Animal Shelter Lied to Us. Need Advice!!!
 

I don't have time to tell the whole story. So, I'm going to copy & paste what I posted on my FB page.

Starlette

On Thursday the 11th, "Chance" was relinquished to animal control by my parents.. My parents and I talked to the officer that arrived at their house. We were advised by the officer that Chance would be taken to XXXXX and be held for 10 days to be evaluated. The shelter would then decide whether he was adoptable or not.

Mom and I decided to visit the facility today. As mom was talking to the front desk person to see if we could see Chance, to her horror she was advised that Chance was euthanized that same day (the 11th).

My parents and I feel that we were lied to by the officer. First of all, that he would be held for ten days and that the adoption rate was 90%. She said that Chance didn't appear to be vicious because he was not showing his teeth and he continually wagged his tail. We were very encouraged that although she couldn't guarantee that he would be adopted, it was a strong possibility. It has been horrifying to both my parents to learn that he wasn't even given a chance at adoption. The situation was totally mishandled.
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I'm spending the night over their house tonight and won't be back till tomorrow. In the mean time, I'd like to know the best way to handle this.
We've brainstormed, but I'd like feedback from those in the know.

Much appreciated.
Starlette

Gosh all I can say is WOW , Unbelievable and how sorry I am.

Unfortunately ppl don't communicate from animal control and the shelter. Also they could have been over crowded. I get your point and understand why you're upset, but I don't think much can be done.

I am sorry

Who was chance? Was he a stray they found or there dog?

That's so sad, I'm sorry you and your parents had to go through this. Every dog should have a fair chance at life.

Heartbreaking! I am very sorry.

I have the same question as Taylor . . . was Chance a dog your parents found?

That is horrible. The officer should be taught what is really done at the shelter. I can not believe that they are euthanized the same day. Wow it usually is a few days. I would look into it more

Sorry Starlette for all of this but we definitely need the whole story before we can really offer any advice....There are big parts missing.

Whose dog was Chance and what kind of dog was he?

Some shelters are known to have very high kill rates, especially for certain breeds of dogs.

My local county shelter is continually the highest or second highest kill shelter in the State, on any given month. Taking a dog there is pretty much a death sentence. Some breeds of dogs are only held for owner pick up for a few days and are then killed, and are never offered up for adoption if not picked up by their owner.

I think you need to give us more information. Why was Chance dropped off at the shelter? I know I would never drop a dog off at our local shelter because they euthanize.

I am sorry this happened but when the dog was surrendered, you and your parents gave up any rights. If you were that concerned with him not being euthanized, you would have surrendered him to a rescue or a no kill shelter.


And most dogs are kept at least 48 hours. What shelter did you surrender him to that does same day euthanizations??


Just calling it like I see it.

I have the sme question as everyone else.

Assuming you are still in Denver, that is a large enough community to have at least one lawyer specializing in Animal Rights. Call the county or city Bar Association to find out who specializes in this area of law. You probably did give up some rights over Chance when he was surrendered to the shelter but you need to find out. Talking to the shelter probably will not give you the answers you need. They are in "do not more damage" mode. The city or county lawyer is advising them to say very little. Most Animal Rights lawyers can either answer your questions from their knowledge base of other cases or they know who to contact to get more information about the circumstances and your rights. Many are volunteers and work for free.

I did not know how to find your FB page to read the details but regardless you need legal advice. Maybe this situation will prevent it from happening to other dogs and something good can come out of this horrific error in judgment by the shelter.

It is possible that Chance had a contagious illness and they could not risk him infecting the entire population of the shelter, and did not have the means nor the room to quarantine him appropriately.

It is possible they were full to capacity in their quarantine areas.

It is possible they found another disease that would cause Chance to pass away, and euthanized him for that.

I don't know about all shelters, but I know ours will euthanize animals if they are ill to almost any extent.

We do not take in strays any longer, because we have a senior dog and a puppy -both of whom will go downhill very fast if they become ill - I won't take the chance anymore of a stray making my dogs sick.

If I see a stray dog I note the side streets and exact location at that exact time, and I post it on Craigslist. I used to pick them all up - but like I said, I won't injure my dogs for the sake of protecting someone else's pet who should have been in their own yard or own home to begin with.

I'm thinking "Chance" was most likely a stray your parents took in, and relinquished to the shelter.

...just another reason why society needs to change. This is about incompetent and inept dog owners. You can say "accidental escape" all you want. You can say you left the fence open on accident, or that a guest in your home accidentally let the dog out..etc etc etc. These are not accidents. This is poor preparation, control and alertness by owners. If there are owners all over the place who are perfectly capable of knowing their dogs' location at all times then it should be something that everyone is capable of doing...period. (go ahead and throw tomatoes at me)