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Even after six months on the job, SPCA Manager didn't know the basic 96 hours rule *LINK* *PIC*

Williams Lake Tribune
SPCA makes changes after dog put down in error

By Erin Hitchcock - Williams Lake Tribune

Published: January 13, 2009 8:00 AM

1 Comment The B.C. SPCA has put in safeguards to ensure it doesn’t wrongly euthanize an animal again, after a lost 18-month-old Border Collie cross was put down after a veterinarian mistakenly believed it had a fatal and contagious disease.

Jeanelle Cretelli says her dog Maggie went missing at about 9:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve after she became spooked by fireworks while out with Jeanelle’s husband Ryan in the Fox Mountain area.

After Maggie went missing, the family drove around looking for her for several hours, but couldn’t find her. They continued looking for their dog the next morning, handing out flyers and knocking on doors, but got nowhere.

But on Saturday, the Cretellis reached someone at the Williams Lake BC SPCA who told them Maggie was being held at the Williams Lake Veterinary Clinic and could be picked up on Monday, Jan. 5.

“On Monday morning when my husband went to go get her, they had euthanized her,” Jeanelle says, adding that Maggie was born with a nervous problem and would shake a lot. “They thought she was sick and they had no idea that we had been found so they put her down.”

The dog was normally taken to the Animal Care Hospital, so the veterinarian at the Williams Lake Veterinary Hospital didn’t know Maggie’s history.

Since Maggie was born with a condition that causes her to shake a lot, the veterinarian at the Williams Lake Veterinary Hospital thought she had canine distemper, which, according to the SPCA, is a viral, contagious, and incurable disease that can be difficult to verify.

Cretilli says that even if Maggie did have the disease, the Williams Lake BC SPCA branch manager Liz Dighton still shouldn’t have ordered Maggie to be euthanized, as she didn’t have the authority to do so, since she is only allowed to make such a decision after 96 hours have passed.

“They are supposed to do whatever is in their power they can to make the animal comfortable for four days before any decisions are made,” Cretelli says. “Our dog was fine and alive, probably scared on Saturday morning, and she (the woman who the husband reached on Saturday) failed to inform anybody that she had been found,” Jeanelle says, adding that her four young children are especially distraught after learning that Maggie isn’t coming home.

“It was definitely devastating. Our kids are having a hard time.”

Mark Takhar, assistant general manager of operations for the B.C. SPCA, admits the BC SPCA made a mistake.

Takhar says the person who had found Maggie took her to the Williams Lake Veterinary Hospital after noticing her severely shaking.

“The doctor thought there was a possibility the dog might have canine distemper,” Takhar says, adding that based on that belief Dighton ordered the dog to be put down.

Takhar says Maggie shouldn’t have been euthanized since she didn’t have canine distemper and because Dighton didn’t have the authorization to order the euthanasia.

“We can authorize euthanasia of an animal if the animal is in critical distress,” Takhar says. “That means if the animal is suffering so much that we can’t prolong its life without it suffering more.”

But he says only a special provincial constable, such as himself, can make the decision to euthanize an animal before 96 hours is up.

“In this case, 96 hours had not passed. It was done before the time period had elapsed, so that’s where the error was made, because the shelter manager thought it was the most humane decision to put the animal down before it suffered anymore,” Takhar says. “She made a mistake. She realizes it has to be 96 hours. Because of the condition of the dog and thinking the dog may be contagious and might be suffering in some way, she made a decision she was not authorized to make.”

As a result of the error, the BC SPCA has put some safeguards in place to prevent such an incident from happening again.

Included in those safe guards, Takhar says, will be a communications binder for shelters to use that will ensure information is passed along properly.

“We’re going to make sure the lost and found book is going to be used on a regular basis, so if somebody does call in, they’re immediately placed in the binder,” Takhar says, adding that now all shelters know that 96 hours must elapse before ordering euthanasia.

See A LEARNING, page A2

“It’s been made very clear to them what decision is to be made before 96 hours and what decisions can be made after 96 hours.”

He says the BC SPCA has also made the veterinarians aware of the proper procedures as well, and if an animal appears to have a condition in the future, all veterinarians in the area will be contacted to find out the prior history of an animal.

“It’s very unfortunate this happened, and unfortunately something this terrible had to happen before changes are made,” Takhar says. “I’m very upset Maggie had to be the one to make us see what errors were being made and what policies had to be followed.”

He adds that Dighton had only been working at the shelter for the last six months, so she wasn’t aware of the 96-hour rule.

“It’s a learning experience for her at the same time,” Takahr says, adding that the BC SPCA is going to do what it can to help the Cretelli family. “They are obviously grieving right now. It’s hard when you lose a family member, but in the future if they need to look to us for help, we will provide them with anything they need.”

Cretelli, after speaking several times with Takhar, is pleased with how he has responded to the matter.

“He was really great. He told us that when our family is ready, to phone him personally, and he will help us to find a pet that would be suitable for our family and that he would cover all of the costs for having the animal fixed and all its vaccinations and everything,” Cretelli says, adding that she is also pleasedtoi know that the BC SPCA will now make sure a communications book is used and won’t include weekends and holidays in the 96-hour timeframe. “He’s definitely taken care of everything to the best that he can, so that helps us to feel he is definitely apologetic and he is taking accountability for it all,” Cretelli says.

Dighton couldn’t be reached for comment by Tribune deadlines.

Messages In This Thread

SPCA had dog destroyed before owners could claim her
Maggie's owner tells her side of this story *LINK*
I have had way too many encounters with the SPCA where the animal was treated just the opposite of what the SPCA stands for
Even after six months on the job, SPCA Manager didn't know the basic 96 hours rule *LINK* *PIC*
It is 2009, and the SPCA is only now thinking that a Communications Book should be in place?
This practice may be more prevalent than the public realizes
Are these the actions of an animal welfarist or an animal controller?
Is "shaking" on the SPCA's list of reasons it can kill an animal while still claiming not to kill any "adoptable" animals

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