But this is about a pit bull named Diesel. Diesel slipped out of his fenced-in back yard and went for a stroll last Tuesday. Just a block from his home, he was hit by a car. A nearby home owner saw that Diesel was injured and called CMPD. An hour later Diesel was picked up by CMPD Animal Care and Control.
Diesel's owner Joe Gibson put up flyers in his neighborhood and made several trips to CMPD's Animal Care and Control office.
Every time Gibson went to CMPD's Animal Control he was shown dozens of healthy dogs, but not one of the injured dogs. He also posted a picture of Diesel on a bulletin board for lost dogs in the hallway of the Animal Control center.
Each time Joe Gibson walked down the hall, Diesel was only a wall and a bureaucratic mentality of stupid away from being reunited.
Gibson also checked the Animal Care and Control website, but he says it was difficult to tell if some of the dogs were Diesel because of the angles of the pictures and the large number of dogs.
On Monday, Diesel was euthanized minutes before Joe Gibson pulled into the parking lot for the fourth time.
It turns out that Gibson's dog was in a section of the building for injured dogs, which is not open to the public, the whole time.
“No one told me that my dog was in another room, because he had been hit by a car," Gibson told WBT's Tara Servatius Wednesday afternoon during an on-air interview.
Diesel could have survived his injuries, but he was euthanized because Animal Care and Control has a policy that doesn’t allow pit bulls to be adopted out to the general public.
Mark Balestra, the director of Animal Care and Control, told WBT that Gibson is to blame because he never got a microchip for his dog. He said that’s a responsibility of dog owners.
Balestra also said a picture of Diesel was on the website since February 2nd and that if Gibson pointed out pictures that could have been Diesel to employees, they would have looked into each one.
Balestra repeated his indictment of Gibson on WSOC again blaming the owner for Diesel's death. More from WSOC here.
More:
This in not the first time CMPD's Animal Control freaks killed a family pet, a story from WCNC last March is here. And another from September is here.
13 comments:
I really feel for this owner- as a pit owner myself, these dogs are the most loving and playful creatures. I believe the owner did everything in his power to find his dog and I think animal control is at fault here. Shame on them.
How about blaming the owner for not keeping his freaking dog locked up. Irresponsible!! How hard is it to close a door or buy a leash and collar.
Cry me a river about blaming the city. Owner should not be allowed to own another dog, ever.
Hopefully he doesn't have small kids or we'd be reading about them as well.
While I believe the owner should keep his dog locked up. If I have an owner coming in every single day saying "I am looking for my pit, can I see each and every one to make sure it isn't mine?" And you have a pit in the injured animals section, wouldn't common sense say, "Maybe this is it" ? And the director for blaming him for not having a microchip is way off base.
Anonymous 8:19 don't be so evil, dogs get out it happens. In this case someone other than the owner left the gate open.
And Diesel did what dogs do, they follow their nose.
BTW it doesn't matter if its a Pit Bull or a Chihuahua the idiots at the kill center should take some courses in customer care.
And... the last thing I'd do is call the CMPD death squad. Just shoot he dog yourself. You know if CMPD picks up the dog or cat its going to be put to death just as soon as they get through takingics for their facebook pages.
Epic fail, I found a kitten and put my name on the list to adopt it in case the owner didn't show up to claim it and when I returned, they had put it down the SAME day I found it.
If I heard the media correctly, the gate to the fence was left open by a repair man, so it isn't the owners fault the dog got out.
Mark Balestra is an idiot, he's the same person who claimed that his staff was just letting off steam while taking photos of dead cats.
I know there are many sweet pit-bulls out there so I know what Cedar is talking about when he says the "breed of the owner".
You do know that Charlotte won't let anyone adopt a pit bull from them, If they are not reclaimed by their owners they are put down - well unless you have a valid animal rescue group that is registerd w/ CMPD'S a/c. I HAD A PITBULL for 9 yrs until she passed away,I can say from first hand knowledge she was a 100 lb cat...
Gibson family is number three in 11 months. Family pets — pit bulls — destroyed by CMPD AC&C: Will and Tam Harlee, March 2010 http://bit.ly/dObfje; Dara Moore, September, 2010 http://bit.ly/hixMqx; Joe Gibson, February 2011 http://bit.ly/fblAsu
I can say that Pit Bulls don't come in this world to fight. It sad to say that the some owners do this and has given a bad rap to all pit bulls which does not make it right ,but it is the way it is. As for the one that got out on the owner,we all can point fingers, but that is not the answer.
New story, WSOC-TV: Three families, 4 dead pit bulls, past 11 months. CMPD AC&C.
http://www.wsoctv.com/video/26794302/index.html
Justice for Bella [Facebook page]
"Justice for Bella was founded because Jeff's very well behaved American Pit Bull Terrier was shot and killed by Animal Control for escaping through a hole in a fence. We have and continue to walk plenty of miles in our own shoes. What "does... happen"? Dog's get out. It happens. It has always happened. It will always happen. Animal Control is charged with and paid to collect and rehome or adopt out those animals. The current shelter system in America (and very clearly in NC) allows those same shelters to kill indiscriminately those they deem "unadoptable." These include the "too old", the "too scared", "too nervous", or those simply unlucky enough to look like a particular "unadoptable breed." It's disgusting and apologizing for it or blaming pet owners for the killing needs to stop. Jeff's dogs got by accident. It never should have happened. It was an accident. Bella paid for it with her life. The killing has to stop. When killing is taken off the table.....well, let's just say that Bella and Diesel and all the rest would be wagging happily beside their owners." -BR
11 hours ago
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