Dog shot at animal shelter

MOSES LAKE — A doberman at the Moses Lake/Grant County Humane Society animal shelter was shot by a Moses Lake police officer Wednesday.

The animal needed to be killed via gunshot due to its aggressive nature, shelter Manager Theresa Parker said. She was unable to euthanize the animal with an injection because the dog was liable to attack herself and employees.

The dog was raised as a guard dog, she said. Employees were unable to get within range of the dog's kennel to care for it without the animal becoming aggressive.

"Unfortunately we were stuck in this situation, we were asked to help put the dog down," Police Chief Dean Mitchell said. "It's just very unfortunate we had to do it. It was very difficult for the officer to do that."

The officer reported the dog was aggressive, vicious and snarling, Mitchell said. The officer was given authorization to destroy the animal because the county animal control officer, city animal control officer and humane society board veterinarian Dr. Dick Maier were all on vacation and unable to be reached.

If a similar situation happened, the dog would be tranquilized, but the shelter does not keep tranquilizers at the facility and the city officer licensed to use a tranquilizer dart gun was unavailable, Mitchell said.

"This is a very unique situation, I can't remember being asked to do this before," he said. "This is an unfortunate situation."

Former Moses Lake/Grant County Humane Society Board President Harmony White told the Moses Lake council she was concerned with the incident at a Tuesday night meeting.

"I am not sure if it was related to the territorial aggression, but last week at one point a Moses Lake police officer was called to the shelter by the shelter manager," she said.

Territorial aggression is a result of too many animals in the shelter at one time, she said.

Mayor Ron Covey asked White not to discuss the shooting because of a lack of information.

"Having an animal shot in your local shelter isn't a concern?" White asked Covey.

"No, no, no, no, excuse me, now wait a minute please, I've asked you because of the fact that we have been presented with this letter (by the humane society indicating they would close the shelter) just this afternoon, we have some very serious issues to resolve," Covey said.

The discussion was ended by Covey because he preferred to discuss the matter of a dog being shot at the shelter with council when more information is available. He also wished to resolve the shelter situation first.