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Dog Surrendered To Shelter Is Euthanized After Owner Changes Her Mind

| Published on March 11, 2017

Everyone experiences hard times in life and for one woman, things got a lot worse than she expected. Vanessa Thomas loved her pit bull, Patty, but was suffering from financial difficulties and felt she wasn’t able to care for her anymore. In the hopes to find Patty a new, better home, or at least a chance to reach a rescue organization, she surrendered Patty to Petersburg Animal Shelter. There, the staff told her they would try to find Patty a home or place her with a rescue, only euthanizing her as a last resort.

The decision was difficult for Thomas, but she wants what’s best for Patty. Just one day later, however, Thomas changed her mind and went back to the shelter to take Patty home. She had relinquished Patty on Monday and when she arrived Tuesday at 12:00pm (the shelter’s opening time), she was shocked and devastated to hear that Patty had already been euthanized. “I thought I was doing something to help her, maybe someone would adopt her and give her a home,” Thomas told 8News.

When asked why Patty was euthanized so quickly, shelter warden Deborah Broughton advised 8News that Patty had tried to bite her. “The owner no longer wants the dog, and I don’t know that I have any way whatsoever of obtaining a new owner for this dog. She has already tried to bite me, she’s not happy, she’s in a stressful environment and so the odds are just not good in favor of her,” Broughton told 8 News. “What I can tell you is when I make decisions, I try to make decisions so where I can put my head down at night, and feel like I made the right decision, and I feel like I still made the right decision.” Perhaps most shocking is the Patty was euthanized after only one hour of being at the shelter.

It’s a terrible circumstance and unfortunately, Patty paid the ultimate price. We are deeply saddened to find out this news, but hope it serves as a reminder that taking your dog to the shelter should be a very last resort. We understand that difficult times happen and that Thomas was trying to do what was best for Patty. However, we encourage others to reach out to rescues directly when trying to find new homes for their pets. Patty will be deeply missed and we hope she’s resting peacefully as none of this was her fault.

 

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