Jeffrey Horne, the dog’s owner, said he asked Animal Control to take his dog, Chance, temporarily because he was out of town and was concerned that his Pit bull had gotten out of his fenced yard on Cherokee Road.
"I was concerned because children were out playing and I wasn’t sure what may happen,” Horne said. "I have never known my dog to be aggressive, but I was just taking extra precautions since children were playing in their yards.”
Animal Control said they talked to him and took Horne’s dog as he advised.
But from there the accounts given by Horne and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office differ substantially.
Horne said animal control killed his dog without his permission and they won’t return his dog for him to bury at home.
Animal Control officials said Horne voluntarily surrendered the dog and it is no longer his dog.
What remains unclear is why the dog was euthanized in less than the general 72-hour waiting period prescribed through state statutes.
HORNE’S ACCOUNT
Horne was working in Sanford on Wednesday when he got a call from Animal Control telling him Chance was out of his pen, he said.
Horne said the pen was inside of a fenced-in backyard, but Chance managed to escape both.
"I told the (deputy) that I couldn’t get home and my wife couldn’t get phone calls on her job,” Horne said. "He told me they could take the dog and I would have until Monday to fix the fence and pick up my dog or surrender the dog.”
Horne was advised if he surrendered Chance he would have to sign papers at the shelter, according to his account. Horne said he never signed papers nor did he say he wanted to give his dog to Animal Control.
Shannon, his wife, cried about the dog all night so they called Animal Control at 8:45 a.m. Thursday morning asking about the dog. He said an Animal Control officer said the dog was eating and drinking but was shy.
"Me and my father-in-law went out and bought $60 worth of things to secure the pen so the dog would not get out again,” Horne said.
When they finished the work, Horne said it was around 1 p.m. Horne called Animal Control to ask what he had to do to get his dog back.
"The person on the phone said we don’t have that dog any longer,” Horne said. "I couldn’t believe that so I got in my truck and went to shelter. I handed them my license.”
Horne said someone at the shelter handed him the phone so he could talk to another officer.
"When I talked to the officer he said I surrendered rights to the dog and I told him I did not surrender the dog,” Horne said. "Then he said, when a dog shows aggression we have to do what we have to do.”
Horne said he asked to have the body of his dog and was told the dog belongs to Animal Control.
Horne understands nothing will bring his dog back, but doesn’t believe a proper burial in his own backyard is seeking too much.
"Nobody has apologized to us or admitted they made a mistake killing my dog,” Horne said. "I don’t expect they will.”
ANIMAL CONTROL
A statement released to The Wilson Times upon request states Animal Control received a complaint call from a resident in reference to a Pit bull charging at the caller.
"When Animal Enforcement arrived they located the Pit bull on the complainant’s property. The Pit bull started toward them growling and bearing its teeth. The Pit bull had blood displayed around his mouth,” according to the statement.
The officer was able to apprehend the dog and attempted to secure the dog in its owner’s fence several times, but the dog was able to get out each time it was secured, according to the statement.
Both the person who had called and Animal Enforcement were concerned about the dog being loose with children playing in their yards. An Animal Enforcement officer called Horne to advise him of the predicament, officials said.
According to the statement, Horne said, "he keeps trying to secure the dog in the fence but the dog is too strong, it keeps getting out.”
According to the sheriff’s office statement, Horne said he didn’t know what to do anymore.
"The Animal Enforcement officer advised him that he needed to secure the dog or may want to consider surrendering the dog over to the Animal Enforcement,” the statement said. "At this point, Mr. Horne told the animal enforcement officer to go ahead and take the dog because ‘he is so strong, he keeps getting out’ and that he ‘didn’t want any kids to get hurt.’ Mr. Horne advised that he was surrendering the pit bull.”
Animal Control said surrendering a dog can be either verbal or written and once the dog has been surrendered, "the person no longer has rights to the animal.”
STATE STATUTE
State Statute 19A section 32.1 states there is a minimum holding period for animals an animal shelter receives of at least 72 hours.
It also states that in a case where an animal is surrendered and not reclaimed during the 72-hour period that the animal can be returned to the owner, adopted to a new owner or euthanized.
The statute also states that if the animal is disposed of before the 72 hours, the owner has to give "signed written consent to the disposition of the animal before the expiration of the minimum holding period.”
It also states that temperament can cause an animal to be euthanized.
(Wilson Times - July 3, 2015)
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