A Petersburg, Virginia, woman is mourning the loss of her pet of five years after she said she surrendered her dog to a shelter and it was euthanized by the time she returned the next day.
WRIC reported that Vanessa Thomas fell on hard times and decided to take her pit bull, Patty, to Petersburg Animal Shelter on Monday.
"She took care of her dog, but you know, she was just in a situation now trying to get herself together," Thomas' mother, Joyce Thomas, said.
"I thought I was doing something to help her, maybe someone would adopt her and give her a home," Vanessa Thomas said.
According to Vanessa Thomas, euthanizing the dog was a possibility, but would be a last resort. She was told that the shelter would try to get Patty adopted or find a rescue to take her.
A release form was signed by Vanessa Thomas saying that the dog could be euthanized. The form also made the dog property of the city.
People reported, citing WRIC, that Thomas changed her mind about Patty and returned to the shelter Tuesday when she was told the dog was euthanized.
"It's not right what they are doing down there," Vanessa Thomas said. "It's not right."
Deborah Broughton, the warden at the shelter, told WRIC the dog lunged at her and was held in the shelter for about an hour until a decision was made to have her euthanized.
"The dog came at me, he came at my leg," she said.
"The owner no longer wants the dog, and I don't know that I have any way whatsoever of obtaining a new owner for this dog," Broughton said. "She has already tried to bite me, she's not happy, she's in a stressful environment and so the odds are just not good in favor of her. What I can tell you is when I make decisions, I try to make decisions so where I can put my head down at night, and feel like I made the right decision, and I feel like I still made the right decision."
Broughton said she followed proper protocol.
Vanessa and Joyce Thomas want an investigation into the matter.
About the Author
