California: "This dog did not kill a person." San Diego County Animal Services dismisses woman's anger after they adopted out a pit bull they knew was vicious. It killed her Yorkie less than 24 hours after being brought to the home.

CALIFORNIA -- Officials at the county Department of Animal Services expect no changes in policy or practice following the killing of a five-pound Yorkshire terrier by a pit bull they allowed to be adopted even though the dog’s case file noted the animal was not safe around small dogs.

Spokesman Michael Workman said there is “nothing planned at this time” as far as any response to the August attack profiled last week in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Michael Workman has no problem adopting out vicious, killer dogs but God forbid an elderly woman on a motorized scooter walk her 11 year-old Pekingese without a leash! -- "Neighbors Outraged When Woman, 79, Slapped With Animal Control Citation"

Jack, a 7-year-old Yorkie owned by San Diego hydrologist Tracy Davis, was killed hours after the county animal shelter allowed Davis’s roommates to take home a much larger, 2-year-old pit bull noted to have aggressive tendencies toward smaller dogs.

“The shelter and adopters used my dog to test if the pit bull was not good with small dogs,” Davis said. “They were wrong to do that, and they were wrong about the pit bull not being dangerous.”

Workman rejected Davis’s plea to stop allowing pit bulls or other dogs with a history of violence to be adopted into homes in which other pets might be harmed.

“The policy allows for circumstances to be considered,” he said. “This dog did not kill a person.”

Davis told the Union-Tribune last week that her 5-pound dog was mauled by a 2-year-old pit bull JUST ONE DAY after county shelter officials adopted the dog to her roommates.

Records show the pit bull was KNOWN to be “not good with small dogs.” County officials approved the adoption nonetheless. 

Less than 24 hours later, at its new home, the pit bull grabbed the Yorkie in its mouth and shook it violently, Davis said. Jack, who was toothless and unable to defend himself, died soon after.

Davis moved out of the Clairemont home within days and the unidentified roommates returned the pit bull to the county shelter on Gaines Street in San Diego.

The pit bull was listed as “very dog aggressive” and no longer adoptable, but shelter officials allowed the roommates to reclaim the animal about two weeks later, records show.

“Generally speaking, when a person voluntarily relinquishes a pet, it is their pet, they are the owner, until that pet is adopted by someone else,” Workman said. “They can come in and reclaim that pet before that. That is what this owner did.”

In recounting her ordeal last week, Davis urged county officials to rethink a policy that apparently allows pit bulls identified as aggressive toward other dogs — or humans — to be placed back into the community.

“The county needs to stop promoting the adoption of pit bulls as if they are any other breed,” she said. “The county's practice of returning dogs to their owners after the dog has killed a person or animal needs to end.”

When asked for a copy of the policy governing dogs who have killed or attacked people or animals, Workman provided a section of the existing policy and procedure manual for the Department of Animal Services.

The four-page document was last revised in April 2014.

“Animals that are generally not made available for adoption include animals that … pose an unreasonable risk of harm to people or animals,” the policy states. “An animal that is generally ineligible for adoption may be placed with an appropriate agency, adoption partner, 501(c)(3) animal adoption organization or a qualified individual with the approval of the deputy director or designee.”

Nothing in the policy section provided defines what a “qualified individual” is for purposes of placing a dog otherwise not made available for adoption.

The section provided by Workman also makes no reference to an owner who surrenders a violent dog and then seeks to reclaim it — something the county allowed in this instance.

"NO KILL" POLICY MEANS YOU, YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR PETS ARE AT RISK

The department’s three animal shelters are under continuing pressure to find homes for as many dogs and cats as they can under a “no kill “ policy officials agreed to last year.

Because they are so desperate to reduce their "kill rate" due to all the fanatics screaming about animals being euthanized, they'll lie on paperwork and to potential adopters just to get the dog out the door - and hope for the best. After all, when something happens, what consequence is it to them? They shrug their shoulders and say 'Oh well'.

This dog should never have been adopted out. And it should not have been returned to its original owner to attack again. It should have been euthanized.

(San Diego Union Tribune - Dec 17, 2016)

Earlier:

• California: Pit bull adopted from county shelter kills woman's 5-pound Yorkie. Shelter gives the killer dog back to its previous owner