Winona Police Chief Roshaun Daniels and Animal Control Officer Vidal Anderson were suspended from duty during a Winona Board of Alderman meeting on Tuesday.
Following an executive session, Aldermen voted 4-0 in favor of suspending Daniels and Anderson for 10 days on a motion made by Alderman Mickey Austin, which was seconded by Alderman Travis Johnson.
Alderman Charles Harris was absent from the meeting.
Board members then voted to appoint Calvin Young as interim police chief on a motion made by Austin.
These decisions were made at the end of the meeting where board members discussed with citizens the recent shooting of several dogs that had been held in Winona’s dog pound.
In Defense of Animals Senior Campaigner Doll Stanley and Winona Animal Advocacy Group member Carol Griffin met with Alderman Mickey Austin, Mayor Aaron Dees and Daniels on March 10 to discuss funding more acceptable ways of euthanasia.
Stanley voiced her concerns during Tuesday’s meeting.
“There was a disagreement at the meeting about how the city handled this in the past. I know, factually in the past, our animals were taken to a veterinarian and humanely euthanized. There is no excuse in this day and age for us not to find a humane way to treat our city’s animals,” said Stanley. “It is under the agreement of the Winona Animal Advocacy Group and In Defense of Animals that we believe that Animal Control Officer Anderson should be terminated. I realize it was his first day on the job, but he did have a choice. We all make choices.”
Board Attorney Adam Kirk read and discussed the 2023 edition of a Mississippi code called Dogs Running at Large, to help everyone present understand that Anderson’s shooting the dogs to put them down was not against the law.
“This only deals with dogs that are strays. It doesn’t deal with dogs that are domesticated. There’s another section that deals with that. Both statutes give law enforcement the right to put the dogs down. One says euthanasia; one says kill. The problem with that is euthanasia doesn’t mean a shot. It doesn’t mean take them to the vet and put a shot in their arm.”
Kirk read, It shall be lawful and it shall be the duty for any sheriff, conservation officer or peace officer of a county or municipality to kill any dog above the age of three months found running at large on whose neck there is no such collar and tag. No action shall be maintained by the owner for such killing. However, it shall be the duty of the officer who finds a dog or dogs running at large to first keep the dog or dogs for a period of five days, unless the dog is declared dangerous, and notify the sheriff of said county that he has the dog or dogs, giving the sheriff a description of same….
Several people in the audience argued that Anderson did not euthanize the animals since he shot the dogs.
Kirk said, “I looked it up in the dictionary because there’s no definition in the statute. Euthanasia means to humanely put an animal or person or anything out of their misery. Then you get into ‘what’s humane?’ Somebody might think a .22 [caliber] bullet to the head is more humane than suffocating a dog with a shot,” said Kirk. “The term of euthanasia in Merriam Webster dictionary is to humanely put something out of its misery.”
He then mentioned a 2017 Attorney General opinion that discusses a statute which refers to domesticated animals and the statute that talks about dogs running at large, which is stray.
“The Attorney General’s office says there’s no guidance. There’s no definition of what you do. It doesn’t say how to kill: how not to kill. It just says you can kill the dog,” said Kirk. “My opinion doesn’t matter, personally, because the law is what the law is.”
He went on to say, “I talked to several people that confirmed this. There was nothing illegal that happened.”
Kirk then encouraged the board to make changes to the city’s ordinance setting a “baseline” to specify how they will allow dogs to be euthanized.
Board members did not make a motion or vote on changes to the city’s ordinance regarding euthanasia.
Also, during the meeting, Stanley said responsibility in taking care of animals in Winona falls to the citizens.
“The overpopulation is real. There is no easy answer,” said Stanley. “You’ve got to have spay and neuter.”
