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Jed Boal ReportingWhile pet owners simmer over deadly mistakes, a Utah County animal shelter is trying to eliminate problems that led to the deaths of six dogs.
At least one dog owner says the shelter can change.
We first told you about troubles at the South Utah Valley Animal shelter in Spanish Fork last week. Employees have accidentally euthanized six dogs this year.
The Board of Directors met this evening and heard from those who lost their pets.
Ty McComas and his golden retriever Chopper miss a good friend. His black lab, Belle, was accidentally euthanized at the South Utah Valley Animal shelter earlier this month.
McComas and his wife were out of town, preparing to move when both dogs got out. Both had microchips, so the shelter called McComas and told him they had his dogs, and for a fee would keep them until he returned. But when he went to pick up the dogs, the director called him into her office.
Ty McComas/Pet Owner: "She immediately started crying. I could tell something was wrong. She told us they had accidentally euthanized Belle."
A total of six dogs put down by mistake in three separate incidents.
Ty McComas/Pet Owner: "At first I was angered by it. I asked how that could have happened, and she said protocols set in place that weren't followed."
The shelter paid their fees, and McComas felt the director's remorse.
The shelter accepts responsibility for the deaths of the dogs, and says improvements have been made and future changes are in the works. That's what the ten-member Board of Directors considered in its closed door meeting.
The board will not comment right away because the results may impact employees.
Some of the pet owners who lost their dogs think the shelter director should lose her job, but not McComas.
Ty McComas/Pet Owner: "We're not angry at all. I know that they'll take the precautions to safeguard against it in the future."
A police investigation cleared the shelter director and her staff of any wrongdoing in a case from April. We'll tell you if the board takes action when we get that information.
