Floyd was adopted out under the new more "flexible" adoption rules. The adopter had to borrow money to pay the adoption fee. The adopter allegedly killed the dog and buried it. The necropsy shows the abuse went on for several weeks before Floyd was killed. A witness to the abuse contacted a prominent member of the animal rescue community and they made sure the case was pursued resulting in an arrest on June 22, 2016.
Management has said that the adoption protocols had not changed even though the May 25, 2016 Volunteer Newsletter refers to the relaxed adoption rules and adoption counselors confirm that the rules have been relaxed. See articles and County info on this incident.
Dexter was transferred from the low kill Lompoc Shelter to the high kill Orange County Shelter in early March. He was given to a family in a free adoption and returned a week later due to landlord issues. Santa Barbara County Animal Services was contacted about his return but told OC they didn't want him back. Orange County scheduled him for euthanization on May 13. A volunteer asked Orange County to delay the execution date, contacted the County and DAWG and DAWG agreed to take him. Orange County records clearly show the contacts and the responses. Subsequently the County has agreed that any dog transferred to a rescue or shelter that was threatened with euthanization would be accepted back by SB County, but there are some exceptions to this (see story about Arthur). Dexter was finally adopted from DAWG in May, 2017. See his DAWG story here.
Jake was having a hard time at the Santa Barbara shelter wearing a cone after his neuter operation. They discussed him at the weekly care and evaluation meeting and gave the volunteers a week to find a solution for his behavior. Shelter management then met that afternoon and decided to execute him the next day. When the volunteers protested the decision made without their input, the County called this a "miscommunication" and stayed his execution for another 24 hrs. DAWG agreed to take him if a volunteer would foster him. The volunteer had to take him home without knowing if he would be compatible with his dogs. Fortunately Jake turned out to be a great with the dogs and in the house. He was adopted by his foster June 2017. See his DAWG story here.
Butters was a former shelter and foster dog that had several fairly low-level bites on strangers. He became an SB City PC dog and was held at the County shelter for 2.5 months during the hearing and appeals process to decide his fate. Butters was not aggressive to people that he knew and we petitioned the County to have him be exercised according the the HSUS guidelines. The County responded that SB City would not allow him out, and that if they would, County staff could not handle him. SB City would not confirm that this was their mandate and a public records request did not reveal any written instructions to the County about this. Two County staffers confirmed that they could handle him safely. About 2 weeks into his stay, he was allowed to have a few days of exercise. After that, he was confined to his kennel for the remainder of his stay. Ultimately he was released in the custody of a local rescue and is doing very well there and receiving the necessary training. He will soon be looking for a forever home.
Lulu came into the County Shelter at Santa Barbara needing training. The County's trainer, who has had her hours cut to 10 hrs per week, and who has been told that any dog she evaluates has to be guaranteed 100% adoptable, concluded she was unadoptable. As Lulu waited in her kennel, with very little exercise, the volunteers saw a decrease in her level of anxiety and the potential for improving behavior. Nevertheless, the County scheduled her for killing on 11/4 at an 11/2 meeting. It is unclear what rescues she had been offered to as the list varies from dog to dog and is kept secret. DAWG evaluated her on 11/2 and asked for an extension on the 11/4 execution date. They then took her on 11/8 once the volunteer trainer offered to come in and work with her twice a day. See her DAWG story here.
Arthur is a small dog transferred to the Paw Works rescue in Ventura County. He had behavioral problems and Paw Works planned to euthanize him in July, 2016. They discussed this with the County and the County did not offer to take him back even after this was said to be their policy after the incident with Dexter. Local rescue DAWG offered to take him if they could send someone to evaluate him. DAWG was informed that he would be euthanized the next morning at 9am if DAWG didn't take him without any evaluation. DAWG took him and has him in the care of one of their trainers. The trainer reports that Arthur is doing well and has responded well in social situations and with other dogs. He is still available for adoption at DAWG as of July 2017.
Corazon was a senior pit mix who was not kenneling well. He needed to go into foster but the Santa Maria Shelter does not have many volunteers or foster families for this. The County offered him to rescues in a weekly outreach but the rescues were all full with their current dogs. Then the County imposed a one-week deadline for him to be either pulled or killed. Shadow's Fund worked hard to get him a home and asked for a one day extension. When told this would not be granted, they agreed to pull him on Thursday September 1, 2016. The County did not agree to this and killed him that day.
Rico was young dog that was transferred to the SB shelter from the Santa Maria shelter to improve his chances for adoption. Rico was deemed unadoptable by the SB Shelter for reacting poorly to staff approaching his kennel. He did not show this behavior to volunteers and so they were allowed to keep taking him out for exercise. The County also shopped him to local rescues. But he was never given the 1 wk deadline for euthanization which the County applies to high risk dogs, which also forces the rescues to work hard to find a place in their already full shelters and foster programs for a "problem" dog if they want to save his life.
The County allowed a volunteer to hire an outside trainer to evaluate Rico for a few hours and his report concluded that Rico was a dog that was making poor choices but that he was trainable and responded to correction and so this could be addressed. Unfortunately, the actual County trainer paid $36K/yr for part time work is not allowed to work with "unadoptable" dogs to improve their behavior. So Rico continued at the shelter as a Strike 1 dog and was put into a number of situations with chances to get Strikes 2 and 3. On 9/28 he attended a lunchtime gathering with numerous people and lots of flexibility. A staff member approached him from behind and reached to get some food from the table. The dog then leaped up and bit her in the upper body. He was euthanized the next day. Luckily the staff member was not seriously hurt and was able to attend the Board Meeting on 10/4.
Wall-E was a 5-yr old Samoyed-Lab mix who was found dead in his kennel by a volunteer on 9-16. His death is being listed as due to "natural causes". Wall-E's death is being listed by the County as due to "natural causes." There is some speculation that he may have died of bloat, which is due to the stomach twisting or flipping if a deep-chested dog is allowed to eat or drink large amounts soon after or before vigorous exercise. Some dogs also are very active by jumping in the kennels. Shelter dogs are locked in their kennels from 5pm to at least 8am on weekdays and from 4pm to 8am on weekends. No monitoring is done during this time if they develop an emergency condition.
Raven was a 6-yr Lab in apparent good health who was about to become adoptable through the shelter. She already had two people that wanted to adopter her. On Thursday 9/28/2016 she was observed to be in distress in her kennel and was sent to the CARE hospital for emergency surgery. It is not known what their diagnosis was or why they operated. It is unknown if the usual blood tests were done before the surgery or if they showed the possibility that her liver was not functioning well, making surgery riskier for her. She had to be euthanized on Saturday morning. This is the info provided by the Vet Tech at the SB Shelter to the volunteers.
"I am so sorry to let everyone know that Raven was humanely euthanized at VCA CARE early Saturday morning (10/1/16). She underwent extensive treatment, including surgery and several plasma transfusions. It appears at this time that she suffered from chronic, long-term liver disease that could have been caused by an infection, a virus, or a genetic condition. We are awaiting additional test results. She did not recover well from surgery. When it was clear that she was not going to recover, I authorized euthanasia for her. The staff at CARE worked very hard to try to save her."