The Associated Press has picked up a “feel good” story which some of you may have seen regarding a dog in the Ozark City pound in Alabama who was injected with drugs designed to kill him but who survived. It’s a story that pops up in the news somewhat regularly – pets who have been either injected or gassed for convenience at the pound but do not die. Sometimes they are re-killed, sometimes the staff decides to do their jobs and find placement for the animals. In the current Alabama case, it’s the latter and the dog is now living in a foster home, reportedly doing well.
Where the AP dropped the ball in its reporting:
The dog was owner surrendered to the Ozark City pound on August 19 after having been hit by a car. His leg was broken and he was bleeding from various cuts. The pound left him to suffer until September 10. On that day, the contracted vet, whose identity is being kept hidden by the city, showed up to kill all the animals the pound didn’t want to deal with anymore. This dog was one of them. He was killed in a kennel, likely in view of other animals, and left on the concrete because it was late afternoon and apparently no one felt like bagging all the bodies before quitting time. He was walking around the pen when workers showed up the next morning.
The AP describes him as a “dog that nobody wanted” but clearly he was wanted, as he was pulled by a rescue group and is now living in a foster home. The Ozark City pound attempted to have him killed for convenience – theirs, after leaving him to suffer with a broken leg and various injuries for 3 weeks. The contracted vet’s name should be a matter of public record since taxpayers are presumably footing the bill for this person’s convenience killing services.
I’m glad this dog survived, that his broken leg is now in a cast, and that he is living in a home. I’m considerably less pleased with the AP for painting such a rosy picture of the entire horrifying ordeal. And needless to say, I’m completely disgusted with the city of Ozark for failing to shelter animals in need and trying to hide the name of its contracted pet killer from the media.
This feel good story does not feel so good to me. And I wasn’t the one dragging a broken leg around for weeks only to get injected with poison by the people charged with protecting me.