Man claims dog suffered fatal heat stroke in animal control truck

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Man claims that dog suffered heat stroke in ACO truck
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A California man claims that his young dog, just a year of age, suffered heat stroke while being transported in an animal control truck. Cuda, a pit bull who would have turned one on the day that he died, was picked up (along with two other dogs from the same household) by an animal control officer with Visalia Animal Services last week after the dog escaped from his yard.

Cuda’s owner, Jeff Barnes, explained what happened in a now viral Facebook post:

Please help me get some justice for “CUDA”. This morning my dog got picked up by animal control after getting out for 15 min and he had chased a cat. The officer said it is standard protocol for him to take “CUDA” then I will have to have a hearing within 10 days to make sure that he is not vicious. Which if you knew this goober that was full of life, he is far from vicious! I saw visalia animal control officer Murad Bayless at 10:15 am. With my dog in the back of his animal control truck.

Barnes claims that when he first saw his impounded dog in the truck, he could see that he was hot (white saliva was dripping from the dog’s mouth) but still “okay.” Barnes claims that the animal control officer admitted that he had not yet turned on the cooling fans in the back of the truck.

Just before 1 p.m., Barnes received a devastating phone call; he wrote:

It was murad Bayless saying that my dog had a heat stroke in his truck and they are at the vet. He said I needed to come down to figure out how I was going to pay for this! No compassion or any customer service from this officer was ever given. It was if this was all my fault. My dog had reached a temperature of 109 while in his truck.

According to Barnes, the heat caused Cuda’s brain to swell and the dog suffered internal bleeding and repeated seizures – the damage was too severe for Cuda to survive. WYFF4 News released a statement from the animal control agency which reads:

“All three unlicensed pit bulls who were loose and involved in the attack on the cat were then taken directly to the Visalia Animal Care Center in a cooler equipped animal control vehicle. When the animals arrived at the shelter, it was realized that one of the dogs, Cuda, was in stress.”

Barnes has started a fundraiser, with the hopes of obtaining a lawyer to make sure that animal services never does anything like this to someone’s pet again – read more about the situation here.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. OMG, the animal control officer admitted he hadn’t turned on the cooling fans in the back of the vehicle yet. A/C only works if you USE it. Of course, the owner has failed the dogs, too. All three were unlicensed. He’ll likely have some fines to pay to get the other two back home. For my own dogs, they are current on their shots (especially rabies), are microchipped, and are licensed in my town. Licenses are just $5 for spayed/neutered pets, so it’s not a large cost. Prayers for Cuda. You didn’t deserve to die like this. Praying that the other two dogs will be okay, too.

  2. Wonder how many other animals have died in this truck (idiot driver to not have fans on continuously in hot weather)……….

    There is a special place in Hell for those who abuse animals……… I hope this POS ends up burning there sooner vs. later……..

    RIP Cuda (& all the other unnamed animal victims that we didn’t hear about because they had no one advocating for them)…….

  3. How awful! Why would a truck that transports animals be VERY COOL? I thought it was against the law to put/keep an animal in a hot vehicle,this was so avoidable on so many levels and poor Cuda paid the price! Cudas owner should of been %150 sure his three dogs had a VERY secure yard BUT animal control is who killed this poor dog! Maybe animal control should be cited for having a dog in a extremely hot truck! SMH

  4. Jeff Barnes is somewhat to blame for this also, his dogs were running loose and unlicensed, and were picked up because they killed a cat. That being said, if the dogs were transported directly to the Visalia Animal Care Center in a cooler equipped animal control vehicle then how did this poor dog end up with “heat stroke”? Murad Bayless has some explaining to do and the callus way he handled the situation is disgusting! No matter what the outcome of the dogs being impounded might have been, the Visalia Animal Services is responsible for Cuda dying of heat stroke and needs to be held accountable! My heart goes out to Mr Barnes and his family losing Cuda like this, such neglect on the animal services part!

  5. MURDERED BY AN IDIOT????MY GOD!! IT’S SUMMER, IT’S HOT!! TURN ON THE AIR !!????
    He probably leaves his pet IN hot car too!!
    FIRE HIM!! FILE CHARGES! MAKE HIM PAY!!
    RIP CUDA???? and deepest condolences to his family.

  6. POS animal control. The owner may have been at fault for allowing his dog free, but, ACO was at fault for killing him!

  7. Yes animal control to blame, no excuses. They live in a place thats hot, and its his job picking up animals regardless of the reason. He should have made firstly sure the cool fan was on before any dog went in. I’d be out for bld and his job.

  8. I encountered Bayless in my driveway last Summer when he returned my handicapped dog to me after he had gotten out of his enclosure in my open garage while we were out back swimming. In a nutshell Bayless was a thoroughly unprofessional and rude jerk. 22 years old, mirrored sunglasses and projected a badcop attitude, questioning me as if I were a murder suspect. When I told him off he retaliated by giving me a 100 dollar ticket. Either he or his supervisor are liars because she said the reason he gave for the cite was false, but let the fine stand nonetheless. I agree this kid should not be allowed to have public contact. Maybe he could clean pens or something requiring less responsibility.

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