Animal shelter employee who euthanized hero dog fired

[RamboLiberal]

An Arizona animal shelter employee was fired Friday after an investigation into the accidental euthanization this week of a hero dog from Afghanistan, the Pinal County Animal Control and Care said.

The dog, Target, was brought to the United States from Afghanistan after she alerted soldiers to a suicide bomber in February, saving dozens of lives. She went missing last Friday from the home of Army Sgt. Terry Young, who was among those saved from the bomb.

Animal Care and Control received a call about a stray female shepherd-mix dog in the San Tan Valley area on Friday. An animal control officer picked up the dog and brought her to the shelter where the dog stayed over the weekend. The dog was not microchipped or licensed with the county, shelter officials said.

On Monday morning, the employee mistakenly took the dog out of its pen and euthanized it. The dog was not scheduled for euthanasia.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/19/animal-shelter-employee-who-euthanized-hero-dog-fired/?hpt=T2

This story breaks my heart. I did not know Target was pregnant when she was attacked in Afghanistan. The good news is all the pups were brought to the U.S. so maybe in a way through them she lives on.

I don't even know how someone as a job could euthanize healthy animals. I sure couldn't.

[texastoast]

1. How awful

What a terrible mistake.

[mrs_p]

2. nor could i

but i know vets and techs in shelter medicine, and believe me, they don't WANT to euthanize animals. from their point of view, there just isn't enough room for all the unwanted pets out there. it still breaks my heart, and that's why i couldn't be a shelter vet.

[bluedigger]

3. I'm really surprised they didn't resign.

I would have, not that I could do that job in the first place...

[DCKit]

4. An accident is an accident.

Unless this person is a psychopath looking for some entertainment, it was a freakin' mistake.

Tell me this person had a penchant for killing every animal in his/her path, and I'll believe there was cause for termination (of either).

[Pithlet]

5. I agree. If this is normally a fireable offense, then fine.

But if they fired this person from the fallout because it was hero dog, then that's bullshit. I can see such a mistake being a reason for termination, especially if it isn't a first offense, however.

[RamboLiberal]

7. I'd like to know what the procedures are at this shelter to indicate

what animals are to be euthanized.

Jason Melroy, a former employee of the shelter, said he almost made the same mistake three times while doing what is known as PTS or ‘put to sleep.’

“When it was accidentally euthanized, they said ‘Ah don’t worry about it, mistakes happen’ and we went on," Melroy said. "I sedated a dog that wasn’t supposed to be put to sleep. Thank God another officer found it.”

The employee accused in Monday’s mix-up said she was alone and ordered to perform the euthanasia by herself on about 30 animals.

Melroy, a former sheriff’s deputy, said he was ordered to do the same thing but refused because it is against policy. He said there are also other problems involved.

“The officer shouldn’t have been in there doing it by herself," Melroy said. "There should have been someone helping her so this mistake didn’t happen.”

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Former-worker-says-108537574.html

[Pithlet]

9. That's awful!

:(

[northernlights]

14. at first I called for her firing, but then an article I read gave me 2nd thouhts

I saw the quote from the former employee.

Now I feel like she's been fired as a token, instead the organizations policies and procedures need to be investigated and corrected.

It makes me sick, too, to think that 30 dogs were ordered to be killed on that one morning. :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Hawkowl]

18. Lots of jobs fire for "accidents"

You fuck up. You're fired. Period. It's called responsibility.

[JVS]

22. +1

I don't think vengeance for hero dogs is a good enough justification to take a person's job.

[SheilaT]

6. No tag, no microchip.

That really says it all. How the fuck was the employee supposed to know this was a hero dog?

[LisaL]

8. The dog was lost Friday. Monday morning the dog was

already dead. That hardly gives the owner any time to find the dog.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

11. Exactly ! What are the policies on stray holds

at this shelter ? That is what I would like to know. Even the most cash-strapped cities here in CT have to hold them for 7 days before they can PTS. Most are able to put them up for adoption after that. Why was a healthy, non-aggessive stray not put up for adoption ???

[petronius]

26. That was the mistake, I assume. The dog was supposed to be held for the 7 days

or whatever, but the employee took it in error...

[SheilaT]

19. I repeat. No tag, no microchip.

Responsible owners make sure their pets have ID so that the can be reunited with them if they go astray.

[JVS]

23. You can't tag and chip a hero dog. Doing so would be like wiping your butt with a burning flag.

[SheilaT]

25. HUH? You can't tag and chip a hero dog?

Why not? would it eradicate the "hero" status.

That's simply a load of b.s. Let's get back to the carelessness that had that dog roaming free -- unchipped and untagged -- in the first place.


Responsibility is the main issue here.

edited for spelling.

[MindandSoul]

10. This "accident" is one more reason to support shelters that have a "no kill" policy!

We need to find a way to limit the number of dogs being born, so that each dog that is born is cared for and has a chance to a good life.
Killing dogs because they are not wanted. . .or because we don't know if they are wanted, is horrible!
There are shelters who do have a "no kill" policy. . .and we need to support them!
We should also support new laws that would impose some regulations on the breeding of dogs. . .Every dog adopted from a shelter should be spayed or neutered, and no dog (even pedigree dogs) should have more than 2 litters!

We need to put an end to euthanasia.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

12. Putting an end to puppy mills would be a good start. n/t

[superduperfarleft]

15. Putting an end to all breeders and the yuppie dog/cat fancy crowd would be an even better one. n/t

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

16. I disagree. I have been involved in dog rescue

for about 10 years now but I have no issue with responsible breeders. They do limit the # of litters their dogs produce. They breed sound, healthy dogs. Backyard breeders and puppy mills are another matter. Its all about the money to them.

edited for spelling errors. hope I caught them all.

[RamboLiberal]

17. I can't agree with you on the breeders

I have no problem with responsible breeders who have good kennels to perpetuate the breed of dogs they love. That limit the litters their female's produce. Who take care to try to breed out the genetic problems in the breed.

Yes, I'd love to see the puppy mills & backyard breeders put out of business.

[SheilaT]

20. A lot of supposedly no kill shelters

simply outsource their euthanasia. Others simply stop taking in animals when they get full. They get to be oh-so-better than the shelters that euthanize, without taking any real responsibility.

About a decade ago I was doing volunteer work at a shelter somewhere in the middle of our country. They were doing their best to educate people, and one piece of information I saw from them was this: For there to be no homeless cats and dogs, each and every family in this country would need to have (I know I have the exact numbers wrong, but you get the idea here) five cats and seven dogs. Maybe it was four dogs and eight cats. Again, I don't recall the exact numbers, but it was more than three of each animal. Which is far more than most cat or dog owners want or can reasonable have.

There are too many irresponsible people out there who don't spay and neuter their animals, and as a consequence there are literally millions of excess cats and dogs, many of whom would truly make wonderful companion animals. But until everyone out there is actually willing to themselves take in their share of the excess, the reality is we will need to euthanize some of those animals.

In addition, there are ones who are simply not suitable to live with humans. Some of them do wind up in no kill places where they may spend their lives in a cage with minimal human contact. That's not a quality of life that we should wish upon them.

[flvegan]

21. Wow.

I had to double check the author of this OP. I thought I had written it but couldn't remember doing so. No-kill is an admirable goal as a nation. Until then, it truly is just outsourcing euthanasia.

Good post.

[JVS]

24. I'm amazed that puppy-mills can operate in a country so glutted with dogs.

[Mika]

13. Make a mistake in a shelter, you're fired. CEO of a murderous insurance co., collect a fat bonus.

Very sorry about the loss of the dog.

Interesting how accountability and resulting job losses for "mistakes" most always seem to be at the bottom of the income scale.

Funny, that.

---

[kimi]

27. I contribute

to the organization(s) that brought this dog - Target - to the US. Nowzad Dogs and Puppy Rescue Mission. They help raise funds and run shelters in Baghdad and Kabul to bring home dogs and cats who have been adopted by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. All of those who are involved with these groups are heartbroken over the loss of Target - she, along with several other dogs - helped save the lives of at least 50 American troops at a FOB when they attacked a suicide bomber one night.

Whatever your opinion is of the family who hadn't yet had her micro-chipped, the shelter employee DID NOT check that the right dog was taken out to be euthanized that morning. And shelter policy was not followed - one employee should not be euthanizing that many animals on their own, simply because things like this can happen. Target had been listed on the shelter website as a stray who had been picked up, but since hours at the shelter were limited over the weekend, the owner went down on the Monday following to pick up his dog, only to find out about this tragic error. It's awful, it's traumatic for the family and the kids in the family who'd bonded with th dog, and for the soldier who knows that this dog helped to save his life and the lives of fellow troops.

People need to stop blaming the owner. The SHELTER f&*cked up. Plain and simple. They've admitted it, their policy was violated, and this dog was euthanized for no good reason other than the fact that the employee did not check to see that s/he had the right animal. It's tragic to begin with, that we have so many kill shelters. Perhaps something good can come of this - more no-kill shelters would be a good start.

[orleans]

28. STOP THE KILLING! STOP THE MADNESS! STOP THE KILLING! n/t