News agency pays for release of man's dog

A local news agency paid a $101 fee to bail out a man's dog.



The man had adopted the dog from the Halifax Humane Society as a puppy, several months ago. It appears he does not have a fully fenced yard and/or the dog is kept outside - I'm not sure, that part was not clear. Regardless, the man had leashed the dog up outside when, at some point, the 8-mos-old neutered, microchipped dog got loose and was picked up by animal control.

They took the dog to the Halifax Humane Society, where he had been adopted months earlier.

Here is where it gets a little strange. Volusia County determined the dog was a pit bull. The dog, looking nothing like a pit bull, was essentially slated for euthanasia because of this determination. Even though Halifax Humane Society had adopted the dog out a few months ago. You can see video here. You can also see the dog looks like a mutt, with no obvious predominant breed - I mean, really, American Pit Bull Terrier? I think not.

The shelter is claiming a new employee made a mistake and the dog wasn't going to be killed for being a pit bull but might have been killed because his owner could not afford a half-day $78 bail-out fee. They do not charge that much for the adoption fee. And through October, the adoption fee was $50. Interesting. By Monday, that fee had jumped to $101. That's a $33/day fee. For a neutered, owned, microchipped dog adopted from the same shelter with an owner desperately interested in trying to get the dog back.

Don't get me wrong - people need to be vigilant and responsible when it comes to properly supervising their animals. This puppy should not have had an opportunity to get loose and, yes, an appropriate fee should be collected to cover the cost of care for boarding and feeding the dog. Your basic kennel, the ones that provide a walk a day plus food, are generally $10-20/day in most places. Your basic humane society does not even walk the dog. Even worse is threatening to kill a dog because someone cannot pay the fee (and then intimating the dog wouldn't even be put up for adoption).

People make mistakes, some worse than others. The goal of any humane society should be to a) adopt out animals b) reduce population of unwanted animals in community and c) keep animals in homes (less homes that are egregiously unqualified). And when presented with a person who clearly loves his dog and has the dog's best interest at heart, all reasonable efforts should be made to reunite the dog with his guardian/owner. This man may not be Gold Star Stellar nor will he win Guardian of the Year. But he loves his dog. And my guess is his behavior will change with this experience and he will no longer feed his dog on a rusty leash outside, in an unfenced area. If he does not, then it is reasonable and fair that he relinquish rights to his dog.