Service officer fired in wake of dog shootings

HOUSTON — The officer in charge of animal control duties for the city of Houston has been fired amid claims of overestimating the true cost of euthanasia, information that may have spared eight animals from being shot.

Last week, the four dogs and four cats at the Houston Animal Shelter were disposed of by way of gunshot. City officials claimed the animals had been at the shelter since November, and the city could not afford to feed them indefinitely or pay for lethal chemical injections.

At the time, Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson said the cost of euthanizing a dog started at $65 and was scheduled to increase to almost double that. This figure, he said, was based on information given to him by Community Service Officer Dennis Lords.

Wilson said after he gave the interview for a previous article in the Frontiersman, he called the Mat-Su Borough Animal Shelter. Personnel at the shelter told him they could euthanize animals for far less than $65, Wilson said, raising suspicion about the accuracy of Lords’ numbers.

Wilson had city employees pull the records of the veterinary clinics the city used for past euthanizations. When he called the clinics to check the prices, Wilson said he was shocked.

The city has had a relationship with the Palmer Veterinary Clinic since 2002, co-owner Dr. Ron Williams said. The price for euthanasia today is what it was in 2002, and there has never been any indication this price will go up.

The price charged to the city to euthanize a dog is $25, Williams said, plus another $7 to dispose of the body.

Wilson said if the council had known the real cost, “We would have never permitted these animals to be shot.”

Like many veterinary clinics, Williams said his donates time and services to local animal shelters. He euthanizes animals for the shelters at cost, thus offering the service for less than the $53 charged a private resident.

Additionally, Williams said, “If they had called and said, ‘We will shoot these animals if you don’t do them,’ I probably would have told them to bring them in.”

Williams conceded that a well-placed bullet can be highly effective, but the chances are that at least one of the eight did not go as planned.

“The goal is for these animals not to suffer. You don’t do things like they did. You want the animal not to suffer,” Williams said.

The only explanation offered by Lords, Wilson said, was that he was factoring in mileage, time and wear and tear on the vehicles. This explanation proved insufficient, as Lords was fired Monday morning.

In response, Lords said he did provide the information about the cost of euthanizing animals. His understanding, he said, was that it cost $35 for a cat and $65 for a dog. In hindsight, he said, he should have called the Palmer clinic to confirm.

But even if he had presented the lower number, Lords said it would not have mattered. He was given a budget to work with and there was no extra money for even a $25 fee to an outside clinic. Lords added that he had made every attempt to get the animals adopted out. Cat rescues typically only take younger cats or cats with a litter of kittens. Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue passed on the dogs because they were older than 5 years old.

Julia Durand, the president of Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue, said it’s true the group has an age limit for dogs it fosters. But if the group had known the dogs were to be euthanized, it would have found another rescue group or other people willing to take older dogs.

Without its animal control officer, Wilson said the city is using Plettner Kennels as a temporary location for sheltering animals. Wilson said he thinks one animal has come in since the incident, and it is either at Plettner Kennels or will be there shortly.

Despite the revelation about the costs, Wilson said questions still remain as to why the act was carried out in the way it was. The Houston City Council took these questions to Sergeant Charlie Seidl — the officer who shot the animals — at a special meeting Monday night.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.