Shelter Error Brings Death to Family Pet

Suzette, a Downey family’s runaway pet poodle, was erroneously put to death at the Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control shelter after family members had claimed the dog and were sent home to get proof of ownership, officials admitted Monday.

A shelter employee, whom officials would not identify, failed to put a tag on the animal’s cage stating that the owner was going to pick up the dog, said Judy Orosco, Animal Control district supervisor.

Mary Miller, the dog’s owner, said she and her son, Dane Foreman, 15, had been searching for Suzette, a 16-year-old miniature poodle, since the pet disappeared April 18. The family had plastered their Downey neighborhood with handbills and placed ads in local papers.

Miller said the family had visited several animal shelters in the area and finally found Suzette at the county shelter just before it closed Saturday. She said she was told to return in the morning with proof of ownership.

Miller, 45, said she returned Sunday with vaccination papers, dog tags and registration, only to discover that the dog had been put to death.

“I began to scream and shout profanities,” she said. “I trusted them . . . when they said to go home and get the papers. What they did was horrible. This has been a nightmare.”

“It was an obvious paper-work error,” Orosco said. “We don’t know what went wrong, but we are investigating it. We can only apologize at this point . . . .”

She said the shelter has put to death without incident more than 6,000 dogs since July, 1988. Shelter records show that the poodle was brought to the facility April 22. The shelter normally gives owners seven days to claim their animals, Orosco said.

Miller said she believed that the shelter might have wanted to destroy Suzette because the dog was old.

The shelter had listed the dog as being blind, Orosco said.

Despite having cataracts on both eyes, Suzette was very active and constantly played with her offspring, Luxury, a 12-year-old poodle, Miller said.