Woman 'heartbroken' after animal shelter accidentally euthanizes her dog
A woman is mourning the loss of her dog, who was accidentally euthanized by the Montgomery Humane Society.
Kim Wright, who lives in Montgomery, Ala., went to work on Monday morning, but upon returning home, found a “pink notice” taped to her door, telling her that her dog, Vinnie, had been picked up by a Humane Society officer who found him running loose in the neighborhood, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
She posted on Facebook later that night asking people to notify her if they found Vinnie. Wright described him a a “blue pit bull with some white underneath.”
“I just want my dog found back safely,” her post reads. “I’m legit hurt over him.”
However, the dog never made it back home.
The Advertiser reported that the last time Wright was able to see Vinnie was when his body was “pulled from a freezer.” He was ice cold because a shelter employee accidentally injected a lethal dose into the pit bull, “mistaking Vinnie for another dog.”
The Executive Director of the Montgomery Humane Society admitted to the mistake on Wednesday, saying that the shelter is “devastated” and will re-evaluate its systems to make sure this type of mistake doesn’t happen again, as reported by the Montgomery Advertiser.
"We're committed to our mission and to our community," Tears told the local paper. "In this particular situation we missed a detail, and one of our pets lost their lives. We're taking it very hard. We're not taking it lightly. We still have 400 animals in our facility who need our help. We have to get back on the horse, look at our systems and make sure we're doing what we need to keep them safe. We're not making any excuses. There's absolutely no excuse."
Representatives from the Montgomery Humane Society did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment, but told the Advertiser that it has safeguards in place when euthanizing an animal, which requires “multiple signatures” and “color-coded” kennel cards to indicate a dog’s status — however, the steps did not work for Vinnie.
Wright posted on Facebook after receiving the heartbreaking news. “Missing my dog so much already,” she wrote. “They didn’t have to do him like that.”
While Wright did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment, she told the Montgomery Advertiser that the loss has been tough for her, but even harder for her son.
"I broke down," Wright told the outlet. "That's my dog. I think it's harder for my son. My son looked at Vinnie like a best friend. It is hard for me to see my child go through that."
According to Montgomery Police Department, no report has been made regarding this incident, but a spokesperson tells Yahoo Lifestyle “All incidents involving potential crimes involving animals are handled by the Montgomery Humane Society,” and it is “Not aware of any other agency that investigates those crime in our area.”
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