Arizona Worker Fired For Euthanizing War Hero Dog

FLORENCE, Ariz. — A county employee in Arizona has been fired after mistakenly euthanizing a dog that saved soldiers in Afghanistan and lived through explosions in the war-torn country, officials announced Friday.

The unidentified Pinal County animal control employee euthanized the female shepherd mix on Monday and was immediately placed on administrative leave.

The dog named Target had been brought to the Phoenix area in August by Sgt. Terry Young after his tour of duty.

Target frightened a suicide bomber inside a military base and potentially saved dozens of soldiers' lives, Young said. He said the dog was treated like royalty from then on at the base at Dand Patan, near the Pakistan border.

The dog escaped from the family's back yard last Friday. Target didn't have a tag or microchip and eventually wound up at the county pound.

Last Friday night, Young found Target's picture on a Web site used by county dog catchers to help owners track lost pets. Young figured the shelter in Casa Grande was closed for the night and weekend.

He showed up at the facility to claim his dog on Monday, only to find out she was dead.

County officials say the employee mistakenly took the dog out of its pen Monday morning and euthanized it.

"I just can't believe that something like this would happen to such a good dog," Young told The Arizona Republic, which said the soldier and his family will get Target's cremated remains.

County officials are declining to name the employee because of threats made to that person and angry telephone calls to the facility.

"We are continuing to look into management practices and procedures to ensure that something like this cannot happen again," said Lisa Garcia, assistant county manager for Health and Human Services.

Comments

[GreenKate]

02:27 AM on 11/30/2010

If your pet is missing do not rest until he/she is safe at home. This person's mistake was waiting from Friday until Monday. He knew she was there Friday but "figured she was safe at the pound." Target was pulled by mistake. A microchip would not have helped unless you think they recheck each animal again for microchips on the way to be euthanized. No kill laws would not have prevented this either. No kill shelters farm out the ones they don't want. And they do euthanize if they see a medical or behavior reason- even one that you would never euthanize over. If your pet needs veterinary care they will decide for (or against) that for you if your pet is in their custody. Don't be so trusting. I know it is a bad analogy but if you would not leave someone you love unconscious at the hospital then understand your animal cannot speak for himself either. People die due to medical errors in the hospital; why would animals have it any better?

[Vernie31]

08:21 PM on 11/29/2010

This Dog should have had multiple TAGS on at cost of $5.00 each and micro chipped for $15.00.
The owner/soldier is really the one at fault here..This is a PETS death that could have easily been avoided if those 2 things had been done. 1. Rabies tag, 2. name address tag 3. micro chipped.
simple process to avoid these very situations. Breaks my heart due to poor ownership training.

[Turtlenews]

02:21 PM on 11/23/2010

http://readingeagle.com/SponsoredBy.aspx?page=http%3A//readingeagle.com/blog.aspx%3Fbid%3D74%26id%3D22450%26t%3DTARGET-WAR-HERO-DOG-WHY-

[yoyodyne666]

04:00 AM on 11/23/2010

Hero dog .... right, someones looking for $$$. Oh yeah it barked at a stranger ...

[nananance]

11:41 PM on 11/22/2010

If you want to offer your condolences, there is a tribute page on Facebook that targets animal shelters for reform.


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Target-In-Loving-Memory-of-the-Hero-dog/171256662902210?v=wall

[Turtlenews]

02:23 PM on 11/23/2010

Most Appreciative

http://readingeagle.com/SponsoredBy.aspx?page=http%3A//readingeagle.com/blog.aspx%3Fbid%3D74%26id%3D22450%26t%3DTARGET-WAR-HERO-DOG-WHY-

[Turtlenews]

04:13 PM on 11/22/2010

Arizona: the State that Kills Dogs and People as well. Arizona : The Heartless State

[Turtlenews]

04:02 PM on 11/22/2010

Target You Are In My Prayers

[Turtlenews]

06:40 PM on 11/21/2010

why are perfectly fine comment censured and others with similar content not ??

[Ann-Pittsburgh]

02:30 PM on 11/21/2010

Target was wearing a pink collar with her name on it when she slipped through Terry Young's gate. In fact, when Young finally located Target on the Animal Control website, Target was identified by name on the website. Unfortunately, because Young's contact information did not appear on the collar, the neighbor who found Target could not identify her and call Young to pick her up. The neighbor instead called Animal Control and the mistakes were compounded from there.

Even if our dogs have a microchip and a collar with a license tag, it's important that they also have a tag on their collar with our cell phone number. The cell phone number will be better protection for our dogs than our home phone number if we take them out of town with us and they manage to wander. This is a good way to avoid the risks that will arise if anyone who finds our dog does not have our contact information and must contact the local pound. I went to PetSmart this morning and made tags for my dog and my parents' dog. The tags only cost a few bucks but they could save some precious lives.

[Turtlenews]

06:03 PM on 11/21/2010

Why does everyone say Target was not wearing a collar??

[Ann-Pittsburgh]

06:22 PM on 11/21/2010

I think the misunderstanding arose because the news stories have stated that Target wore no identifying tags. That appears to be true, but Target was wearing a pink camouflage-patterned collar that had her name printed on it and some mention of her status as war hero. That may be the collar we see in the published pictures of Target. She was wearing the collar when she slipped out of her yard, but unfortunately, there was no contact information on the collar that would have enabled the neighbor who apprehended her to know who Target belonged to. What I find most frustrating about this story is that Target's death resulted from a chain of mistakes made by human beings. If any one of those mistakes had been avoided, Target would be alive today and the people who loved her would be spared enormous grief.

[Vernie31]

08:22 PM on 11/29/2010

he was not wearing anything to identify his name,owner,address or phone number. Simple process and the cost so small it should not have occurred.

[booki]

11:50 AM on 11/21/2010

To me , a wardog should have been chipped by the govt.
i do rescue work, many times collar ID comes off a dog.
one of my dogs , micah (who by the way, belonged to a now deceased iraq soldier)...
slipped under a portion of fence a few weeks ago. he had a collar on and ID tag.
when i got him back, his ID tag was gone. luckily, a couple near by had him, he never had to face the terror of the pound, or the pound truck, and many who work at a pound who have no regard for animals............it is just a job.
We have to give the owner the benefit of the doubt.....who knows, he may be suffering from PTSD, have problems..........
No government facility should have the right to euthanize a dog, in 3 days,in particular over a week end..
this is shameful on many counts.
i just hope the pound people were not mean to her........a war hero dog, during her last 3 days of lfe.
heartbreaking......
stuff that happens in a pound, can make your blood curl.

[Turtlenews]

03:27 PM on 11/22/2010

The pound stole the medal , probably the worker. The neighbor stated the medal was on Target .Why the neighbor called the pound , i do not want to go there . Check this article Ann-Pitts posted. Click past the advertisements:

http://readingeagle.com/SponsoredBy.aspx?page=http%3A//readingeagle.com/blog.aspx%3Fbid%3D74%26id%3D22450%26t%3DTARGET-WAR-HERO-DOG-WHY-

[lillymouse]

11:45 AM on 11/21/2010

So, if this truly tears at your heartstrings, get informed and get active, put laws on the books that will truly make a difference and EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE and maybe one day, we'll live up to the thoughts of ourselves as being a dog and cat loving country. Right now, we still have a long way to go.

[Turtlenews]

11:17 PM on 11/22/2010

http://readingeagle.com/SponsoredBy.aspx?page=http%3A//readingeagle.com/blog.aspx%3Fbid%3D74%26id%3D22450%26t%3DTARGET-WAR-HERO-DOG-WHY-

[lillymouse]

11:45 AM on 11/21/2010

The larger issue is the pet overpopulation as a direct result of irresponsible owners and greedy breeders. To eventually prevent this from ever happening again - spay/neuter, tag, chip your own animals and adopt from a shelter or rescue group - NEVER buy from a pet store or a backyard breeder AND lobby your local officials to increase registration fees for unsterilized dogs, institute/increase dramatically, registration/licensing fees for "backyard breeders", so only people who truly care about the animals and the breed are the ones who end up breeding, and protest pet stores that sell dogs and cats, as almost all of them come from puppy mills, which keep the animals in appalling conditions, and actually produce 2-3 million animals a year - does the number sound familiar? Tell the person in front of you in line at Petsmart who has an unneutered male, the issues and the problems and the fact that they're contributing to the problem - SPEAK UP! Tell your friend or your neighbor who doesn't want to spay their female until she has a litter, so their kids can see the miracle of birth - to foster a pregnant dog or cat for a rescue group instead, or tell them to take their kids to the pound to see the death of dozens of animals, so they can see the problem that they are directly responsible for. SPEAK UP! Pounds and rescue groups have, unfortunately, more than enough adoptable animals.

[ladybug7]

07:41 PM on 11/21/2010

Fan #1. Several years ago my county passed an ordinance raising fees on unsterilized pets. The impound for day 1 is now $300 if the owner does not want the animal sterilized. They are given the option to pay $50 for sterilization and the normal impound fee of $35. The tag fees are $75 vs $12. When a dog leaves the shelter, they have to be current on rabies, tag and will have a microchip registered in the county. It's still amazing to see how many owners pay the higher fees (sometimes over $400) to not sterilize their pets.You are spot on with the need for education as there is still a lot of ignorance about spay and neuter needs. It is more often men who are reluctant to neuter their male dogs. They need to get over it.

REAL MEN SPAY AND NEUTER!

[lillymouse]

01:40 PM on 11/23/2010

Well, your county sounds more proactive right now than mine - they do offer microchips, but they aren't mandatory; there is a difference in registration fees for sterilized vs unsterilized, but it isn't dramatically large; I don't know if there is a difference in the impound fee for sterilized vs unsterilized, but I don't believe there is. Some good ideas there, though.
Progress comes slowly - 25/30 years ago, they weren't spaying/neutering the animals coming out of the pound here - not sure when they changed that here - but, of course, they do sterilize them now before adoption. Though, I'm not sure that's even the case at all the county pounds in the state, especially the more rural ones. Baby steps.

Yes, education, education, education. Tends to help with everything, doesn't it?!

[MIMom]

11:12 PM on 11/21/2010

Oh, for Pete's sake.

I agree with not buying from a pet store. The rest is just hyperbole.

As long as it's harder to adopt a pet than to adopt a child, then people will be going the easiest route. Not all backyard breeders are eviI -- just do your homework should you choose to use one.

[lillymouse]

01:09 PM on 11/23/2010

It's hardly harder to adopt a pet than to adopt a child. Talk about hyberbole. ANYONE can go and adopt an animal from the pound - there is no effective screening process - that's about as easy as it can get. The numbers of euthanized animals each year are not hyberbole.

Backyard breeders are irresponsible breeders - that's part of the definition of backyard breeders. I do not state that ALL BREEDERS are backyard breeders or irresponsible. There are good breeders out there - they are far, far, far fewer than puppy mill/puppy farm/commercial breeders or backyard breeders. Backyard breeders don't do genetic/other appropriate health/temperament testing on their dogs before breeding - responsible breeders do; backyard breeders believe just because their dog is AKC registered, it's ok to breed - responsible breeders know better; backyard breeders do it purely for profit or because they think their dog is so cute, someone will want their adorable puppies - responsible breeders know the breed and do it to improve the breed and generally have their adopters lined up before their dog even has the puppies; backyard breeders think when the puppy is sold, that's the end of the relationship - responsible breeders are there for the adopter/puppy for the lifetime of the dog, as a dependable resource; these are only some of the critical differences between backyard breeders and responsible breeders; NO, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A RESPONSIBLE BACKYARD BREEDER - IT'S A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS.

[lillymouse]

11:44 AM on 11/21/2010

Of course it was tragic - for the dog, for the family, and for the worker. Mistakes were made all around, unfortunately.

I live in Phoenix/Maricopa County, which euthanizes approximately 50,000 animals a year. Understaffed, underfunded and always crowded. They have a short holding time simply due to the number of animals they deal with (although, this incident was a mistake, not a holding time issue). I am a little familiar with the Pinal County (more rural, less dense population with fewer adoptions) pound also. I don't know the numbers, but I believe their euthanasia percentage is even higher. Nationwide, at least 2-3 million animals are euthanized each year - so much for an animal-loving country.

No, the mistake shouldn't have happened - but I KNOW - that that's not the only time that's happened - it certainly has happened at the Maricopa County pounds. I'm sure it happens around the country. They're just not publicized because they weren't war hero dogs. When they're understaffed,underfunded and have to deal with the volume that they do, mistakes are much more likely to happen. Target is not the only good dog that was euthanized that day, I'm sure - just the most well known.

[ladybug7]

07:45 PM on 11/21/2010

My county handled over 30,000 animals last year and more than half were euthanized. They put a whiteboard in the lobby with the numbers updated every day. They are trying to get the publics attention on the pet overpopulation problem.

[lillymouse]

01:25 PM on 11/23/2010

Not a bad idea. A small start, but every little bit helps.

[liamd1]

11:40 AM on 11/21/2010

He didn't have it collared or chipped. He "figured" the pond was closed. I can check the hours of operation on my phone now.

Clearly, he didn't care THAT much about the dog

[Turtlenews]

03:20 PM on 11/22/2010

Wrong: Click past the advertisements

http://readingeagle.com/SponsoredBy.aspx?page=http%3A//readingeagle.com/blog.aspx%3Fbid%3D74%26id%3D22450%26t%3DTARGET-WAR-HERO-DOG-WHY-

[nananance]

11:36 PM on 11/22/2010

Nobody who reads Target's story would ever agree that Sgt. Young didn't care that much about the dog
http://blogs.discovery.com/daily_treat/2010/11/honoring-target-the-amazing-afgan-war-hero-dog.html

[ja4atlanta]

11:08 AM on 11/21/2010

Nice, thoughtful posts. Good job everyone! Isn't it amazing what happens when people take the time to think through all the various sides of a situation, note what was done wrong, try to come up with ways to solve problems rather than just point fingers?

Could you all create a political group and go to Congress? PLEASE!!!!

[Turtlenews]

04:27 PM on 11/21/2010

one solution : Teach the worker to read

[Turtlenews]

03:29 PM on 11/22/2010

The pound stole the medal , probably the worker. The neighbor stated the medal was on Target .Why the neighbor called the pound , i do not want to go there . Check this article Ann-Pitts posted. Click past the advertisements:

http://rea dingeagle. com/Sponso redBy.aspx ?page=http %3A//readi ngeagle.co m/blog.asp x%3Fbid%3D 74%26id%3D 22450%26t% 3DTARGET-W AR-HERO-DO G-WHY-

[Turtlenews]

03:33 PM on 11/22/2010

http://readingeagle.com/SponsoredBy.aspx?page=http%3A//readingeagle.com/blog.aspx%3Fbid%3D74%26id%3D22450%26t%3DTARGET-WAR-HERO-DOG-WHY-

[bulldoggie77]

09:16 PM on 12/03/2010

Umm.no There was no medal on the dog.. I was the officer that picked up the dog that day. I don't need a medal, but thanks, and for your info the dog was not an officer of the governmen. It was a stray dog from Afghanastan!