Antone's Nightclub
'Chronicle' Has Abandoned Watchdog Role
RECEIVED Thu., March 5, 2009
Dear Editor,
Re: “City Rejects FixAustin Charges” [News, March 6]: I have to believe that at one point, the Chronicle played the role of city watchdog, a role necessary given the Statesman's conservative predisposition to avoid angering city leaders. This story shows, yet again, that the Chronicle has abandoned that role on Austin animal-sheltering issues in favor of attacking community advocates who lend their voices to Austin's lost and homeless pets.
It is worth noting that the Chronicle did not contact FixAustin.org to verify facts for this story, and it is therefore unsurprising that the reporter gets the order and nature of the events wrong (e.g., the Lurie memo was in response to e-mails following two shelter-staff presentations, not a website posting purportedly leading to council phone calls). But the Chronicle's inaccurate portrayal of the facts is less important than its spin.
Indeed, if you read the article closely, you'll actually see that the FixAustin.org memo (available here: austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:751806) was entirely accurate, not "a false alarm."
It reported two things: 1) The proposed animal shelter will have 20 fewer "adoption" kennels for dogs, and though the shelter staff argues their larger size will allow for greater capacity, that claim is difficult to believe given that the shelter staff leaves 100-plus cages empty as it kills healthy pets every day at the Town Lake Animal Center; and 2) shelter staff is still considering building an animal incinerator at the East Austin site.
All of those assertions are true. The city is planning fewer cages in the dog "adoption" area at the new shelter. The current shelter management does leave more than 100 cages empty as it continues to order the killing of healthy pets at TLAC. And the city is still considering building an animal incinerator at the new shelter site in East Austin.
Given the veracity of FixAustin.org's statement, it is just plain odd that the Chronicle's headline is that the charges were "Reject[ed]." They weren't; they were confirmed.
If the Chronicle at one point provided a critical eye on city government, it doesn't anymore – at least not on animal-sheltering issues in Austin. It now provides the role of pound cheerleader. And that's a shame for the roughly 10,000 lost and homeless pets who will be killed there this year – especially given that more progressive shelters around the country no longer kill animals at the terrible pace that Austin does.
Visit FixAustin.org to help.
Re: “City Rejects FixAustin Charges” [News, March 6]: I have to believe that at one point, the Chronicle played the role of city watchdog, a role necessary given the Statesman's conservative predisposition to avoid angering city leaders. This story shows, yet again, that the Chronicle has abandoned that role on Austin animal-sheltering issues in favor of attacking community advocates who lend their voices to Austin's lost and homeless pets.
It is worth noting that the Chronicle did not contact FixAustin.org to verify facts for this story, and it is therefore unsurprising that the reporter gets the order and nature of the events wrong (e.g., the Lurie memo was in response to e-mails following two shelter-staff presentations, not a website posting purportedly leading to council phone calls). But the Chronicle's inaccurate portrayal of the facts is less important than its spin.
Indeed, if you read the article closely, you'll actually see that the FixAustin.org memo (available here: austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:751806) was entirely accurate, not "a false alarm."
It reported two things: 1) The proposed animal shelter will have 20 fewer "adoption" kennels for dogs, and though the shelter staff argues their larger size will allow for greater capacity, that claim is difficult to believe given that the shelter staff leaves 100-plus cages empty as it kills healthy pets every day at the Town Lake Animal Center; and 2) shelter staff is still considering building an animal incinerator at the East Austin site.
All of those assertions are true. The city is planning fewer cages in the dog "adoption" area at the new shelter. The current shelter management does leave more than 100 cages empty as it continues to order the killing of healthy pets at TLAC. And the city is still considering building an animal incinerator at the new shelter site in East Austin.
Given the veracity of FixAustin.org's statement, it is just plain odd that the Chronicle's headline is that the charges were "Reject[ed]." They weren't; they were confirmed.
If the Chronicle at one point provided a critical eye on city government, it doesn't anymore – at least not on animal-sheltering issues in Austin. It now provides the role of pound cheerleader. And that's a shame for the roughly 10,000 lost and homeless pets who will be killed there this year – especially given that more progressive shelters around the country no longer kill animals at the terrible pace that Austin does.
Visit FixAustin.org to help.
Ryan Clinton
[News Editor Michael King responds: Ryan Clinton is correct that there were more public communications about the shelter plans than simply the FixAustin Web postings, e-mails, and the city memorandum. That makes it even more puzzling why his e-mail blast referred to a “leaked” memo that is in fact a readily available public document. The sole explanation is that it sounds more secret and sinister. FixAustin’s e-mail, in deliberately inflammatory and misleading language, claimed 1) that the city plans fewer kennels than those at the current site; and 2) that the shelter would include a “massive industrial animal incinerator at the East Austin site” with the result “that children in East Austin will be breathing in the ashes of dead animal bodies for decades to come.” The city responded 1) that the new kennels would in fact accommodate more animals in more humane conditions; and 2) that the city is considering a small crematory (there or elsewhere) to eventually replace the current practice of transporting animal carcasses to a private landfill. Clinton now claims the city’s responses confirm FixAustin’s highly exaggerated charges. Readers can make their own judgment.]