A 49 year old Phoenix man named Daniel Dockery bottle fed a kitten from birth whom he named Scruffy. He raised enough money to get her spayed when she was old enough, fed her tuna, and slept next to her on the pillow at night. Mr. Dockery credits Scruffy with helping him to remain sober for one year after battling a lifelong addiction illness.
Earlier this month, 9 month old Scruffy apparently cut herself on fencing and Mr. Dockery took her to the Arizona Humane Society for treatment. Unable to come up with $400 on the spot, Mr. Dockery asked if the facility would accept his mother’s credit card by phone (she lives in MI) or be willing to accept payment the next day after his mother wired him the cash. The Arizona Humane Society would do neither. In fact, they reportedly advised Mr. Dockery that the only way for Scruffy to receive treatment was for him to sign over ownership. He reluctantly complied.
For the next 3 weeks, Mr. Dockery searched area shelters and repeatedly asked staff about Scruffy. He kept getting the runaround. Finally this week, Mr. Dockery learned that Scruffy had been killed shortly after he signed ownership over to the Arizona Humane Society:
Humane Society spokeswoman Stacy Pearson said the agency took Scruffy intending to treat it and put it in foster care, but when she was taken to a second-chance clinic with three other cats, doctors were only available to treat two of them.
So Scruffy was killed and then the owner was lied to for 3 weeks. Needless to say, Mr. Dockery is distraught:
“Now I’ve got to think about how I failed that beautiful animal,” Dockery said. “I failed her. … That’s so wrong. There was no reason for her not to be treated.”
No sir, you didn’t fail Scruffy. The so-called “Humane Society” failed to do their jobs by protecting her from harm. You tried to help Scruffy. The Arizona Humane Society killed her.
Mr. Dockery’s mother too is very upset:
“Don’t you have enough animals in the shelter that you would not want to take a beloved pet from someone who clearly cares for it?” she asked.
A good question.
What changes is the Arizona HS making in light of this highly publicized killing?
The Humane Society said it is reviewing its credit-card policy because of what happened to Scruffy.
Gee. Color me underwhelmed.