AR-News: (AL - US) Beloved dog had short stay at shelter before being killed

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http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/040509/dog.shtml

Man loses dog, works to better animal shelter
Beloved canine had short stay before being put down

By Ronnie Thomas 
DAILY Staff Writer
rthomas at decaturdaily.com · 340-2438 

TRINITY — The death of a dog named Lucky triggered an emotion in a Trinity man that he plans to use to transform animal control in Morgan County. 

  
DAILY Photos by Dan Henry
This pup is sending a head-on plea. He wants out and someone to pet him. Adoption chances are iffy at the animal shelter used by Morgan County and Hartselle.  
Tom Lance and the 7-month-old mongrel were not lucky in this misadventure that left Lucky dead and Lance feeling as if he were an assistant to the executioner. 

This is how the story unfolded: 

Lance has a pen at his business, Tom's Parts and Salvage, on Old Alabama 24, where he keeps Sadie, a Rottweiler. 

"Lucky's mother is a beagle we call Beagle. She's a community dog," he said. "She wandered up, and we looked after her. She had puppies and Lucky is the only one we kept. We gave the others away and had Beagle fixed." 

Taking after his mother, Lucky would not stay in the pen, always finding a way out. Lance decided he would put the dog up for adoption. 

"My intention from the start was to find him a good home. That's all I wanted to do," he said. "So I called the animal shelter in Hartselle, which is also responsible for dogs in Morgan County." 

Lance said when a man from the shelter came Friday morning, April 30, to get the dog, he asked him about the odds of Lucky being adopted. 

"He told me they were not really good. So I said, 'Well, if he runs short of time, call me. I'll come and get him and pay the charges to get him out. I don't want him killed.' He replied, 'If you care anything about him, you ought to keep him.' " 

During the weekend, Lance became concerned about Lucky. He called the shelter Monday, since it is closed Saturdays and Sundays. 

"I asked a woman there how much to get him out of jail, and she told me $40," he said. "I told her I would be down to get him." 

Lance arrived that afternoon and talked to the same man who picked up Lucky. 

"He said, 'Oh, my goodness. I hope I didn't . . .' And I responded, 'I hope you didn't, too.' He then said, 'Yeah, they told me you called, but I forgot. That dog's gone, I think.' " 

Lance said "while I was standing there, they pulled the truck around the building with dead dogs in the back. I didn't want to see Lucky dead, and I walked away." 

He said he and the man then walked back to the pens to check. 

"While he was looking, he said, 'I told you Friday if you wanted that dog, you'd better keep it.' I said, 'I heard you. But I called the first thing today and told you I was coming after him.' He said, 'Well, I'm sorry. He's gone.' " 

Lance said he hopes Lucky's fate will help bring about a change. 

"Morgan County needs a better facility, a bigger one, and somebody needs to be accountable when someone calls and reserves an animal," he said, "and to know that the dog will be there when you get there." 

He said it "really rung my bell" when he went inside and saw the small animal storage area. He said his wife, JoAnn, is as sick about Lucky as he is. She talked to the animal control officer, Claudia Chell, and inquired about the rules concerning the time the shelter keeps a dog. 

"She told my wife that if the dog's a stray, the shelter keeps it seven days," Lance said. "But that if it's your dog, there is no waiting period. He may be destroyed upon arrival." 

As sad as he is about Lucky, Lance said he doesn't blame shelter employees. He recalled more of the conversation he had with the man when he learned about his dog's fate. 

"I said, 'You're not making any effort to adopt these dogs out?' He replied, 'We're overrun.' " 

Chell said, "We never know from week to week what we're going to get in. It would be nice to have more room. We'd like to be able to keep dogs until their adopted, if they are adoptable." 

She said that when the employee brought Lance's dog in "it was one of those weeks when we were crowded with a lot of puppies coming in and people turning in a lot of animals. The dog got mixed in with the ones that we were putting to sleep. It was an accident, and I explained to his wife exactly what happened. If he had only been five minutes earlier." 

Animals vs. ballfields 

Lance said Morgan County spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on ballfields and parks. 

"I'm not kicking that," he said. "I think it's great. But we need to turn attention to our animal situation. That little old place in Hartselle, built about 30 years ago, can't begin to take care of just Hartselle now, much less the whole county. They're in need, as is the entire county." 

Lance said he wants people interested in animals to know the situation and get involved. He is publicly asking the Morgan County Commission to act. 

"I will request that they set up a program for these animals and make them readily available for adoption," he said. "There is too limited a time frame for anyone to get in there and adopt an animal." 

Lance also said the minimum fee of $40 to adopt a dog is too much. 

"I believe if the price is dropped, more people might participate," he said. "I thought the idea was to find the animals a home, not to just eliminate them. This is the message I want out there." 
 
 
THE DECATUR DAILY
201 1st Ave. SE
P.O. Box 2213
Decatur, Ala. 35609
(256) 353-4612