the ones that I’ve met, and known not to fit the disingenuous description that is hammered onto their heads after they are killed. But I know this happens, over and over again, and that Pit Bull/types are the ones that are falling victim to it.

Thankfully the dogs in the video below did not end up as ultimate victims of this system. But they would have, and almost were even though myself and others were doing everything we could to make sure that they could just get out of there safely. Before you watch this video please know that I first met both dogs on 2/27. The black and white girl was already impounded and had been there since the 25th, the brindle girl was brought in right past me on the 27th, and my video actually captured her first 10 minutes or so in the kennel. They were both absolutely terrified of their predicament, their environment, the sounds, the smells, and that list goes on. The next portion of video was shot 3 days later on 3/2 when I went back to give treats to all of the dogs. You will see that both of these specific dogs have already made strides at coming out of their shells and were actually taking food directly from my hand at the kennel bars. I even shoved my camera under the brindle’s cage door, in an attempt to get a different angle of video, and she did nothing. I came to find out later that the temperament tests for both dogs were administered this same day (3/2), prior to my visit. Both dogs were massively failed with grades of “F” across the board. They were both called “aggressive” and “not safe for placement.” An adopter for the black and white dog who had showed up that morning was actually turned away when he went inside to pay for her freedom. Finally, the last portion of video was shot on 3/5, the day they both left the shelter. Much of the video showing the brindle girl was literally recorded 5 minutes after walking out of the shelter. She rode the entire 45 minute drive laying across my lap. The portion of video that shows the black and white girl was shot about 90 minutes after leaving the shelter, as she rode home with someone else.

Neither of these dogs are “aggressive,” at all. I spent more time with the brindle girl (now Mellow) than the black and white girl (now Willow), and I can state confidently that calling Mellow “aggressive” is a crime against the truth. It’s a disgrace and a failure of the system. Willow was a little more fearful than Mellow, and came out her shell just a tad slower, but the same can be said on her behalf. These dogs are not aggressive. These dogs are not unsafe for placement. That assertion is false and anyone standing behind it is a fraud.

I don’t take what I’ve said here lightly. I feel quite confident in my choice of words so stating that this is an absolute epidemic at this specific shelter would be, in my opinion, quite accurate. Fraudulent temperament tests are being routinely given at the Carson shelter. You can mark it down as fact, and it’s as sure as the sun rises every morning. What this does is serve to “fail” a rather large amount of dogs, many of them being Pit Bull/type dogs. This then marks these dogs as “unadoptable,” per the shelter, and in turn makes them “unavailable” to the general public. After they’re made “unadoptable/unavailable” they will more (way more) times than not be killed, and that status will then be used to justify the shelter’s choice to kill them.

There’s truly few issues any bigger than this that will aim to give you genuine insight into why shelter reform is so very necessary. It shows you how discrimination becomes part of policy, how poorly some of these officers who are administering the tests end up doing their jobs, how that lack of care and concern is actually not only accepted but also protected by their superiors, how the public gets routinely boxed out from adopting amazing dogs, how killing becomes the most embraced option and how they will attempt to then justify that killing. Please spread this message, it’s an essential one to spread regarding the fate of shelter animals.

I leave you with this: Why aren’t volunteers being given the ability to actually perform the temperament tests themselves? Why can’t they contribute with the updating of system notes regarding behavior? Furthermore, why does it take your staff anywhere from 3 to 7 days to actually administer a test that takes (by your own admission) 5 minutes? Why are staff employees telling members of the community that “temperament test requests are clogging the system,” implying that actually requesting one is somehow a negative thing? Again, how can you claim that you don’t have “time, staff, resources” to efficiently do these tests, while at the same time, refusing to pass some of that responsibility onto willing (and capable) volunteers? Tons of shelters have their volunteers give the temperament tests. In my opinion volunteers (by and large) have far better energy and attitudes than the run of the mill officer who seems (in these cases) to just be going through the motions. Finally, dogs are perceptive, so if they see an uncaring uniform carrying a fake hand into their kennel that alone is going to prompt a reaction. This is all common sense.