Democratic Senate nominee from Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, is at the center of an attack on his past oversight of the animal control division in Detroit. The high animal euthanasia rates during his time as the Health Director went viral on social media.
Over 4,000 dogs and cats were euthanized at Detroit Animal Care and Control. The facility euthanized up to 74% of the dogs under its care.
Euthanasia is a sad process, but it is inevitably helpful to keep a pet out of suffering.
According to the Daily Mail, records covering the period surrounding El-Sayed’s tenure showed that as many as 4,680 dogs and cats were euthanized. 1,056 dogs and 29 cats were euthanized in the first full calendar year DACC was under El-Sayed’s Health Department, the report said.
A related lawsuit began by former Detroit Animal Control officer Brittany Roberts. She alleged that many animals were kept in unhygenic conditions and were mistreated, some even died from bad food and health care.
"I was almost embarrassed with myself to be part of a team that played a role of the death of so many dogs in their cages," Roberts said in 2015, accusing the agency of neglect and mistreatment, according to The Daily Mail. "Every morning, we’d just walk around and see who was alive before we could even feed."
Source: ‘Over 4,000 dogs and cats killed’: Abdul El-Sayed’s ‘pet massacre’ record goes viral