Saturday, December 4, 2010

Destiny Dog Supposed to be Killed Instead of Target War Hero Dog

Remember Target, the war-hero dog who was accidentally killed by Pinal Animal Control. She was mistaken for another dog who was supposed to be killed.

The other dog who was to be killed? Still alive.

And friendly. So shouldn't have been killed, anyways.

She's supposedly going to be a spokesdog for "Target's Law", which entails what, I'm not sure.

The person who killed Target has been fired.

This is scapegoating. The officer should not have been fired - they were doing their job. Remember, a perfectly, friendly, adoptable dog was going to be killed...and instead an "owned" perfectly, friendly, adoptable dog was mistakenly killed. These people are paid to kill healthy animals. Making mistakes at a hi-kill shelter is absolutely unavoidable.

The problem is killing nice, friendly, healthy dogs to begin with. By my standards, if this shelter wanted to be consistent, they'd fire their entire staff, re-organize their board, and implement a policy of low-kill/no-kill immediately.

And the idea that Destiny, the supposed-to-be-dead dog, was fated to live while Target was fated to die is total and utter bull-puckey. Neither dog should have been killed. Period.

This is the problem with our traditional animal control model. It's not The Problem, but it is one of many.

I wish Destiny much luck in life. I hope Pinal Animal Control implements some significant changes that doesn't penalize workers (like firing them) but creates meaningful change for the dogs and cats in their care. First step, find a way to stop killing healthy, adoptable animals! It is all smooth sailing from there.

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