Volunteer, employee leave after pets theyd found homes for euthanized without notice

By Hayli Fellwock, hfellwock@bgdailynews.com — 270-783-3240

Thursday, August 19, 2004

An employee and a volunteer have quit the Allen County-Scottsville Animal Shelter in protest after two dogs were euthanized animals the two workers say they had found homes for.

Either (shelter employees) did not remember my husband telling them he had found homes for the animals or they just chose to ignore it. Were not sure, said Jane Hills, a shelter volunteer who left and whose husband, Bob, resigned from the shelter Aug. 10.

On Monday, Bob Hills day off from the shelter, a purebred Britanny and purebred English pointer were selected by two other shelter workers to be euthanized, the same day Hills had secured a foster home for one of the dogs.

Bob Hills said he did not suspect anything because he was told three days earlier by a co-worker that the dogs had until Tuesday to live.

He arrived Tuesday to find that he was a day too late. He resigned immediately, then went home to phone the foster home and break the news. Bob Hills wishes the shelter had called him to notify him that the dogs were about to be euthanized so he could have rescued them.

I took the job because I believed in it, he said. I would have taken both those dogs home just to get them to a safe place.

Shelter Director Jim Marsh said the problem was a misunderstanding, a communication breakdown among employees.

There was a breakdown between Mr. Hills and the employees, Marsh said. I told Mr. Hills that it was. I think there were several underlying factors involved in his decision to leave.

Marsh said the shelter keeps animals the required amount of time set forth in state law. In most cases, that time is five days.

Marsh said the five-day minimum includes Sundays and Wednesdays, when the shelter is not open to the public.

They have to be here five days so they have five days, Marsh said. Thats what the law requires and thats what we do. We only have a very limited number of pens. I dont enjoy putting these dogs down, but I am a realistic person.

The day of euthanization, the English Pointer had been at the shelter 10 days and the Brittany had been there seven. Marsh said the shelter chooses which dogs to euthanize based on the canines physical condition and disposition. The two dogs euthanized Aug. 9 were healthy, he said, but were euthanized because they had been there too long.

That day the shelter held 35 dogs and 28 cats. Eighteen dogs and 17 cats were euthanized, Marsh said.

Thats a bit heavy, Marsh said. The average would have been 12 to 14 (dogs euthanized) once a week.

We try to keep the good ones as long as we can. Weve had some dogs up to two weeks. I didnt realize was not told Mr. Hills was working on a rescue for these two dogs.

The Hillses have been orchestrating animal rescue efforts from the shelter since the facility opened in May 2003. He said he is not sure if it will continue.

When we first started trying to do rescues, we said, It takes a while, but they didnt want to keep animals very long so they told us we had three days, Bob Hills said. We told them we cant move rescues that fast, and thats when we started bringing them home with us. The most theyve ever given me is three days to get these dogs out of the shelter.

Marsh pointed to a drop-off earlier this year that included 40 dogs found in one home.

Not one of those dogs was euthanized, he said. Every one of them got homes.

Marsh said Bob Hills did help coordinate that rescue effort, but none of the 40 dogs was taken to live at the mans home.

The number of dogs euthanized each day depends on the shelters overload, Marsh said, as they try to avoid keeping three dogs at a time in each of the facilitys 12 pens.

Asked about why Bob Hills was not phoned prior to euthanization of the two dogs, Marsh said he just listened to what the shelter employees told him.

The only thing I know is, when I came in, they said, These are the dogs that are going, and I said, OK, are they all compliant with state law? Marsh said. They said yes, and so I got in the truck and drove them off.

Thats not good enough for Bob Hills, who faced a very upset foster family when he had to notify them their dog was dead.

The thing is, they know I can take these dogs home, he said. Nobody gave me a chance and it really upset me.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700