Memphis Animal Control Worker Arrested, Fired

                                        By Alicia Cruz

Demetria Hogan

Almost a month has gone by since the beloved pitbull of Brooke Shoup went missing from the animal shelter in Memphis, Tennessee. Shoup's dogs Kapone, an 11-year-old pit bull, and Jersey were taken from her home in Cordova on June 24 after local anmial control officers received word the pair were running loose.

The animal control officer who arrived to remove the dogs, Demetria Hogan, loaded them into her truck and supposedly took both to the pound. Video surveillance showed Jersey arrived, but Kapone did not. When Shoup arrived to the pound to cliam her dogs, shelter employees told her Jersey was there but they did not know where Kapone was. That prompted the heartbroken petowner to file a police report and call the media. All the attention eventually led to an extensive investigation, and a warrant for Hogan's arrest. She turned herself into police and was charged with two counts of animal cruelty on July 13.

Hogan is a convicted felon hired in April 2010 under the City of Memphis Second Chance Program. The Commercial Appeal reported that the City's 7,211 salaried -- including appointed and regular civil service, employees are paid an average annual salary of $49,686. Temporary workers are paid hourly, and most earn $12 to $42 per hour. It is not known if employees hired undeer the Second Chance program are paid the same amount.

For nearly three weeks Hogan successfully dodged police. Then, on July 12, her troubles increased when a second dog she picked up on Hillshire died while in her custody. WREG reported.that Hogan was dispatched from the shelter around 1:27 p.m. to pick the Lab mix, sometime after she left, a co-worker at the shelter alerted Hogan that police were there looking to arrest her. Hogan decided to remain in the field -- with the injured dog in her car -- for two hours until police left. When she finally returned to the shelter with the dog, the officers were gone, and the dog was dead. The shelter's veterinarian performed a necropsy on the dog and ruled the cause of death as heat stroke. The following day, Hogan turned herself into police.

Jersey and Kapone, who remains missing

A neighbor of Hogan's told reporters that she heard and saw a dog on the same day in June that Hogan removed Jersey and Kapone from their Cordova home. Acting on that information, officers searched Hogan's home, but found nothing, including Kapone, ABC24 reported. Mary Cashiola, a spokesperson for Mayor Wharton confirmed that Hogan has been terminated from her city job, which she obtained through the City's "Second Chance" Program in April 2010.

Hogan's extensive criminal history includes previous arrests for worthless checks, identity theft, burglury and theft. She eventually scored a felony conviction on a forgery charge before she was hired to work for the city. Excluding her recent arrest, Hogan's employment at the pound has been problematic. Shelter Advisory Board members said the troubled woman had a history of not showing up for court as early as a month into her employment. When she failed to appear in court as a witness, many animal cruelty cases were thrown out, ABC24.com reported.

Erika Eubanks, the attorney representing Hogan, told reporters her client is innocent and that the city has been having problems with the shelter for sometime. Cindy Sanders, a former board member on the Memphis Animal Shelter Advisory Board said a large number of animals have been reported missing at the shelter. The Hogan case has now placed a glaring spotlight on the issue.

City record show that in 2010 155 animals were considered missing. Cashiola told abc24.com that the city is working to resolve the problem, which she attrobuted to simple data errors and timing issues, like ID numbers being entered incorrectly. Cashiola added that the Kapone case is an isolated incident being throughly investigated by the Memphis police department.

Have You Seen Kapone?

Meanwhile animal advocates have jumped into action erecting billboards they hope will shed more light on the troubled Memphis Animal Shelter, and bring Kapone back to his owners. The billboards on I-240 offers an $8,000 reward and reads, "Where's Kapone?"




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