Friday, July 30, 1999
Pet killed by mistake at shelter
Dog's ordeal: Stolen, abandoned, found, euthanized
BY ERIN GIBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When the Abners of Sayler Park found their stolen dog at the animal shelter, they thought her ordeal had ended.
Instead, the 2-year-old boxer who had been kidnapped, then abandoned, would be killed the next morning at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Hamilton County.
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TO HELP
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Last year, 18,825 animals were brought to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) shelter in Hamilton County. Of those, 34 percent were adopted; the rest were euthanized.
To help reduce the volume of animals coming to the shelter and being killed there, and to help your pet be returned safely:
• Have your pet spayed or neutered when it is 6 months old.
• Don't let your pet run free. If it goes outside, keep it on a secure leash or inside a fence.
• Have your dog licensed. Ohio requires dogs to be licensed by the time they're 3 months old.
• Get identification tags for your pet if it goes outdoors. Tags are provided by veterinarians and through pet and engraving stores.
For information on adopting a pet from the SPCA, call 541-6100.
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Lady's death was a mistake, but her fate mirrored that of about 12,000 other animals last year that the SPCA said it could not keep because it was at capacity.
“This dog was like a family member,” Ms. Abner said. “Every time I think about it, I just fall apart.”
Ms. Abner said she saw a young man in her yard unhook Lady's leash and steal her two weeks ago. She knocked on the window, and he sped off in his car with the dog.
She wrote down his license plate number, and when she saw his car again, she flagged him down. He pulled over, and she went to his window. He was sitting with a friend.
“I told him, "All I want is my dog back, and I'll let you go,'” she said.
He admitted he stole Lady and promised to return her within 72 hours, Ms. Abner said. But the 19-year-old never brought her back.
Ms. Abner saw his friend a few days later, and he said the dog had been let loose. The family pet that she said “would lick you to death” had been abandoned.
Ms. Abner went daily to the SPCA to see whether Lady had been turned in.
“I was hoping and praying she'd show up,” she said. On Sunday, Lady did.
Ms. Abner and two of her children, 19-year-old Gina and 8-year-old Ryan, went to retrieve the dog. When Ms. Abner saw her, Lady bounced around in her cage and jumped up on its door.
Both pet and owner were ecstatic, until Ms. Abner was told she would be cited for letting the dog run loose. She could avoid a fine of more than $100 if she showed the SPCA a copy of the police report that proved the dog had been stolen.
So Ms. Abner gave the SPCA her name and phone number and placed a hold on Lady that would prevent her being killed or adopted. Then she left with her children.
On Monday, the police report wasn't ready. She picked it up Tuesday and returned to the SPCA. She waited there for a half-hour before a weeping employee took her outside to break the news: Lady had been euthanized.
The killing was a mistake. The employee euthanizing animals Monday morning hadn't checked to see whether there was a hold on the pet, and Lady was killed because she had failed a physical exam two days before. She suffered from a cough and a green discharge from her eyes.
“No one puts a dog to sleep for kennel cough,” Ms. Abner said. “I don't understand it.”
Andy Mahlman, SPCA office manager, said the SPCA gets so many animals that most who aren't healthy and lack identification tags are killed. Healthy animals also are killed if they aren't adopted.
The volume of animals arriving at the SPCA forces it to kill those that aren't good candidates for adoption if no one claims them after four days, Mr. Mahlman said.
The SPCA houses between 350 and its capacity of 400 animals each day. About two-thirds of the animals brought to the SPCA last year were euthanized.
“We have so many other dogs that are healthy,” Mr. Mahlman said. “We have to be selective about which ones we keep.”
The SPCA is the only animal shelter in Hamilton County that accepts all pets brought to its door. About 50 animals arrive there each day. Between 85 and 100 are adopted each week.
Some are strays picked up by animal control officers; other pets are brought in by owners who no longer want them or who can't care for them. Lady was brought in as a stray after being found in Addyston.
Mr. Mahlman said almost a decade has passed since the last time a pet like Lady accidentally was killed. Because Lady's theft resulted in her death, Ms. Abner has pressed charges against the man she said stole her.
On paper, the dog was worth $400. For Ms. Abner, Lady had no price tag.
“She was just such a baby, and she meant so much to everyone,” she said. “It's devastating.”
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