A Queens family was excited to learn that their missing dog has been taken to a city shelter — until they learned that the same shelter put their dog down.
On March 12, Leona, the dog, escaped from her family’s yard and went missing. The family describes their French Poodle-Maltese mix as a loving dog who liked to be outdoors, and apparently liked plants.
“I don’t remember a time without her,” Ericka Leon said. Hours later, the family thought they received good news.
“Then we got that call,” Juan Carlos Leon said. “And we were really excited, because we just assumed that shelters were a safe haven.”
A stranger found the dog and brought her to a shelter in Brooklyn run by Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC), a nonprofit that provides animal care and control services for the city.
The family’s excitement soon turned to devastation after they received a call from the shelter.
”The vet saw suited that your dog should be euthanized,” Ericka said as she recounted her conversation with an employee of the shelter. “And that’s when my whole world just came crumbling down. And I asked them, 'Did you kill my dog?' And they said yes,” she recalled.
A message from the shelter shows the veterinarian decided to euthanize Leona because she was “extremely sick.”
“Leona was blind, she was deaf, she had a heart murmur,” Juan Carlos said.
Leona was also in mental decline. However, the family, which was joined by Councilmember James Gennaro during a press conference Monday, said that should not have mattered.
“Do what the policy actually is, which is care for pets for at least 72 hours until the rightful owners can come forward,” he said. “That’s what they’re supposed to do. They didn’t do that. That’s a problem.”
In a statement, a representative from ACC said, “For dogs with serious medical conditions and especially those stemming from extreme old age who are in pain and suffering, it is the duty of veterinary staff to provide peaceful end-of-life care. This decision is not made lightly but is always made in the best interest of the pet.”
The statement explained, “While the stray hold period is three days, by law if a licensed veterinarian finds an animal that is suffering and in a current state of decline, humane euthanasia is allowable.”
ACC also said the shelter had no identifying information about the dog and its veterinarian made a difficult decision in the most humane time frame they saw fit.
Councilmember Gennaro has called on the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to investigate the incident.
Although she was sick and 19 years old, Leona’s owners had no intention of putting her down. They believe that after Leona entered the shelter, that decision was stolen from them.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t how we wanted to say goodbye,” Ericka said.
After saying their final goodbyes, the Leon family buried Leona’s remains in their backyard.
They plan to hold a rally on April 14 outside of the Administrative Offices of the Animal Care Centers of NYC to protest Leona’s death and shelters that euthanize animals.