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Chandler family: Boxy the dog mistakenly euthanized by animal control

Posted: Thursday, August 9, 2012 7:45 am

By Eric English, ABC15

Roberto and Tina Jaimes say their dog, Boxy, pushed open a gate at their Chandler home a week ago Sunday and got out of the yard.

The 8-year-old shepherd mix didn't get far before getting picked up by Maricopa County Animal Care and Control officers.

"Uh yeah, it was there, and we were excited because it was there," Roberto said when he found out Boxy was at the shelter.

On Tuesday, his wife went to pick the dog up, but was told she couldn't pay the $237 release fee by check. The shelter wouldn't accept the check because her name wasn't on it.

"We don't have the cash at the moment, so I said I am going to pay any expenses by Thursday or Friday, so we'll come back for the dog," Roberto said.

Jaimes says he went to the shelter Wednesday, but too late in the day, and the facility was closed.

When the family finally went to pick Boxy up Friday, they learned the dog had been put down.

"We went there twice. We claimed him, and still they ignored us as if they didn't care about the dogs," Tina Jaimes said.

Now the family is heartbroken over the loss.

"We can't imagine life without our dog. We've had him ever since we were little, and then for us to have him taken away unfairly, that's just something we don't want," she said.

Animal Control checked their records for us and confirmed Roberto's wife was there Tuesday, but didn't have any further contact with the family until Friday.

Their policy is to hold dogs for three days.

Jaimes says he didn't know they would put Boxy down and has advice for anyone with an animal that ends up at the shelter.

"If they lost a dog, try to find it right away," he said.

Chandler dog's death serves as warning

Chandler dog's death serves as warning

An expired license thwarted agency's search for owners

by Scott Craven - Aug. 9, 2012 10:02 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Chandler family was shattered to learn that their beloved 8-year-old German shepherd mix, Boxy, had been euthanized just hours before they made their third attempt to retrieve him from a Mesa shelter.

Miscommunication, an expired license and Boxy's aggressiveness played key roles in the death, an ending that Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Director Rodrigo Silva called "regrettable."

And while there are two sides to the story, Boxy's owner Roberto Jaimes and Silva agree on one thing: It is an experience from which others can learn.

It started July 29 when Boxy apparently flipped a latch on a backyard gate and slipped out to explore his neighborhood. When Jaimes, his wife and their three children returned from a family outing, the gate was open and Boxy was gone. Tina, the family's other shepherd mix, remained in the yard.

When the family was out looking for Boxy again the next day, a neighbor told them he had seen an Animal Care and Control (ACC) truck in the neighborhood. On Tuesday, July 31, they were ecstatic to find Boxy at the Mesa shelter. But when Roberto's wife, Tina, attempted to pay the $237 in fines and fees -- costs included boarding, vaccinations, licensing and microchipping -- her check was not accepted because it was in her husband's name.

County policy is that checks must be in the presenter's name, Silva said.

Jaimes said ACC staff members were told the family would be back "Thursday or Friday" (Aug. 2 or 3) to pick up Boxy, but Silva said ACC has no record of that conversation.

Jaimes said he returned two days later, on Thursday, but it was after business hours. When Tina Jaimes returned again about 2 p.m. last Friday, she was told Boxy had been euthanized that morning.

"I couldn't beleive it," Jaimes said. "He was family to us. My kids just cried and cried."

According to Silva, field officers on July 29 responded to a report of an aggressive stray. Once the dog was brought into the shelter, workers tried to match its ID tag to an owner, but the license had expired five years before, and registrations more than three years old are purged from the system.

"Unfortunately, we had no record for this dog," Silva said.

The dog was described as "very aggressive" in two behavioral assessments, Silva said, which are done routinely to gauge whether an animal can successfully be adopted. It also was noted that the dog lunged at passers-by.

"This was not a dog we could adopt out to the general public," Silva said.

He said rescue groups were notified when the dog was placed on the euthanasia list, but no offers were forthcoming.

After the Jaimes family arrived July 31 to claim Boxy, Silva said, the shepherd mix was removed from the euthanasia list. But when the shelter didn't hear from them for the next two days, the dog went back on the list and was euthanized last Friday before the shelter opened to the public.

He said strays must be kept 72 hours after their arrival, and Boxy was at the shelter almost two days longer than that. Still, Silva said, he wished the story had a happy ending.

"We seriously regret that it happened," Silva said. "When something like this happens, we also ask ourselves, 'What can we do better the next time?' Our mission is to find homes for pets. We've kept animals here more than 30 days trying to do just that. But Boxy was just too aggressive."

If Boxy had had a current license, the field officer likely would have driven the dog home that very day, Silva said.

"I would say for licensed dogs, odds of them returning to their owners are 100 percent," he said, adding that roughly 60 percent of the dogs in Maricopa are either not licensed or have an expired license. "That's a big problem."

Jaimes, who said Boxy was gentle with his family but could be aggressive around strangers, said they are continuing to grieve. He wanted to share Boxy's story so others would learn.

"If your dog is in the shelter, get him out as soon as you can," he said.