Unacceptable

How often do you hear a government employee refer to his agency and facilities thusly:

"For anybody that reads that report and doesn't listen to me talk about it for two hours, this looks like a hellhole run by a bunch of idiots," Armstrong said.

That is the director of Animal Services for Hillsborough County, which Tampa and the surrounding communities.

It's a pretty damning description of the way the shelter facilities are run here, which isn't a big surprise.

The only interaction we ever had with them is when Casey escaped from Mr. Abby while I was gone. Their system worked well in that case and he got her back shortly after the Dog Cops picked her up. Apparently, we were lucky.

It's good this report is getting some publicity. Public animal welfare is difficult, particulary in urban areas (more so in Florida, I'm sure, which is populated largely by savages), but I'm pretty sure the county can do better than an 82% euthenasia rate.