Commissioners looking into dog death

Published 11:05 pm Thursday, July 17, 2014

The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners has asked for a report on why the county animal shelter recently killed a dog it should not have.

“The policy review began Tuesday and subsequent investigation and work has been ongoing with a (meeting) today to circulate a plan of action,” according to an email sent Thursday by County Administrator Mark Gibson to commissioners.

Gibson said he should have “conclusions and formal documents” for board members next week.

“We are waiting on that,” said Chairman Mike Babb.

Babb said that, if after receiving the report, board members decide to have a public discussion of the matter it will happen at a meeting in August.

Wiz, a boxer being cared for by Elaine Smith, was wrongly put to death last Friday.

Wiz had nipped a 6-year-old girl who lived near Smith, and Whitfield County animal control cited Smith and took Wiz to the animal shelter for not having the rabies vaccination. Officials told Smith she would have to wait 10 days to pick up the dog to make sure it did not have rabies. But the 10th day fell on Saturday, and when Smith called the shelter on Monday she was told the shelter had killed Wiz by mistake.

Animal Shelter Director Don Allen Garrett said the shelter had two almost identical dogs in pens next to each other. The other dog came in one day prior to Smith’s dog and was scheduled to be put to sleep on Friday. Due to a mix-up between the two, Smith’s dog was put down.

“We are reviewing some things, and we will do our best to make sure this never happens again,” said Garrett. “But to be honest, I’m not sure what we can do. This was not a factual error or a printing error. This was a human error, and we can only try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Babb said this is only the second time since he has been involved in county government that he can recall an animal being put to death wrongly. The first happened during his first tenure as board chairman from 1997 to 2004.