Police dog mistakenly euthanized

[The Straight Story]

Police dog mistakenly euthanized


HOWARD LAKE, Minn., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- An aging police dog escaped his kennel in Howard Lake, Minn., and was euthanized when a shelter couldn't determine who owned him, officials said.

Eleven-year-old Felony had helped the Howard Lake Police Department uncover $25,000 worth of narcotics since 2002. He was slowing down but still rode most nights in a squad car, Police Chief Tracy Vetruba said.

"Our evening officers loved having him along," Vetruba said.

On Oct. 30, Felony escaped his kennel and wandered to the yard of Howard Lake resident Tammy Bren, who surrendered him to shelter officials, The Star Tribune of Minnesota reported Saturday.

In a communications mix-up, the police failed to learn Felony had been taken to an animal shelter in Buffalo, Minn., and the shelter couldn't determine who owned the dog because he wasn't wearing identification tags. Felony was deemed unfit for adoption because he was aggressive toward shelter officials, so he was euthanized him Nov. 6, the Star Tribune reported.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/11/28/Police-dog-mistakenly-euthanized/UPI-24771259420761/

[Kadie]

1. .

:cry:

[EndersDame]

2. RIP Felony thank you for serving your community

This makes me so sad :cry:
I wonder if this will be considered manslaughter of an officer

[aikoaiko]

3. Running loose and no tags -- double fail on the Police Chief's part.

RIP Felony.

[mitchtv]

5. No microchip?

shame on someone

[Name removed]

4. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Walk away]

6. I'm very sorry for Felony and his friends....

here's hoping that the shelter officials get treated in kind when they get old and frightened.

[951-Riverside]

7. So its okay the euthanize animals as long as they're not police dogs?

[Walk away]

8. How did you get that from my post? I have volunteered in a no-kill...

shelter for 25 years. Why don't you read it again.

[havocmom]

9. Communications screw up? Some of those drug sniffers have a price on their heads

Wonder if this one did, and maybe communications got screwed for a reason.

Yes, I am that cynical any more. Not uncommon for drug dealers to offer bounties on K9 officers who cost them money.

[Hansel]

11. I doubt it.

Shelters are overcrowded right now due to the housing crisis and people having to give up their animals. That means that both dogs and cats are more likely to be euthanized than maybe just a couple of years ago.

The dogs and cats are evaluated when they come into the shelter and being old is nearly always a death sentence for a dog once the waiting period is over and the dog has not been claimed. In this environment, it is even more likely to be.

In the best of circumstances shelter employees don't make that much of an effort to find owners, especially when the animals do not have tags. That's because it is mostly an exercise in futility. It is rare to ever find an owner of untagged animals. So they just don't really try. That is why microchipping is so important. Nearly all shelters do scan for microchips.

Having spent about a decade working in shelters and with animal rescue groups I would say that there is not surprising about the dog being euthanized.

[Vickers]

10. Police dogs aren't chipped?

:shrug:

Seems like a relatively common thing these days, especially considering the amount of money they have invested in training these dogs.

[slampoet]

18. Many shelters don't have chip readers.

[swilton]

12. I hate the way shelters have euthanized German Shepherds

more than likely out of ignorance of the breed rather than anything the dogs do.

It takes time to find them the good homes that they deserve..When I was doing volunteer work at a shelter, I was thinking of adopting a beautiful GSD (male and unaltered) named Nash. I had only seen him briefly but he was friendly and licked my fingers through his cage. Even though I let the shelter know of my interest and even though he had been there less than a week - he was euthanized. I quit my work there. Now Felony will be with Nash -

Shelter life is stressful for any dog - they said Nash was aggressive also - but afterall he was unaltered and only two years old...They should gives these wonderful servants the benefit of the doubt.

[TicketyBoo]

14. Our shelter

only gives them three days.

Very sad.

[Withywindle]

16. That makes me so sad.

My "sister" was a solid black GSD. My parents got her as a puppy when I was about 3 years old and we grew up together. There are a lot of pictures of me as a child cuddling with her -- looking like the Strength card in the Tarot, the maiden with the lion. She did bite me once, but whole family agreed I deserved it, and she clearly felt terrible. After she died (suddenly, of bloat) a good 20 years passed before we could mention her in front of my dad without him getting weepy.

It's the kind of town where people remember who you are and your distinguishing features. About 25 years after she passed on, my dad stopped by one of those little country stores where the old geezers hang out, and one of them said to him, "Hey, just the other day we were talking about that big black dog you used to have. The way she put her jaws around your arm without biting down at all, just to show you who's boss? How long did it take to train her to do that?"

It took no time at all. That was all her idea. :D

[SPedigrees]

13. Why in heck did the police dept not contact all area shelters

in an effort to find Felony??? This is basic protocol for any animal owner as soon as their charge goes missing. One would think that a police dog's owner would be held to at least this standard. Unless of course they did, and the shelter workers failed to take notice...

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. How do we know he wasn't growling at the shelter people because

they smelled like pot?

[Withywindle]

17. RIP, Felony.

:cry:

:patriot: