An old political insult has taken on a painful new relevance in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee, is answering fresh questions about his tenure as Detroit’s health director, when the city’s deeply troubled Animal Control operation fell under his department.
The scrutiny comes just weeks after El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in a bruising Democratic primary. Now, as he asks Michigan voters to send him to Washington, his record running the health department — and the animal control operation beneath it — has become a target for Republicans.
Whistleblower lawsuit and grim conditions
The renewed attention stems in part from an October 2015 whistleblower lawsuit filed by Brittany Roberts, a former Detroit Animal Control officer, according to The Daily Mail. Roberts alleged that animals died from inadequate food and medical care, were kept in filthy conditions, and suffered other mistreatment. She also claimed she was demeaned, harassed, and ultimately fired after reporting the problems.
“I was almost embarrassed with myself to be part of a team that played a role of the death of so many dogs in their cages,” Roberts said in 2015, according to The Daily Mail. “Every morning, we’d just walk around and see who was alive before we could even feed.”
Records from around his tenure show 4,680 dogs and cats were euthanized. During 2016, the first full calendar year Animal Control operated under El-Sayed’s health department, 1,056 dogs and 29 cats were put down.
A pre-existing crisis
El-Sayed deserves some credit, even before the political knives come out. He inherited a disaster. Animal Control had previously been under the Detroit Police Department, with a live-release rate of roughly 20% to 26%. Complaints about filthy conditions, poor treatment, and unnecessary deaths predated his takeover.
CBS News reported that nearly 12,000 people had signed a change.org petition demanding the closure of the department. A protest led by Citizens for Change for Detroit Dogs & Cats echoed the same message, with leaders submitting unanswered requests for information about Animal Control operations.
According to a report to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Detroit Animal Control collected 3,869 dogs in 2013, returning just 157 to their owners. It also collected 2,258 cats, reuniting only 13 with their owners.
“Fifty or 60 dogs are going to die today, and cats too,” Tamara French, the group’s leader, said at the protest.
Improvement under El-Sayed — but questions remain
Conditions did improve under El-Sayed’s watch. He brought in Melissa Miller to run the operation, expanded adoptions, and grew partnerships with rescue organizations. By late 2016, the live-release rate had climbed to roughly 61% to 62%. His campaign says his reforms eventually placed nearly 80% of animals in homes.
Fine — grant him the improvement. Then ask the question politicians hate: What about the rest?
During the transition, a local television crew attempting to interview Miller was blocked by El-Sayed himself. He told the reporters the decision was tied to their previous coverage of Animal Control. The city later paid $63,000 to settle Roberts’ whistleblower lawsuit. A federal judge also temporarily barred Detroit Animal Control in 2016 from taking dogs from homes without a warrant, consent, or emergency circumstances.
Polling trouble before the story broke
None of this arrives at a convenient moment for El-Sayed. Republican nominee Mike Rogers already leads 51% to 47% in a new Michigan survey. More damaging, 54% of registered voters said they’re concerned El-Sayed’s positions are too extreme — and even 30% of Democrats expressed concern about his ideology.
The survey was conducted Aug. 6 through Aug. 10, before the Animal Control story erupted. Dead dogs didn’t create El-Sayed’s polling problem; they landed on top of one he already had.
“Abdul El-Sayed wants Michiganders to trust him with their families,” Rogers wrote on X. “Meanwhile, Detroiters couldn’t even trust him with their pets.”
Michael LaRosa, a former press secretary for Jill Biden, also questioned the reports, writing, “I actually really really don’t want to believe this. Can someone verify?”
Silence from PETA
Then there’s the curious silence from PETA. As of Friday, Aug. 14, no public statement from the organization addresses El-Sayed’s Detroit Animal Control record. For an outfit once described by Rush Limbaugh as “3 people and a fax machine” — an organization inclined to turn nearly anything involving an animal into a protest, press release, or petition — the absence of comment is its own kind of statement.
El-Sayed won his primary by presenting himself as the progressive willing to shake up government. Now Michigan voters are getting a closer look at a government department he actually helped run. He can point to improvement, and he should. Voters can also look at thousands of dead animals, lawsuits, ugly allegations, and an attempt to block uncomfortable press coverage.
Source: pjmedia.com — https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2026/08/14/couldnt-get-elected-dogcatcher-suddenly-fits-michigans-senate-race-n4956156
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