County Whistleblower Bashes Counth Shelters

.
This was posted on Ryan Olshan's Mayeda blog last week. Crap. Why don't I get stuff like this forwarded to me about Boks and LAAS?

http://lacdacc.blogspot.com


From: Lori Kuhn
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 13:30:08 -0700 (PDT)
To: Ryan Olshan

My name is Lori Kuhn. I am a registered veterinary technician in the state of California. I was employed at the Carson Shelter in LA County for 3 months back in 2003. I witnessed a lot of animal neglect while working there. I tried on several occasions to talk with the director, Marcia Mayada, she would refuse to talk to me, instead I was fired.

I was amazed that I seemed to be the only one there who had feelings towards animals, and on several occasions, was told by other staff members, including the veterinarian, Dr. Pete, that I should be working at a humane society, not a high kill shelter!

On a daily basis I saw dogs being dragged with a rope tied around their neck to the euthanasia room. I saw the other technician Conrad, gambling on the internet each day instead of doing his job. I saw cats running out of the freezer at least three times, because they were put into the barrels alive. I saw cockroaches crawling all over the kennels at night. I would stay late every single night to feed cats that were left without any food or water!

And I was told that I had to kill wildlife, hundreds of possums were brought in in traps by the public and the patrol officers to be euthanized daily, the worst for me was killing the beautiful raccoons that should have been turned over to the wildlife department for release.

After leaving the shelter I wrote a letter to the AVMA who did an inspection. I was told that they were in direct violation by the DEA for having drugs unlocked and a general lack of legal drug logs. Record keeping was nill. Conrad the technician who I worked with provided no training for me whatsoever, he basically ignored me, and then complained about me to the supervisors. I am also very sorry to say that the tech who was hired after me killed herself while on the job with euthanasia solution.

The shelter needs help, hopefully those reading this understand my frustration.

Sincerely,
Lori Kuhn RVT

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

This letter is either about twenty years old or a forgery/hoax.

Anonymous said...

August 2003. Why do you think it a forgery/hoax?

Anonymous said...

I think the letter is real. I'd been hearing about problems with county and the DEA over euthanasia drugs.

I spoke with an ACO from County in 2002. She was upset that they were killing all the wildlife. She told me they put the syringe on a pole and would just stab at the animals. Most of the animals died from being stabbed and cut open by the needles, not from the drugs. She told me if they miss the abdominal cavity with the syringe and hit an organ, the animal dies very closely if they do die. A lot ended up alive in the freezer coming to hours later.

Anonymous said...

In 2001 Marcia Mayeda met with Warden Joe Baima of Fish & Game. She swore that she would turn the wildlife over to rehabbers. After that she met with a rehabber. Again, she and her assistant Jody swore they'd turn the wildlife over to rehabbers. She was provided with a list of rehabbers who'd agreed to take the county animals. No one ever called the rehabbers. They just kept killing them.

A year later someone asked why they were killing the wildlife. Marcia Mayeda said she called the rehabbers but no one came to get the animals. She mentioned specific groups which she contacted. I contacted those groups. They said Mayeda never contacted them, neither did anyone from county.

Anonymous said...

During the DEA investigation the county was temporarily not allowed to have euth drugs on site. I think this was because of the human death and lack of records. Every single milligram of euth drugs must be accounted for in a log. All euth personnel must be certified in euthanasia. The log must include type of animal, age, weight, health condition, breed and amount of drug used to kill it. There were no logs.

During this time they resorted to killing wildlife without the use of euth drugs. They were drowning skunks. Mayeda admitted this and swore she would have them using euth drugs again in a few months as soon as the DEA thing was cleared up

Anonymous said...

"This letter is either about twenty years old or a forgery/hoax."

Oh really? Hi Marcia!

Ed Muzika said...

To the previous poster, do you have any email evidence of any of this to post?

Anonymous said...

The letter itself appears to be a hoax/forgery to me as it just reads like several second-hand accounts put together.
I think I read the same information years ago, possibly 2003. The tech killed herself many, many years ago, more than ten years ago and possibly as long ago as the '80s. That should be on public record or a south bay newspaper site?
The overall tone seems false, although all the allegations could be true. The letter just doesn't read right. This is the Internet after all...

Anonymous said...

Well, you need at least 150 ml of sodium pentobarbital to "euthanize" yourself painlessly and you already have to have a failing heart or it doesn't work. You also need a whole lot of anti-emetics in order to keep the Numbutal/Pentobarbital down or you just throw it up and you end up in a coma instead.

You can't euthanize yourself with just the pentobarbital alone. That is an incredibly bitter solution to drink down by itself and it doesn't mix well with just fruit juice either.

There are a whole lot of other drugs you have to prep with in order to slow your respiration and heart down--OVER TIME.

This woman was apparently planning to commit suicide long ago and read something about the way in which you humanely and painlessly euthanize yourself by reading stuff either on the internet, or Hemlock Society/Derek Humphrey/Final Exit/Peaceful Pill Handbook stuff.

A lot of people have tried to euth themselves with just the Pentobarbital (also known as Nembutal) by trying to go to Mexico to get it at a veterinary supply store, however, they either don't take enough of it to kill them, and/or they don't mix it with other drugs in order to make it effective and end up in a hellish living death, still alive, breathing and in a vegetative state.

This woman did not commit suicide from the "euth" solution alone. She had been building on this for some time, apparently, or it just wouldn't have worked.

There also would have been vomit all over the place and not enough of it would have been absorbed into her blood stream.

You also can't inject yourself with the drug...someone else has to do it for you, and well, that's just illegal in the united States and no one is going to go to jail for assisted suicide no matter how much the depressed person (in this case the vet tech) begs someone to help.

This woman didn't die from the pentobarbital alone. This woman had been premeditating and building on this for a very long time, I assure you.

Anonymous said...

>>>You also need a whole lot of anti-emetics in order to keep the Numbutal/Pentobarbital down or you just throw it up and you end up in a coma instead.<<<

Okay, you're an idiot. What in the hell makes you think that these people drank the solution? People with access to it know how to place a catheter, prime a line and let it run wide open in a liter of fluids. My, God you're a moron!

Anonymous said...

Why would someone drink pentobarbitol? That wouldn't make any sense besides be a little nasty. One would inject it. Put an IV in yourself with the pentobarbitol and lay down. I'd say just inject yourself but you'd pass out before you could get enough pento in yourself. The dosage of fatal plus is 1 ml per 10 lbs. That would be 12 ml for a 120 lb person. I think Dr. Kevorkian set up an automtaic injection machine for his patients. That'd probably do the trick.

I feel bad that someone had the desire to end their life. Obviously they shouldn't let depressed people near pentobarbitol. It'd be too tempting, such an easy way to die.

Anonymous said...

"That wouldn't make any sense besides be a little nasty. One would inject it. Put an IV in yourself with the pentobarbitol and lay down. I'd say just inject yourself but you'd pass out before you could get enough pento in yourself."

Right you are, #11!

No Kidding. Contrary to what number #10 thinks, where is this person going to set up the line and catheter and wait for the drug to set in?

Just like #11 says: people pass out too early while injecting the drug so not enough of it sets in so that it is enough to kill them. Those people end up in a coma.

Where is the person, who wants to die a peaceful death, going to set up the solution for self-injection at a shelter while the person is on duty?

In the euth room? In the bathroom?

Is she going to take the whole line and the bottle with her into the parking lot? In the car?

Is she going to die the peaceful death she is looking for by doing this where there is always traffic at the shelter and someone is always present, busy running around?

The woman didn't want a violent death. She was looking for a peaceful death. She isn't going to do this in the wide open where people can find her before the drug has a chance to set in.

If you have done any reading at all, #10, then you would know that most people who use the Nembutal drink the solution. These people are very aware that the solution is extremely bitter tasting.

It is impossible for #10 to conceive that there are severely depressed people working in the medical and animal profession who are searching for a peaceful way out of their depression because they have not been able to find peace.

Some of these people are manic-depressive. They are dangerous to themselves and sometimes to other people.

#10, Your response is defensive and insensitive.

Anyone do a CAT scan on you and find that you have a bowl full of jelly where your walnut sized brain should be?

Why don't you travel to Oz and get a heart?

Better yet, why don't you take some of that pentobarbital and try it some time. Inject it or injest it orally.

See how far it takes you if you don't believe you can't kill yourself by injecting the Nembutal yourself.

Try it and see. It might close your mouth and leave you in that permanent state of a coma in which you're living now, only you wouldn't feel so defensive about the whole thing and respond with such hatred.

Take a trip to Mexico; see how far you get. Forget the cats.

Maybe we can get you embalmed live at Carolina Biological for a tissue study the vet techs could use at Pierce.

On second thought, save yourself that trip to Oz because the Little Old Man won't want to go near you with that ugly insensitive attitude of yours.

Perhaps Pierce might consent to doing a heart transplant for you for extra credit.

Look at it as a trubute to veterinary research, if you will.

(Don't get too depressed now, you might take the whole thing and it might just work for you).

The Bitter for the Bitter.

It'll knock you out at best.

At least it will give you some peace.

Anonymous said...

"Contrary to what number #10 thinks, where is this person going to set up the line and catheter and wait for the drug to set in?"

Hey #12, can I print out your comment and send it to my friend's widow? Because I'm sure she'd LOVE to hear your theories on how her husband couldn't have possibly killed himself. You should post again and tell her that it was impossible for him wait until after hours in a secluded kennel to let his bag run. You're obviously the suicide expert here.

Please don't forget to tell her how dangerous her husband was to her. I'm sure she'd really appreciate your insights there as well.

Maybe #10 can post back and show you exactly how its done. What size muzzle do you wear?

Anonymous said...

Wow! Does #12 have any business cards?

"Where is this person going to set up a line?"

Is he serious? It's so sad to think that there are people that ignorant allowed anywhere near animals, or other people for that matter. Talk about a danger to others...

Anonymous said...

>>>You can't euthanize yourself with just the pentobarbital alone. That is an incredibly bitter solution to drink down by itself and it doesn't mix well with just fruit juice either.<<<

Maybe you need to try again. May I suggest a 20g catheter and a bag of LRS? At least give yourself a shot of Cerenia or Anzemet this time. Don't forget to lock yourself in the bathroom since you're obviously too stupid to do it right. But I doubt anyone who knows you will bother to call 911.