Amarillo Animal Control Responds To Accusations Of Being Cruel To Animals

As I said when I first posted the story about Raider, there are 2 sides to every story, and now that you've heard the story of Raider from his owner Ashley, I offer up to you the side of the story as told by Amarillo Animal Control.  They have a bad reputation, but I'm pretty sure dog catchers in every city in the entire world get the same thing.  In order to make a rational decision, you have to take everything into consideration and just use the knowledge you have to base your judgement off.

When I first did the blog Justice For Raider, it went viral instantly!  Like a wild grass fire on a hot, dry and windy day, it just spread out of control.  Citizens sounded off and Animal Control Officers were pinned in the corner with people pointing their fingers at them.

I believe in equality, in fact I'm a firm believer in it!  So I wanted to see what Amarillo's Animal Control had to say about this story so we could keep it fair and balanced.  If you read the story of Raider from his owner and it struck a chord with you, surely you would like to know what Animal Control has to say right?  I know I did!  So after getting contact information from my very good friend Sonja, who is the City of Amarillo's Community Relations Coordinator, I was able to get in touch with the right people at Animal Control and get their side of the story.

As I said in the original blog, I'm not pointing fingers in any direction at all!  I'm merely the messenger.  Just as Ashley emailed me her side of the story and I posted it, I am doing the exact same thing with Animal Control.  I'm in no way shape or fashion taking any side in this case for the sake of my own sanity I need to stay neutral in this case.  So, I allow you to make up your own mind.  The bliss of free will!

Amarillo's Animal Control sent me this:

"Dallas,

Thank you for the opportunity to share the facts of the case with your audience.  We appreciate an open and fair venue in which to educate the public about Amarillo Animal Control.

First of all I want to ease any fears or concerns about animal control officers abusing animals.  Our animal control personnel are some of the most loving and caring individuals I have had the honor of working with.  I can assure the public, Animal Control does not abuse or mistreat animals.  With that said, the facts of the case are as follows:

On March 8, 2013 at 9:48am we started receiving calls about 2 dogs running at large around the 5100 block of Matador.  Officers were working higher priority calls at the time and were able to arrive around 1:50pm.  Upon arrival they did find the pit bull “Raider” running at large and in and out of a hole in his fence at 5108 Matador.  Unable to secure the dog without help, the officer called for assistance.  2 officers secured the perimeter and the other officer helped her capture “Raider.”  The dog was very aggressive towards the officers but they were still able to use accepted procedure to capture him and load him on the truck.  He did walk to the truck but the officers could see he was very hot and stressed.  He was given water on the scene and then immediately transported to the Animal Control Shelter where he got additional water, but continued to deteriorate physically.  The owner was contacted from “Raider’s” identification tag and she was told he was in distress.  He was picked up a short time later by the owner and taken to a local veterinarian.  When he left here, he was not walking. Our understanding is, he was taken to a veterinarian in Dalhart later that evening.

We do not know for sure what happened to him in the 4 hours prior to our arrival.  We do know animal control officers did not abuse him or injure him in any way.  “Raider” was euthanized due to a condition called DIC which is a clotting disorder secondary to extreme stress or trauma.  He was not diagnosed with a broken neck, however the owner was told by the veterinarian he possibly could have a cervical subluxation, but could not be definitive without an MRI and radiologist to read it.  He said even then, it was a most subjective diagnosis.

No doubt something traumatic happened to “Raider” that day.  However, the dog was running loose for several hours. He had several areas under the fence where he had been digging out and he had broken out through pickets in his own fence. In the past, he had been seen at the elementary school on numerous occasions chasing children. On the day of this incident he charged an elderly woman.

Sadly, this was a case of a dog running at large because he was not confined to his property.  It was not a case of abuse or neglect on behalf of Animal Control. We certainly sympathize with the owner and her friends in the loss of “Raider.”  Hopefully if anything positive comes out of this, it will be an increased awareness on the importance of responsible pet ownership, and the need to keep our pets secure – for their safety as well as the public’s."

So, after reading that, it's all up to you to make up your own mind.  I think many fine points were made in the response by Animal Control, but the MAIN point I would like to emphasize on is "keeping your pets secure".

I have a pit bull, a presa canario and a chihuahua, yeah 3 dogs, oh yeah and a cat.  So what I have a petting zoo at my house lol.  Anyways, if you think a pit bull is a big strong dog, look at a presa canario sometime and be prepared to have your mind blown!  They're like gigantic pit bulls on steroids!  My dog, Nena, the presa canario, is by far the strongest of all my animals.  Her strength never ceases to amaze me!  She can literally walk up to our fence and she will like head-butt the fence, but with her nose, we call it fisting lol!  Anyways she can walk up to our fence and just smack a picket with her freaking nose and snap the pickets clean in half.  I always thought the nose was the most sensitive part of a dogs body, apparently my dogs nose is so strong she can bend steel with it!

Knowing this, and knowing her, I have a 2 fence set up going for my backyard just to prevent them from getting out.  I have my wooden picket fence and on the other side is a chain-link fence.  So there is no way she can get out, even with her breaking the pickets out.

What I suggest to pet owners is double check your fence, look for wholes where the dog could maybe escape.  Another big thing to look for is spots being dug along the fence.  A big dog really only needs to dig out about 6-10 inches of clearance to be able and squeeze itself under the fence, so that's a big thing to look for in your yard!

Again, I want to make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that I am in no way siding with anyone in this situation!  I'm giving you this information so thatyou can make up your own mind and draw your own conclusions as to what happened! I just wanted to preface on a few points and really in the end show you that we can all learn something from this!

I've learned that I need to pet my dogs a little more, spend a little more time walking them, throwing the Frisbee, taking them to Palo Duro Canyon.  I've learned that I need to show my dogs that I love them and let them sit in my lap even though they weigh over 100 pounds.  I've learned that I can't take my babies for granted and everyday with my dogs is similar to a day with my child, because they are my children.

So if you take anything from this story, in my opinion, it should be "love your dogs and protect them like they were your children."  Would you put your child in the backyard by their self if there was even the slightest chance of them some how getting out and running off or being kidnapped?