Riley’s Short Life

Regarding the story “Human Error Put an End to the Short Life of Riley” in Tony Perry’s column (“San Diego At Large,” Dec. 14), let me assure you that the statement made by the director of the Department of Animal Control to the effect that “mistakes like the one that killed Riley happen once or twice a year” is totally untrue.

As a former reserve officer for the department with 1,500 volunteer hours to my credit, I know that animals get killed by mistake on a much-too-regular basis.

On a number of occasions, I pleaded with shelter administrators to come up with safeguards to ensure that these mistakes would not be made. One suggestion was that different colored collars could be put on dogs that should not be on the “sleeper list.” That idea was discarded without discussion, and obviously nothing else has been done to prevent killing by mistake.

This is just another example, in a long line, which proves that the animals themselves have a very low priority with the Department of Animal Control.

ROSEMARY SHELTON, Poway