ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Animal Services is making major changes following the death of a dog that was euthanized by accident.
Earlier this year a dog named Hershey was euthanized just before he was set to be adopted. The death led to a scathing internal review at Animal Services and outcry from local groups.
On Tuesday, George Ralls, the director of Health Services for Orange County, will go before county commissioners to present findings from an assessment of Animal Services. He will also present recommendations to prevent mistakes like the one that led to Hershey's death
About 1,600 animals end up at the county's animal shelter every month, many of which are euthanized.
"The euthanasia process is a sad responsibility of our Animal Services staff. It's not something we want to do, but inevitably something we have to do," said Ralls.
But when Hershey was mistakenly euthanized, Ralls said he started looking at changes they needed to make immediately.
Chairman of the Animal Service Advisory Board Paul Wean was eager to see the proposed changes county Animal Services presented to the county Tuesday morning.
"It was a mistake, we are human. It's a tragedy any time it happens," Wean said.
The shelter is creating a three-person euthanasia team that will oversee every euthanasia procedure.
Now, once animals are set to be adopted they get a different-colored collar than the other animals.
One new veterinarian has already been hired so they now have two on staff. The assessment process will also be transformed so that every dog or cat gets a thorough examination, giving it a better chance of getting adopted and finding a new home.
Staff members have also been instructed to pay closer attention to computer updates when animals are set to be euthanized.
"I know, given 50 animals a day, this is likely to occur and it's likely to re-occur, cause we are human, but we need to be better humans," said Wean.
The changes will also include better hours for working families and a more thorough examination of every animal that comes here.
A team of six people will examine dogs and cats, and for the first time in the shelter's history, they'll use temperament testing commonly used at successful centers across the country.
Animal Services will also put together a spay-neuter campaign. Critics said the problem is that there's no real push to stress to the public how important it is to get your animals spayed or neutered.
The changes will cost close to half a million dollars.
"If we can help with that we're going to put the resources towards it I'll be very surprised if we don't get the four votes in January," Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said.