Prince William County Police have released a statement on their Facebook page, correcting an Examiner.com article stating that Prince William Animal Shelter euthanizes healthy dogs.
The Prince William Police Department clarified that their animal shelter only puts down animals that have an “unhealthy and untreatable condition.” They were never intending to euthanize Devon, the dog featured in the article. Police spokesperson Jonathan Perok wrote the response in cooperation with Captain Fred Miller, who was acting temporarily as commander of the animal shelter.
The controversy began with the Examiner.com article, entitled, “Dog at Prince William County shelter needs a rescue before Sunday.” “This article is a plea for help to save a dog from being euthanized,” it began.
The author of the piece, Elisa Black-Taylor, stated that she learned of Devon, the dog that was at risk for being put down, from Todd Williams of South Carolina. Williams had saved Devon once before and was willing to foster Devon; however, he would not be able to make it up to Virginia until Feb. 11.
Williams said the Prince William Animal Shelter told him the deadline to adopt Devon was Feb. 9, and so Williams feared Devon would be put down by the time he could make it to Virginia. Black-Taylor wrote an article about it, hoping the attention it garnered would put enough pressure on the shelter to allow the animal to live until he could be rescued.
However, Prince William police clarified that, “the deadline of Sunday was only for an evaluation so that he could be adopted, never euthanized,” and the Examiner has since updated the article.
Miller explained that Prince William Animal Shelter follows Asilomar Accords, in which, “euthanasia is reserved only for unhealthy and untreatable animals.” Such shelters are also known as “guarantee adoption shelters,” although they cannot be called “no kill shelters.”
Perok said that since the shelter must accept all animals, it does euthanize those that are untreatable, but not healthy dogs.
“Healthy and treatable dogs are put up for adoption and are not euthanized to make space available,” he said.
He believes that the article was based on a miscommunication with Williams, and that the reporter never contacted the shelter, nor the police for verification.
The good news is that Devon, the dog in question, may have found his forever home.
Williams, a photographer and dog-lover, is happy to hear that, and said he only wanted to spread the word to help Devon get adopted, a goal he believes both he and the employees of the shelter shared.
“I will start by saying that Devon is in good hands now with a temporary foster,” Williams said. “He is actually with a family rather than a traditional rescue. At this time, they are considering keeping him ; they fell in love right away. I have briefly postponed my trip to from South Carolina to let them spend some time with Devon and make the perfect decision.”
Williams said while the word “euthanized” was never used by the Prince William shelter, he said it was very ambiguous as he was repeatedly told that Devon had to be out by Sunday.
After learning that was not the case, Williams thought perhaps the deadline might be a technique the shelter uses to help get the animals adopted more quickly, saying, “I think shelters do a very difficult job and the employees do everything they can to get dogs out of there as quickly as possible.”
However, Perok said Feb. 9 was actually the date in which Devon became available for adoption.
Williams said if Devon’s current foster parents decide not to keep him, he would like to foster him for a while just to have him in a home, rather than a shelter. Williams said he would keep Devon were if not for breed restrictions in his development, which he describes as an injustice based upon people’s prejudice against certain breeds.
Since the article about Devon was published, Perok said it attracted a lot of attention which was not necessarily a bad thing as it may have helped more animals at the Prince William Animal Shelter that are still looking for their forever homes.
He invites those who would have liked to adopt Devon, or those just looking to adopt or foster a pet, to take a look at some of their other animals by visiting the shelter Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Adoption fees are $45, and there is an additional sterilization fee if the animal has not yet been fixed.
“If you have room in your home and heart to help a homeless animal recover from a short term (30 days or less) set back due to illness, injury, or perhaps age (in the case of kittens or other infant animals), please contact the Animal Shelter at 703-792-5769 and ask for Beate Begley,” Perok said.
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