Animal Care And Control Policies Questioned
An Indianapolis animal rescue group is raising concerns after a dog was nearly euthanized at the city shelter, despite having a microchip.
Judie Sloan said her 14-year-old collie mix, Buffy, got loose during a rainstorm. She searched for the dog, but said she was sure he’d be found using his microchip.
Days later, volunteers with rescue group reTails Indy were pulling animals out of Indianapolis Animal Care and Control when they found Buffy and identified the dog using his microchip, Call 6 Investigator Kara Kenney reported.
“It was slated to die on Monday,” said Maureen Owen who works at Allisonville Animal Hospital and volunteers with the rescue group.
IACC Administrator Teri Kendrick admitted that workers made a mistake and failed to scan the dog for a microchip upon arrival, as is protocol.
But she stressed that the dog would have been scanned just before being euthanized.
Sloan said she’s grateful volunteers found her dog just in time.
“I was really sad about it. I was brought to tears,” she said. “So he’s home now, and we’re happy to have him back.”
IACC officials encourage pet owners to go to the shelter on Harding Street and look for their lost pet, even if it has a microchip.
Although shelter staff members are supposed to scan every animal several times, microchips can be missed, especially if an animal is aggressive.
Still, reTails Indy said the shelter has to do a better job at checking for microchips so more families can be reunited with their pets.
“People don’t even know what Animal Control is. They don’t know where it is. They think it’s the Humane Society,” Owen said. “It’s (shelter workers’) job (to scan for microchips). This dog would have been dead.”
Kendrick has resigned from IACC to take a job with the state.
She had openly expressed frustration with the Animal Care and Control being underfunded and understaffed, an issue the Call 6 Investigators addressed last month.
Source: http://www.theindychannel.com/news/lost-dog-nearly-euthanized-despite-microchip
