Dogs at the Humane Society of Weld County are being euthanized unnecessarily and without sedation, according to a draft complaint letter from shelter volunteers and employees.
The letter, scheduled for delivery Tuesday to the society’s board of directors, also alleges that a foster program for the pets of deployed military personnel resulted in the euthanizing of a soldier’s dog.
“It’s barbaric the way they are being put down,” said shelter employee Carrie Terroux, who plans to sign the letter along with 14 other individuals. “The least we can afford to give them is a good death.”
Elaine Hicks, executive director of the society, denied the allegations and said they come from disgruntled volunteers she won’t let run the Evans shelter.
“They don’t have control of the shelter anymore, and they don’t like it,” said Hicks, who is the sixth director of the shelter in the past five years.
She said the shelter has to euthanize some dogs because space is limited, and that the dogs that are ill tempered are the ones that have to go.
“We don’t get to take in just the cute, cuddly animals that get adopted out,” Hicks said. “We only have so much space.”
She said the society, which has contracts to handle stray cats and dogs for Weld County and the cities of Greeley and Evans, takes in 6,000 animals annually.
But 15 people raising concerns in the letter, including the former kennel manager, Lisa Sullivan, said dogs are being euthanized unnecessarily.
Terroux, who has worked at the shelter since the end of March, said she’s seen about 15 dogs undergo euthanasia. She said that in none of those instances was the dog sedated.
Hicks said the shelter avoids sedating dogs before euthanasia unless they are aggressive because the tranquilizers make the dogs ill.
Colorado statutes require that animals be euthanized in accordance with American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines, which do not necessarily require sedation, said Keith Roehr, acting state veterinarian.
Roehr said he didn’t know if administering a sedative first was common practice or not in state shelters, but he has seen it both ways in private practice.
Records show that a complaint about the Weld shelter’s euthanasia policies was filed in January, days before Hicks arrived as executive director. That complaint, which was found by the state Agriculture Department to be invalid, also alleged excessive euthanasia.
One pit bull, named Princess, struggled and ended up with a blown vein that caused blood to gush, Terroux said.
Her complaints mirrored those of James Sirio, a former kennel manager at the shelter, who resigned this year.
“Animals are being stabbed and poked several times before actually being injected,” Sirio said in a written statement provided by current and former workers who object to practices at the shelter.
The letter prepared for delivery to the shelter board stated that in one instance a soldier preparing to go to Iraq brought in his dog, expecting it to benefit from a foster program. Instead, the dog was euthanized the next day, the letter says.
It also said that in several instances dogs that the society had advertised in the local newspaper for adoption were euthanized. People who wanted to adopt them were then told the dogs already had been adopted when the dogs actually had been euthanized, the letter alleges.
Hicks said she knew of one instance where that occurred but said it wasn’t an ongoing problem.
She also said many of the disagreements stem from her decision to euthanize aggressive dogs or less popular breeds, such as pit bulls.
“If I have a 15-year-old chow and a 2-year-old beagle and no space, the chow might have to go,” Hicks said. “That’s shelter management.”
The shelter is monitored by the Colorado Agriculture Department, and those registering concerns plan to petition the agency for an investigation.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey contributed to this report.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
