MONTGOMERY—An Alabama animal shelter says it mistakenly euthanized a woman’s dog only hours after picking it up.
The Montgomery Advertiser report said Kim Wright found a note on her door on Monday, July 22. The note said her dog Vinnie had been running loose in the neighborhood and was picked up by the Montgomery Humane Society.
She called the shelter that same day, but Vinnie was nowhere to be found.
Wright posted her story on social media in the hope of other people near the shelter to see her dog.
“I just want my dog found back safely,” Wright posted. “I’m legit hurt over him.”
She later learned that Vinnie had been euthanized.
Humane Society Executive Director Steven Tears said Wednesday that Vinnie was mistaken for a similar-looking dog slated for euthanasia. He says the shelter is now re-evaluating its classification system, which he said broke down in this case.
Wright says she’s heartbroken.
“I’m so heartbroken. RIP Vinnie. I’ll always love you,” she said in a Facebook post.
Several Facebook users in local city groups speculated that Vinnie’s breed played a role in the shelter’s quick decision, which MHS Executive Director Steven Tears firmly denied, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
“It had nothing to do with what the breed of the dog was,” Tears said. “We’ve been a pitbull friendly facility. We’ve fought for them when other people were turning their backs. It’s just an awful error.”
An Alabama humane society euthanized the wrong dog this week, killing Kim Wright’s dog Vinnie merely hours after a humane officer had picked the pup up for roaming his neighborhood. https://t.co/cALf0mMDys via @mgmadvertiser
— Melissa Brown (@itsmelissabrown) July 24, 2019
The shelter says it’s handling Vinnie’s cremation.
The Associated Press and NTD News staff contributed to this article.
