The KY owner of a female Shiba Inu named Copper put up posters in her neighborhood after her 11 year old dog escaped her fenced yard on July 3. A police officer saw the poster and recognized the dog as one he had picked up and taken to the Frankfort HS. Although the shelter initially accepted the dog, they later called police back and told them they’d have to pick the dog up because they don’t take coyotes. Police picked Copper up and took her behind a home improvement store for release.
Run, be free, Copper, return to the wild! [Insert ‘Born Free’ theme here]
[Frankfort Police Maj. Frank Deaton] said he doubted it was a coyote since it peacefully went with the officer who released it.
Police and volunteers are helping the owner look for Copper and have set up cages in hopes of trapping her.
unbelievable. that poor dog – I hope he is still around and surviving and the poor woman! |The only GOOD thing about this is that the cops didn’t try to shoot it – as that seems quite popular in some states for animals that are actually identified as DOGS.
Huskies can sometimes be mistaken for coyotes but a Sheba Inu not very likely.
headdeask
My heart goes out to Cooper’s owners, I hope he gets home. WTF though? I mean, maybe look up “coyote” on the internet pls? There are pictures and everything on there I’m told.
Forget breed ID problems, how about nailing down the right species?
Poor Cooper – poor owners! I don’t even want to imagine what this poor dog was thinking when they dumped him back behind the store.
And these are the people who get decide what is or isn’t a “Pit Bull”. Scary.
I wondered at first if maybe it was a shelter volunteer who made this mistake – like a high school kid or something. But from reading the article, it appears to have been the MANAGER. I wonder what this shelter manager’s success rate is at identifying feral dogs & cats vs. domesticated.
Rule of thumb: If you say “Who wants a cookie?!” in your baby talk voice and the animal in question isn’t acting like a CAGED WILD ANIMAL in response, might want to get a second opinion.
Local activists say that this shelter also has an 80% euthanasia rate, which says something about the shelter management.
There’s now a petition up on Change.org asking that the shelter management be held responsible and that they use this as a wake-up call to start changing their policies. At least two of the commissioners have already been in touch to say that they’re outraged by this, too.
For anyone who is interested, here is the petition: http://animals.change.org/petitions/view/demand_justice_for_copper_the_dog_released_into_the_wild_as_a_coyote
when i first read this news story i was like… is it april 1st?
people come up to us and ask if our SHIBA inu are foxes… one man did say ‘coyote’ as my male SHIBA is red with black sesame in his coat.
but honestly. they are dogs, they act like dogs, they look like well fed and groomed dogs.
for shame, Frankfort, for shame. and for shame to owner for not having tags on a breed of dog (in a yard) well known for its escape artist tendencies.