The Corpus Christi Police Department has concluded an internal investigation of a city animal control officer who allegedly euthanized a dog prior to a municipal court hearing to determine whether it should be returned to its owner.

On July 30th, 2012 a CCPD Patrol Officer and Animal Control Officer responded to an address on the 3600 block of Wright Street to investigate an allegation of animal neglect. Upon their arrival officers discovered the carcass of a dog that appeared to have died due to neglect, ie-lack of adequate water, shade, etc. The Animal Control Officer impounded a second dog that also appeared to be neglected, while the Patrol Officer generated an incident report for animal cruelty against the dogs’ owner. A necropsy was later conducted upon the deceased dog and the veterinarian determined it had died due to dehydration and excessive body heat.

The animal cruelty case was forwarded to the District Attorney’s office Misdemeanor section for prosecution on July 31^st.

On August 17^th, the Animal Control Officer and the dog’s owner appeared in Municipal Court for a hearing to determine whether the impounded dog should be returned to the owner. A Municipal Court Judge ruled to release the impounded animal back to the owner, assessing impound fees and associated costs. The Animal Control Officer returned to the Animal Control Facility, where he discovered that the impounded dog had been inadvertently euthanized on August 16th, 2012 by another Animal Control employee. Paperwork associated with the impounded dog clearly indicated that it was being held pending the August 17th Municipal Court hearing and could not be euthanized prior to August 28, 2012. The incident was brought to the attention of Animal Control Supervisors, who referred the incident to the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit for investigation. That investigation has been concluded and the employee will serve a one day suspension without pay.

“This incident, although extremely unfortunate, identified a weakness in our existing procedures,” stated Commander Todd Green, whose duties include the supervision of Animal Care and Control Services. “The employee responsible has been disciplined, but more importantly we have implemented a system to prevent this from occurring again.”

The new procedure includes more active participation in the process by the Animal Care Services Veterinarian, and a review/sign-off by at least two Animal Care and Control employees before any dog or cat may be euthanized.

Animal Care and Control Services intakes between 8,000 and 11,000 animals each year.  Animal Control Employees are forced to euthanize between sixty and seventy percent of these unwanted animals.  This can be a heavy emotional burden on employees, who must euthanize hundreds of dogs and cats every month.  As a result, the Department is in the process of securing counseling services for those employees who must perform this needed, but unpleasant, task.