Airport Employee Fired for Saving Dog's Life
RENO, Nevada (AP) — Airport baggage handler Lynn Jones saw the sad look on the listless, emaciated dog sitting in a pet carrier and knew something was wrong. Then she saw that its body was covered with sores and its paws were worn raw. "It was so thin, it made me cry," she said. If that dog gets on that plane, she remembered thinking, it would certainly die. And when she refused a supervisor's orders to load it onto the Texas-bound flight, she was fired.
This story is an outrage, not only just because a helpless dog was neglected and almost left for dead, but because the employer, Airport Terminal Services Inc., clearly violated the law when their supervisor refused to get care for the dog and tried to board the dog on a plane in such a serious medical condition. Fortunately, baggage handler Lynn Jones intervened at the cost of her job. Washoe County Ordinance 55.140 - Cruelty to Animals:
It is unlawful for any person to overdrive, overload, torture or cruelly beat, or unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate, poison, or kill any animal whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprive any animal of necessary sustenance, food, drink or shelter, or willfully instigate, engage in, or in any way further an act of cruelty to any animal, or any act to produce such cruelty.
The law could not be any more clear. When anyone sees a helpless dog in such a condition they are bound by the law to act. Lynn Jones did more than just a mere act of compassion, she did her civic duty in upholding the law. It would also seem that Jones' supervisor clearly violated the law. On the "we have all had that nightmare boss angle", this is one of those stories that makes one wonder of you have to be cruel and foolish in the extreme to even get considered for a supervisor position. PoliticalArena.org contacted Washoe County Animal Control and they said that they have heard about the case but could provide no further details and we are waiting for a call back. We also contacted the Washoe County District Attorney's office for comment and our call was the first that they had heard about the story, but they are checking to see if they were contacted earlier and we are waiting on a call back for further comment.
[Editor's Note - Considering that this story is on the front page of Yahoo News and judging by the Google results it is going viral, we were surprised to discover that we were the first to call the District Attorney's office (AP we beat you to it again), but we are certain that we will not be the last. I am confident that Lynn Jones' heroism will be featured on Fox & Friends, Megyn Kelly and other news programs as the story develops. I know we are going to be asked so let me make it clear that the Washoe County District Attorney's Office was not only interested in the story, they were pleasant and very cooperative. Often times government employees are "stand offish" with reporters, especially reporters with a smaller audience, not in this case. Of course we are as eager to learn and report the status of the rescued dog, the owner who apparently left him in such a condition, the apparent unlawful actions of the Airport Terminal Services supervisor, and the status of Lynn Jones who deserves so much credit for acting in the best interests of the dog and the law.]
A statement posted on the company's web site said officials were investigating, and that the company "commends this employee's situational awareness and her desire to raise the concern on behalf of the canine.""ATS is reviewing the actions of all employees involved to determine if the appropriate action was taken," it said. Jones, 56, is no stranger to animals. She once owned a dog grooming shop and lives about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Reno with three dogs, three cats and a bird — all rescued from shelters over the years. "I wanted to adopt this dog," she said. When she was working in the cargo area several weeks ago, she saw the pet carrier and the dog. When she told her supervisor about it, she said, he insisted she load the pointer bound for Corpus Christi, Texas, because its paperwork was in order and its condition was none of her concern. "I kept telling my supervisor, 'That dog is going to die if it gets on that plane,'" Jones said. "He didn't even really look at the dog," she said. "He just kept saying: 'The dog is going, the dog is going.' And I kept saying, 'It is not.' And we went back and forth, 'Yes it is, no it isn't, yes it is.'" "I was hysterical and crying and yelling because the plane was going to leave and I was afraid the dog was going to be on it. I kept saying, 'Please, please, the dog is going to die,'" she said.
Airport police phoned the animal welfare agency, which took custody of the dog.
The dog, apparently owned by a hunter who has it shipped to places he hunts, was shipped back to Texas after being nursed back to health, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal, which first reported the incident on Monday. "It just breaks my heart to think that dog has been sent back to that owner. It's disgusting. It makes me ill," she told The Associated Press. "I can't fathom why they would send it back to someone who obviously was abusing the dog." Jones said that Monday was the first day her ex-employer had contacted her. "They wanted to hear my side, finally," she said. "They said, 'I abandoned my job,' but I didn't. He told me to go home. I was a very good employee. I was there early every day. I would not have abandoned my job.' Jones said she doesn't know if she would accept an offer to return to her job. "I would have to really think about it," she said.
UPDATE: Assistant DA John Helzor explained to PoliticalArena that a quirk in the state animal cruelty law that was designed to protect whistle blowers prevents him from offering more details. The Reno Journal Gazette has an editorial calling for the law to be revisited by the legislature (apparently the Reno paper contacted the DA's office before we did, but the staffers we spoke to earlier were unaware of it). The Assistant DA was gracious and apologetic about not being able to release mall of the details. Assistant DA Helzor did tell PoliticalArena that a case has not been submitted by Washoe County Animal Control as of yet and he is waiting to see if Terry Shae from the civil division, which has oversight of Washoe County Animal Control, submits a felony or misdemeanor case on the matter for him to prosecute. All indicators are that Animal Control is investigating, but until a case is submitted and charges filed further details might not be available.