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Microchips, Dogs and Cats :/ 4 Months, 4 Weeks ago
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Karma: 300
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They fail to mention how this same agency euth's pits in the same manner... contacting owners after they are already euthanized... Woops! Your dog had a microchip. Sorry.
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-cat...0304,0,2902088.story
Broward Broward animal control killed family cat despite microchip
Incident raising questions about progress of reform at animal shelter
By Scott Wyman, Sun Sentinel
8:51 a.m. EST, March 5, 2010
For six weeks, the Coombs family searched in vain for their lost Bengal cat, O'Malley.
They held out hope that he eventually would be found and returned because they had implanted a microchip in him with their contact information.
But when Broward County's animal control division found O'Malley in mid-February, it did not notify the Coombs family until after staff euthanized the cat.
"I just think they are euthanizing animals and not looking for the owners or anything because we had gone there and been reassured and were relying on them," Deborah Coombs said. "We were so devastated because our animals are like our children and are part of our family."
The cat's death has the family and county commissioners wondering if the scandal-plagued agency – which was restructured in 2008 after facing criticism for animal abuse and misconduct – has reformed its ways. The county is apologizing, but officials aren't sure what exactly happened and are waiting for an internal investigation to be completed.
O'Malley had been at the shelter four days when officers decided he was too sickly to live. Officials say no chip was found when O'Malley was initially scanned, but was discovered when he was scanned again after death.
The Coombses are even more infuriated over what they say happened when they picked up O'Malley's body to be cremated. They say a shelter employee ridiculed them and suggested they should be cited for O'Malley being malnourished.
An audit of the agency two years ago found food for dogs and cats in short supply, animal carcasses rotted in maggot-infested bags and workers taking valuable dogs for their own profits. Officials were forced to change procedures to reduce the problems.
"I'm furious," said Broward County Mayor Ken Keechl, who led the drive to reform the agency. "I'm tired of it – how many years will this keep going on?"
O'Malley, who was about 2 years old, was a house cat who enjoyed stretching out on a bed and fetching balled-up pieces of paper. The family adopted him as a kitten from Deborah Coombs' father and didn't keep a collar on him because he lived indoors.
On Jan. 3, Michael Coombs accidentally left the cover off a cat door in the garage and O'Malley got out. When the Coombes stopped by the county shelter as part of their search, they were assured the staff checks strays immediately for a microchip and calls the family if one is found.
Microchips are tiny transponders implanted under the skin that use radio frequency waves to transmit information about the pet. The chips can be installed by a veterinarian at a cost of less than $50 and can be read with a handheld scanner.
Animal groups say that microchips are helpful in the return of lost pets, but they warn that chips shouldn't replace collars with ID tags.
Chips, which are designed to last 25 years, can occasionally get lost inside the pet and be difficult to scan. Also, until recently, there was no universal scanner to read all the different frequencies.
Beth Chavez, who oversees the animal services division as the county's community services director, said the agency's policy is to scan all animals and contact the owner. But she noted 20,000 animals a year go through the county shelters and that scanning is not foolproof.
"What happened with the cat is a very unfortunate situation and we do feel sorry to the family for what happened," Chavez said. She could not discuss specifics of what happened because she is waiting for the internal affairs report.
Normally, the shelter waits three days before deciding whether to euthanize or put up for adoption an animal that does not appear to be owned. It makes that same decision after five days with animals that seem to be owned.
The Coombs family said they were called on Feb. 16 about O'Malley's fate. They said they were told that O'Malley had an upper respiratory infection and was so malnourished that he would not have survived much longer.
The Coombses question the validity of the agency's story and say they would have taken O'Malley to their veterinarian if the shelter had given them the opportunity.
They said O'Malley was naturally thin, had long suffered from respiratory problems and had lost muscle tone because of recent hip surgery. They also note O'Malley was clearly a house pet – declawed and neutered.
"We just miss him so much," Deborah Coombs said. "We would have gone there immediately if they had called."
Scott Wyman can be reached at
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or 954-356-4511. |
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