Forsyth Co forced the owner of a dog who scratched someone to surrender him for an 8 day quarantine at the pound. Ashley Burton had adopted the border collie/labrador retriever mix, whom she named Maximus, as a puppy 5 years ago. It was heartbreaking for her to surrender her pet:
“I was in tears and could barely speak with him because I just didn’t want to let him go,” Burton said.
After the 8 days expired on July 2, she went to the Forsyth Co pound to pick up her beloved Maximus. Pound staff gave her a pitbull mix named Spike instead of her own pet. She waited for 30 minutes while they looked for Maximus then was taken to the manager’s office:
“He said, I don’t want you to panic right now, but we can’t find your dog,” Burton said.Burton was then told there was nothing else she could do, and to go home while the shelter investigated.
Yeah don’t panic. And definitely don’t look at the numbers Forsyth Co reported to the state of NC last year, reflecting the killing of 63% of the dogs and cats in its care. OK, do panic. But please, do it at home. We’re busy killing animals here.
Ms. Burton later received a phone call from the pound manager explaining that staff meant to kill Spike but killed Maximus instead. Oops. The local Fox affiliate went to the pound director, who never contacted Ms. Burton personally, to find out what happened:
“At some point, either the identifying kennel cards were switched, or the dogs themselves might have been switched,” said Tim Jennings, Director of Forsyth County Animal Control.
Jennings said, since the picture taken of Maximus was not clear, and their descriptions were similar, it resulted in the mistake.
“The photograph is to be the definitive security issue, and in this case we could have done a better job there,” Jennings said.
So basically something got switched, we don’t know what exactly, and we took a crappy picture which is our “definitive security issue” but whatevs, and big black dogs, and did I mention we kill 63% of the pets here? So I mean, odds are… Also:
Jennings also told FOX8 that this is not the first time the wrong dog has been euthanized at the Forsyth County Animal Shelter. He said a similar incident happened some time in 2014.
Some time in 2014, some incident, some thing. Oh but don’t ask for any sort of reform because Forsyth Co is on it:
Jennings said the photograph issue, among others, has been addressed.
See, it’s a photograph issue. Like cropping. And it’s been addressed. Whew. So just forget about the oops-killing of an owned pet and whoever might have been responsible for that still working at the place and the fact that 63% of the pets who come through the front doors leave in garbage bags. We’re keeping the public safe!
(Thanks Clarice for the link.)
Yeah, don’t even think about using identification collars or microchips… or even *gasp* not killing so many dogs (but that would be too difficult).
I sound like a broken record with these cases, but I do hope the owners are considering legal action.
OH my As*, No way would you get a Pitbull mixed up with a Collie/Lab.
This happens all the time, and nothing is ever done about it.
Let me tell you, If some idiot killed my puppa who is like a child to me
there’s going to be trouble. Maybe I’d pay a fine or whatever, but I wouldn’t
let it go………….So sorry Ms. Ashley
I would be out of my mind if this were my pet. As it is, I’m just angry.
Anyone want to take odds on how long it will be before they offer her a free puppy in exchange for her dead dog? Because that is how these assholes operate.
Amen…..
Okay, go to the link and watch the video. The pound director is so full of compassion…no, not compassion, what’s the word I’m looking for…oh, right, apathy. That’s what he’s full of. Among other things.
Rabies quarantines should NEVER be done in a pound (shelter my ass)!!! Laws must be changed to allow for quarantine IN THE OWNER’S HOME, or at the very least, the owner’s veterinarian’s office. If the vet’s office doesn’t have boarding space, then another vet’s office should be found that does offer it, as the numbers of animals will be lower and the possibility of harm is less (sadly, not totally safe, but certainly better than a 63% kill rate).
I wonder (pretty much doubt, actually) that the dog needed to be quarantined in the first place, as he almost certainly had a rabies vaccination… so some petty idiot insisting on placing the dog in such a distinctly dangerous place should get a boot in the ass, along with the dumbasses at the pound, who should be fired, at the very least.
And I forgot to add, there was no damn reason for the quarantine, as the dog only SCRATCHED someone – rabies cannot be transmitted that way, so the idiot who insisted on the dog going to the pound was 100% wrong. I don’t care that Maximus did, technically, have a bite listed against him. He didn’t have rabies before and I’d think the owner had to show the dog had been vaccinated for that, so he’d surely have been current on his vaccination!
That was my question. Why are we quarantining a dog for scratching someone?? Prior offense or not that makes no sense. Do we really need to explain how rabies is spread??
And just what exactly are the laws like in that area that a SCRATCH, even if it was a deep one, counts as an “offense”?? I’ve been scratched by my dogs in PLAY, never mind anything else!
Disgusting!!! They should be shut down!!!