California: Less than 24 hours after being adopted from San Diego's shelter, pit bull attacks and kills Yorkie named Jack

CALIFORNIA -- The 5-pound Yorkie named Jack had almost no chance.

Hours after the County of San Diego adopted out a pit bull named Lyla, the new dog in the house grabbed Jack by the throat and shook him violently.

Little Jack died (most likely from a broken neck and crushed windpipe)

That was in August. Now Jack’s owner is learning more about the adoption, filing records requests and criticizing the Department of Animal Services for allowing her former roommates to bring the pit bull home in the first place. 

Even before the adoption, a note in the dog’s file said 2-year-old Lyla was “not good with small dogs.”

“The pit bull crushed my dog in her mouth, and would not let go for several seconds,” said Tracy Davis, the deceased animal’s owner. “Jack was one of the smallest dogs that exist and it was inappropriate to be unconcerned about matching that dog with my dog.”

County officials said the incident was unfortunate. Spokesman Michael Workman reviewed the case file and said the animals were introduced at the Gaines Street shelter before the adoption was allowed to proceed.

SHELTER IS LYING ABOUT JACK 'MEETING' THE PIT BULL
“Many adopters have other dogs in the home,” he said. “So a dog-to-dog interaction is required. The dog-to-dog (meeting) in this case went well and the adopter and the roommate made the decision.”

Davis, who works as a hydrologist for the federal government, disputed Workman’s assertion that she was part of the adoption application.

She said she did not attend any pre-adoption meeting between the dogs and never gave the adopters permission to bring Jack to the shelter to meet Lyla.

“I was not involved in the adoption process,” she said. “I am the owner of the Yorkie and I did not and would not authorize a dog-to-dog interaction with an adult pit bull with a history of hurting small dogs.”

Jack was 7 years old when he died, had no teeth and was defenseless against a much larger dog, Davis said.

Why is the shelter lying? Because they are so desperate to reduce their "kill rate", due to all the fanatics screaming about animals being euthanized, that they'll lie on paperwork to just get the dog out the door - and hope for the best. 

Just because you don't have other animals in your household doesn't mean this dog won't escape your backyard some day or that it'll drag you by the leash to attack another animal when you're walking it. This dog was clearly aggressive to other animals, had a high prey drive and was NOT suitable for adoption. 

The Yorkshire terrier had been in Davis’s family his entire life; Davis said she took the dog almost everywhere she went and even maintained an Instragram account to chronicle his travels.

The pit bull was first surrendered to the shelter in August, when its previous owner reported that he was unable to keep the pit bull. County notes indicate the previous owner could only have a service dog because he was in the military.

Really what's likely is that the previous owner was moving onto military housing which bans pit bull type dogs.

After the pit bull mauled little Jack to death, it was returned to the shelter by its adopters.

SHELTER GAVE KILLER DOG BACK TO PREVIOUS OWNER SO IT CAN KILL AGAIN

Records show the dog was listed as no longer eligible for adoption and placed on what’s called a “last resort hold,” meaning the [previous owner] had a chance to take the animal back before euthanasia.

“Volunteer notes on the back of this dog’s kennel read, ‘Do not walk out front or around other dogs — very dog aggressive — nice with people in play area though’,” the file notes state.

By the first week of September, Lyla was adopted out again, records show, although the adopters are not identified in the county records.

Davis said her former roommates reclaimed Lyla a few weeks after the attack, when it became clear the county would put the pit bull down. She had moved out of the Clairemont home they shared.

Workman said dogs that appear aggressive in shelters are often still good candidates for adoption, and the county strives to place dogs with permanent homes before they are killed.

“It is not unusual for dogs in shelters to be dog aggressive,” he said. “This dog is people friendly. Without doubt this is a difficult case. It could go either way. Had we put the dog down, would someone have said she just needed the right circumstance? Without doubt.”

Davis said she is now worried for the next dog owner who encounters Lyla.

“The county’s practice of returning dogs to their owners after the dog has killed a person or animal needs to end,” she said.

Davis contacted U-T Watchdog about her experience after the newspaper published a series of reports about problems within the Department of Animal Services.

More than a dozen current and former volunteers said animals were being killed rather than placed for adoption. They also said they were prevented from walking dogs daily and staff too often dismissed volunteers who suggested changes they thought would help the animals.

The county hired a management consultant to review operations, and earlier this year the firm recommended better communication between managers and volunteers. Consultants also suggested the county explore opening shelters on Sundays to increase adoptions, something the county began doing on a temporary basis in October.

The Board of Supervisors will decide next year whether to continue the open-Sunday program after the 90-day pilot period.

(San Diego Tribune - Dec 8, 2016)