Less than three months after he had received a positive performance review from his superiors at the St. Louis County (Mo.) Department of Health, Keith Gladney was fired Dec. 23 from his job as an animal control officer. Thanks to information I obtained today via the Missouri Sunshine Law, I learned his firing was something of an unusual — albeit rare — event.

Why should anyone care about the firing of Keith Gladney? Several reasons exist. For example:

1.Keith Gladney is the brother of Kenneth Gladney, the St. Louis man thrust into the national spotlight Aug. 6 after he was allegedly beaten by a group of thugs from the Service Employees International Union at a South St. Louis County health care town hall meeting hosted by ultra-liberal Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.). Video shows what happened to Kenneth Gladney after SEIU thugs found him selling conservative memorabilia outside the event at Bernard Middle School in South St. Louis, then judge for yourself whether allegedly is a term that adequately describes the beat-down.

2. Keith Gladney publicly criticized St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch and St. Louis County Counselor Patricia Redington for dragging their feet when it came to charging the individuals allegedly involved in the beating of his brother. Later, he joined a nationwide chorus of conservatives appalled by the fact that the duo — formerly known as the St. Louis version of an Obama “Truth Squad” — filed only ordinance violations Nov. 25.

3. Keith Gladney joined a nationwide chorus of conservative appalled by the fact that, on Nov. 25, Redington filed only orordinance violations — not felony chargees — against his brother’s alleged attackers.

Now, back to the issue of Keith Gladney’s firing.

Inside the packet of information that arrived in my mailbox a few days ago — a response to the aforementioned Sunshine Law request — from Dr. Dolores Gunn, director of the St. Louis County Health Department and ultimate superior of Keith Gladney, were two lists.

The first list contains the names of 482 individuals, segregated by department or division, who were employed by the St. Louis County (Mo.) Department of Health as of Jan. 1, 2009.

The second list contains the same breakout of information as of Dec. 31, 2009, and shows an increase — to 489 — in the total number of DOH employees.

In reviewing the lists, I learned that Veterinary Services — the division that employed Keith Gladney — began the year with 24 employees and ended the year with 30. In addition, I learned that two VS employees whose names were on the list at the beginning of the year were not at the end of the year and eight VS employees whose names were not on the roster Jan. 1, 2009, were on the year-end roster. That’s a net increase of six employees during the 12-month period.

Though the VS work force grew by 25 percent in 2009 and Keith Gladney had received a positive performance review only two months earlier, he was terminated for cause only months after he stood up for his brother, Kenneth.

Preliminary conclusion: Keith Gladney’s firing appears to be an example of how Democrats, in the words President Barack Obama’s deputy chief of staff Jim Messina used on the day of the Kenneth Gladney beating, “punch back twice as hard” against those who oppose their socialist ways.

Stay tuned for more details on the firing of Keith Gladney.