North Carolina Shelter Accidentally Euthanizes Family Pet in Horrible ‘Human Error’

A North Carolina animal shelter is apologizing after it accidentally euthanized a woman’s dog in a horrible ‘human error’.

Source: ABC11/Youtube

Destiny Daniels’ pit bull, 2-year-old Kaos was brought into custody by Pitt County Animal Services on January 22 and put into a 10-day bite quarantine. However, instead of being reunited with her human after 10 days, the woman came to learn that the dog was euthanized, according to WITN-TV.

Daniels told WITN-TV,

“I’m not bringing home an alive dog. I’m bringing home a cold body of a dead dog.”

In a Facebook post, Pitt County Animal Services wrote,

“Through human error, the owner’s desire for the dog to be returned was incorrectly entered into the computer system. Animal Services deeply regrets this incident and offers our sincere apologies.

“During the internal investigation on Friday, February 3, 2023, the Animal Services director and the division’s assistant county manager spoke with the dog owner about the incident.”

The shelter went on to say that they have implemented procedures to make sure that this does not happen again. Now, the shelter will contact the animal’s human to verify the “intent for recovering the pet” regardless of what is listed on the quarantine paperwork.

“The primary mission of Pitt County Animal Services is to safeguard public health and safety by supporting the education of our citizens on responsible pet ownership, to protect our community’s animals from cruelty and neglect, and to house, care, place or provide humane resolution for animals in its care.”

Facebook users were not too happy or impressed with the response from the shelter.

“This is absurd and completely unacceptable. There must be steep repercussions for all involved in this grave and tragic incident,” one person wrote.

“If this happened to my pet I would go ballistic. Not that money would bring back my beloved animal, but you better pay me for my pain and suffering big time. Cut her a check,” another added.

Others however took the side of the shelter and said people should remember that it was just a human error.

“Nobody who euthanizes animals enjoys their job, it’s only because of dire circumstances. You all need to calm down and understand it was an error.

“You aren’t helping the situation by being angry. The dog did bite. It may have been an error on the dog’s part also. He was at the shelter because he bit. That’s where the story began. Potential dangerous dog.

“Maybe he was just reactive, maybe not. To work in animal services is a heartbreaking job. Forgive. Volunteer be part of the solution instead of the problem.”

This is a heartbreaking story and our hearts go out to the family that lost their beloved pet. We hope that the new procedures in place will ensure that something like this never happens again.

We encourage everyone thinking of getting a pet to only adopt instead of shopping. Read more resources about adopting animals on One Green Planet, including 7 Reasons to Adopt Your Next Furry Best Friend, 5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Adopt a Pet, and These Heartwarming Before and After Pictures of Adopted Rescue Animals Will Make Your Day! Read tips for pet adoptions and what to consider before adopting an animal. We recommend using these apps to find shelter dogs near you!

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