Union throws concerns about the scapegoat, retaliation after the death of the San Jose shelter

In the result of a tragic death of a dog at the beginning of this week, a union in San Jose said that the management in the city's animal shelter sins against employees or opposite the employees who show the reaction of the city, “tones of the cover -up”, and have contributed to a similar pattern and a similar practice of Monday, which some employees described as a poisonous environment in the shelves on the shelves.

An animal car attendant at Animal Care and Services reported that you can find a dog named Lola in an IV line and have wrapped it with a leash around your neck to cut off the circulation on her leg and suffocate it at the same time. Although the companion Lola was able to free Lola, she had difficulty reaching management and combining her with medical emergency care before the dog died.

In a letter to public workforce, Matt Loesch, John Tucker, representative of the American Federation of State, County and urban employees, questioned some of the city's tactics when it initiated an investigation of the animal's death, and speculated whether the city was geared towards combating damage than on the transparency

“This was a failure for executives, but we get the leadership to do everything to blame the front and take it away, where we believe that it should not only be for this incident, but for others,” said Afscme Tucker in an interview with the Mercury News.

Lola's death in the municipality and in the town hall, in which Mayor Matt Mahan called for significant reforms in the animal shelter to improve his already destroyed reputation and defects that were highlighted in a scathing audit last year.

The audit, which was triggered by an increase in deaths and complaints to animal, led to 39 recommendations to improve animal welfare problems and overcapacity. While protection officers have declared that the facility is progressing when implementing the recommendations, the providers continued in the past week because they believed that they did not approach the underlying problems that the shelter worsened.

Lola's death again increased the concerns because many asked whether the animal shelter did not follow the guidelines of the Association of Shelter veterinarians for tethering and medical emergency care.

While she could not go into the details of the investigation, Shelter spokesman Kari Chinn said that the city administrator's office would carry out an internal review, while the University of California in Davis would carry out an independent examination that will be completed in the coming weeks.

Chinn also denied the general claims that Tucker referred to the city in his letter.

“The city takes all concerns seriously and addresses it about suitable channels,” said Chinn. “While we reject generalized claims of a” culture of retaliation and intimidation “, specific concerns that were raised were checked in accordance with established city processes.”

Tucker and former employees of the shelter paint a completely different picture.

“On the whole, we receive more complaints about retaliation from the shelter than any other department in the city,” said Tucker. “There is a story of workers who are talking about things that are wrong who reciprocate against it by pushed out, fired directly or given a bad schedule, so they simply quit.”

Tucker said that last year an evening coordinator who had happened with Lola with Lola was released from his trial period before he could become a protected employee after pronouncing.

“This position is free on this day and there are two positions for protective coordinators who are responsible for being the phone in an emergency or at night and at night,” said Tucker. “Now put it on the Animal Care companions who do not have this experience or authority to deal with this stuff. So it is a pressure cooker of your own creation.”

In public sessions and e -mails to city officials last year, a former registered veterinary technology called Rachel Ivanov also claimed retaliation after being entrusted to the members of the city administration about problems they saw.

Although her situation differs from that of other employees, Whitney Rosche, a former animal supply, said that she was recipient due to an illness due to a lack of time and showed the same pattern of poor leadership and lack of accountability.

“I was released because of a week because of pneumonia, which I thought was unfair, especially since I always made it clear how much I revered the animals,” said Rosche. “I cried when I was let go because I took care of the animals so much, but it still didn't matter, even though we were so short.”

In an e -mail to the employees this week, the deputy director Jay Terrado asked the employees to hold back the judgment for the time being, as the city carried out its investigation and emphasized that he has an open house if the employees have concerns.

Chinn added that the city was obliged to “promote a respectful and safe work environment”, and found that there were internal and anonymous channels to report concerns.

However, due to previous actions, Tucker said that the words of the city were purely “performative” and he was doubtful that he was intended to really speak to systemic problems in the shelter.

“Whatever you do on the exam recommendations is far too short,” said Tucker. “It is only discouraging to know that this could have been prevented, and unfortunately this will happen again.”

Originally published: May 16, 2025 at 4:09 p.m. PDT