WATCH: Community demands accountability after three-month-old puppy is euthanized
Julia Johnson
Video Embed
A three-month-old puppy was euthanized earlier this month, sparking a push by community members for an investigation. The shelter claims it was a mistake.
After the puppy, named Bowie, was killed at the Baldwin Park Animal Center on Dec. 4, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion last week to reduce the number of euthanized animals under the supervision of the Department of Animal Care and Control.
WATCH: TESLA OWNER DOCUMENTS BEING STRANDED ON CHRISTMAS EVE WHEN CAR WOULDN’T CHARGE
The motion further directs the department “to provide a full report in 30 days on what led to the use of euthanasia on the 3-month-old puppy and a plan to prevent similar events.”
According to Los Angeles County First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, who authored the motion, between July 1 and Nov. 30 about 4,000 of the 12,000 animals in the care of the agency were euthanized.
“We can and must do better to save the innocent animals that come into the county’s care,” Solis said in a press release. “This motion calls for a full accounting of the mistakes that led to the euthanasia of Bowie and a plan to ensure that something like this never happens again.”
“What happened to Bowie and to the other four dogs at the Baldwin Park Care Center is heartbreaking and unacceptable. Animals in our care centers are our responsibility, and their lives depend on us doing our absolute best,” said chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and motion co-author Janice Hahn. “We need answers about why this happened, and we need to make sure that in the future, staff have every opportunity available to partner with our great rescue partners like Paws for Life K9 Rescue to give these dogs a chance at life and rehabilitation.”
Following the incident, the manager of the animal center, Maria Rosales, said, “All of the circumstances surrounding Bowie’s euthanasia is [sic] being looked at very carefully.”
According to her, involved shelter officials “deeply regret” what they say is a mistake, and “the department takes its life-saving mission very seriously. It’s not taken lightly at all.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A rescue organization, Underdog Heroes, initially shed light on the situation. “We had a plan in place & were ready to pull this little guy from Baldwin Park shelter. His name was Bowie. He was three months old. Bowie was terrified, shaking in a cold concrete kennel, awaiting an uncertain future. He was failed by humans early on but still had his whole life ahead of him … he was deemed rescue only due to “fearfulness,” the organization wrote in an Instagram post. “Unfortunately we were too late. He was taken to the euthanasia room this weekend & killed. Along with twenty-two other dogs. It’s a never ending cycle & unless things change from the top up, the cycle won’t stop … Rescuers are tired. Volunteers are tired.”
The group further encouraged people to contact officials about the puppy’s euthanasia.