Dog’s untimely ‘euthanasia’ blamed on shelter miscommunication

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Dog's death blamed on shelter miscommunication
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A dog in North Carolina was euthanized this week at the Brunswick County Animal Services facility – the dog’s untimely demise is being blamed on a miscommunication at the shelter facility. According to Wednesday’s WWAY TV, Ashly Kron’s dog, “Hershey,” had escaped from his yard while Kron was in the hospital.

When Kron found out that Hershey was missing, she phoned the animal control agency and was initially told that Hershey was not there – when she called back again, she was told that Hershey was indeed at the facility and that he needed to be picked up. Kron told the news agency that she advised the shelter that she needed a few days to get enough money for Hershey’s impound fees.

Somehow, the message that the owner had been contacted and that she would be coming in to get her dog. When Kron arrived to retrieve her dog on Tuesday, she was informed that Hershey was dead – he had already been euthanized because staff was not aware that an owner was coming to reclaim him.

Kron told WWAY TV how Hershey’s death has impacted her, (I am)”Upset, angry, devastated. He was my baby. I’ve raised him since he was 5 weeks old. I just don’t want to see this happen to anybody else because of this pain. He was like my child. And they took him away from me.”

The shelter has pointed out that part of the blame is on Hershey’s owner – it took her 10 days to come to the facility and Hershey was lacking identification which may have saved him from death.

Pets must have up to date identification with clear contact phone numbers as well as a microchip with current information.

(Screenshot via WWAY TV)

More stories at the National Animal News Facebook page.


Horrible situation – woman accused of letting her dogs eat puppies. Read the story here.


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32 COMMENTS

  1. This is an unacceptable event at any shelter. If employees and volunteers are failing to communicate about this, what else is not being taken care of properly??? So sad for the dog’s owner.

  2. I bought a cheap “dog tag” with her name on it with my cell phone number that is with her rabies tag on her collar. If she is lost there is no reason I can’t be contacted. Everyone should do this as a safety thing. If my neighbor finds her hopefully they would call me instead of the pound which would cost me money to get her back assuming I get her back!!! Get a tag with your phone number!

      • Not necessarily, you are assuming they don’t lose the tags (mine have gone through several) and someone is smart enough to scan for a chip. There was a story recently of a woman whose dog had gone missing and 20 months later a vet’s office scanned the chip and then gave the dog back to the wrong person. Nothing guarantees you will get your dog back.

  3. Awww what a beautiful dog…..thats terrible….yes she should have had proper identification, but maybe they should have a better communication system and competent workers at the shelter. Its the shelters fault…she phoned and said she was coming to get him, he was still alive then. I’d be mortified. That should never ever happen. He was a friendly and healthy dog, obviously someone was caring for him, that should have told them something. ????????????????????????????????????

  4. OMG poor poor Hershey and his family. ..shame on the shelter worker that didnt relay such an important message. Maybe someone will not relay an important message to them KARMA to them. Such a shame.

  5. Sure let’s blame it on someone other than the shelter. They are in such a hurry to put animals down that they don’t take the initiative to double and triple check before killing God only knows how much I hate HUMANS.

    • Of course the shelter is going to blame the owner instead of blaming the staff member who took the phone call and failed to let other staff members know that the owner was going to pick up Hershey. It’s scary to think the owner had to call TWICE to find out he was there. Shelter should be ashamed of themselves!

    • Yeah, shelters are kill happy. The woman spoke to someone there and said she was raising money to pick up her dog so that communication should be enough. Someone at the shelter didn’t do their part. I don’t think a tag would have helped either since that phone call didn’t! If you are a shelter worker trying to save lives, you are going to immediately document that the owner is coming, rather than just forget about making any notes regarding this, and therefore, it’s just an “oops” when the animal gets put down by mistake. Some shelters kill them as fast as they can, and those don’t care about animals at all. sickening. Sorry for the owner and her lovely dog.

  6. So sad to hear that the shelter had to kill this lady pup. But it happens all the time. I blame both parties, people need to chip their dogs. Shelter should not be so quick to kill and some shelters including this one hey are known for poor communication as well.. i hear it all the time.

  7. There’s no excuse for a dog having no ID tags whatsoever. Mine have their city registration, personal tags, and Home Alone ID, and a microchip. The fence is secure, but you never know. That being said, Hershey’s owner was in the hospital, and someone else was undoubtedly looking after him. Dogs often escape under those circumstances. Mr. Kron did call about his dog, and Hershey was STILL killed because of a ‘miscommunication’, which SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN! Shelters should do everything possible to save lives, and when a phone call like that comes through, it should NEVER fail to make it all the way to the person responsible for saving that dog’s life at the lowest level. Ultimately, the fault lies with the SHELTER.

  8. RIP Hershey. Of course the shelter is going to blame it on the owner. There should have been a HUGE sign on Hershey’s kennel saying that he has an owner and the owner will be coming to get him. There should NEVER be a “miscommunication” when it comes to euthanizing a dog…..once it’s done, there is no “do over.” My sympathy to Ashly Kron.

  9. Again, these places are not “shelters.” The city and county politicians, and their appointed minions at the pounds, decided about 40 years ago to spiff up their image (INSTEAD OF cleaning up their act) by changing their worded identity from “impound facility” to “shelter.”

    I still call them pounds, and will always call them pounds (or “hell holes”) until they do clean up their act. Can you imagine any other kind of “shelter” keeping it’s dependents in cement blocks or wire cages, and executing them?

  10. One can clearly see from the photo that Hershey was a VERY WELL CARED FOR DOG & was not a stray and abandoned…. Surly they were aware that that owner was in the hospital, and if she had to acquire money to get him released when she got out of the hospital , she apparently isn’t related to Donald Trump!!!… The whole STATE of North CAROLINA are INBREED and NEGLECTFUL< ABUSIVE< MORONIC < NO ACCOUNTS!!! Animals have NO CHANCE of SURVUVAL THERE …. IT IS AN "IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT " REMAKE!!! THAT poor dog didn't deserve being EUTHANIZED …

  11. Absolutely unacceptable. Terrible excuse. Anyone could see that the dog was loved and well cared for. Since Kron was in the hospital she should have been given extra time and she did call and explain the situation. Unfortunately there is no way to right this wrong, but the shelter had better change their policies. In most cases I would say sue their asses off, but in this case all the other dogs would be the ones to suffer.

    • RIP poor Hershey. Run free at the rainbow bridge. You had the ultimate wrong done to you and your mom will suffer a long time because of the incompetence of the shelter staff. You at the shelter had better rethink your ways of doing things and create a better check system so this never happens again. You illegally killed her baby and I hope you suffer for it. NO EXCUSE!!!!!!!!!!

  12. these idiots at animal shelters need to get an education on contacting owners. she was in the hospital. so it took her 10 days, I know it is a long time, but the dog acted friendly, so why kill it?

  13. Oh come on! It’s the shelter’s responsibility to protect these dogs, especially if they are found to be someone’s pet. You DON’T make a “MISTAKE” like this! There is NO excuse for this. An innocent life was lost needlessly and a pet parent is devastated! My heart goes out to Ashly Kron for her loss of Hershey, The Shelter bares most of the responsibility for this, and need to stop blaming the owner who clearly told them she would be coming for her dog!

  14. No shit !! Shelter should not KILL animals that fast. Talking about donation? F…… why donate if they don’t use the money to save dogs? NO EXCUSE FOR THIS ACTION. Don’t blame on someone else for your stupid actions. SHIT .

  15. OMG! How awful! I’m broken-hearted over how so many dogs are treated and not valued in this world. Spay and neuter and identification are the two most important things to do when owning a pet. I think that both parties are at fault here. Very very sad

  16. This excuse of ‘miscommunication’ happens way too often to actually be believable. Either the staff at these ‘shelters’ are all brain dead or more than likely, don’t give a shit. I have heard the same crap over and over about an animal being put down when it was either supposed to be held for rescue, adoption or for an owner to retrieve – it is beyond belief that shelters can be so incompetent not to ensure the safety of animals in their care.

  17. Who was taking care of Hershey while the owner was in the hospital and why didn’t they make any inquires as to the whereabouts of Hershey? RIP Hershey.

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