Posted on 08/18/2005 10:57:52 AM PDT by kingattax
Pet Was Identified By Microchip, Euthanized Anyway ---
MIAMI -- On. Aug. 5, a dog escaped from his back yard and was picked up by county dogcatchers. His owner called to claim him and went twice to the shelter to pick the dog up, only to find out a week later that the dog had been euthanized.
Anays Rodriguez-Porras says her 10-year-old golden retriever "Cowboy" was part of her family.
Rodriguez-Porras and her husband searched frantically for Cowboy, and they called Miami-Dade County Animal Services to report the dog missing.
Five days later, animal services called to say they had Cowboy, and had identified him by an implanted microchip.
Rodriguez-Porras says her reaction was, "Thank God! They got the dog!"
But her happiness was short-lived. Because of necessary paperwork and processing, she and her husband were kept from picking Cowboy up for three more days. When they were finally able to pick the dog up, they were informed that Cowboy had been euthanized.
Paperwork showed that he was put down three days before he should have been if the owner hadn't been located. Since he had a microchip and the owner had been located, he should have been held in a kennel for pick up.
Animal Services Director Dr. Sara Pizano said Wednesday, "This was human error. I have no excuse. There's no reason for such a thing to happen."
On Wednesday, Pizano, who has run animal services for just five weeks, fired supervisor Barry Adkins, who had signed off on the paperwork that allowed Cowboy to be euthanized. Pizano was formerly director of veterinary-services for the Humane Society of Broward County. She was brought in to shape up animal services.
Christian Dunham, an attorney for Adkins, said his client was ''very sorry and sad for the family,'' and was willing to write a letter of apology or offer compensation for the dog.
Dunham called the firing ''unwarranted,'' and said Adkins was promised time to respond to the allegations in writing.
He added that Adkins has had an unblemished career and plans to appeal the firing.
Pizano said she will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
The Rodriguez-Porras family says that's small consolation for the loss of their beloved pet.
It wasn't "euthanized"--it was murdered.
ping
That's so sad.
Not sure I get why 'paperwork' took three days. I'd have gone down there immediately and not left without the dog.
Cowboy would have met the same fate at a PETA shelter
Yeah, as much time as he gave the dog. What will his defense be, "yeah, I signed off on the paperwork and it was my job to be sure that such an error would not occur, but hey, it's only a dog and this is my career I'm losing"? I vote to euthanize Adkins. If we have a constitutional right to abortion, doesn't that include retroactive ones?
I found a young dog at our local shelter and attempted to adopt him. Since it was a Friday and a three-day weekend, it would have given me nearly four days at home to help the puppy get oriented with my property. BUT --- the shelter has a rule about not adopting out any animals before a weekend or holiday. Before I could get back on the following Tuesday to adopt him, they killed him. It made no sense.
I strongly suspect that our shelter really DOESN'T want adopt animals out; they are more interested in destroying them............as quickly as they can.
They admitted they made a mistake, they offered to "make it right" as best they could, and they fired the man who signed off on the death, AND they offer to PUT IT IN WRITING; where are the owners going with this?
Seems the shelter is agreeing with them 100%.
That's insane! Did they give you a reason for killing the dog?
Animal shelters are not government funded they depend on private donation only. Unless YOU are willing to support or volunteer by cleaning poopy cages and feeding and exercising the animals you have no right to dictate how long the other volunteers have to stretch their dollars. All shelters can only afford to hold an animal for five days.
If you don't like that START YOUR OWN ANIMAL SHELTERS, see how expensive and hard it really is. And it's a seven day work week caring for animals(kennels/shelters) and people(nursing homes)
OMG! Just too sad for words. :(
Translation:My client will show that he was the recipient of bad information and was in no way responsible for the death of this animal. My client was, in fact, a victim.
This was not a shelter that depended on donations, it was an agency of the county government.
Paperwork showed that he was put down three days before he should have been if the owner hadn't been located. Since he had a microchip and the owner had been located, he should have been held in a kennel for pick up.Once the animal's owner is located, it is considered murder. Euthanizing is a term to help the animal escape suffering of some sort. There was no suffering that was permanent or required tons of cash outlay.
Very sad story, but it seems the shelter is handling this about as good as they can. They admitted to the error and are more than willing to take responsibility. I have to hand them at least that much.
Uh, what? There are many taxpayer-funded shelters in the US.
Idiots
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