UPDATE: Family's Pet Accidentally Euthanized, Now Family Calling for Changes
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Updated: 8:22 PM Mar 8, 2010
UPDATE: Family's Pet Accidentally Euthanized, Now Family Calling for Changes
A mix-up that lead to a man's cat being accidentally put down has prompted the Putnam Animal Relief Center to make some changes.
Posted: 2:28 PM Mar 8, 2010
Reporter: Kallie Cart; Carrie Jones
Email Address: kallie.cart@wsaz.com; carrie.jones@wsaz.com
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UPDATE: Monday @ 2:00 pm
PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A mix-up that lead to a man's cat being accidentally put down has prompted the Putnam Animal Relief Center to make some changes.

Terry Humphrey had to take his cat, Kitty Tom, to the shelter after the indoor cat got outside and then bit him. Humphrey's finger swelled up and he went to the doctor to get it checked out. That's when the Health Department caught wind of the incident and insisted the cat be quarantined.

While at the shelter, Kitty Tom was mixed up with a group of Ferrel cats and was later euthanized.

Chief Humane Officer John Davis tells WSAZ.com that the accident has not only left the pet owner heartbroken, but the whole shelter.

"This is the last thing we would ever want to see happen to someone's family pet," Davis said. "There's no way something like this would be considered acceptable."

Davis says that a volunteer mixed up the identity cards that are on the cages. He says that a sign labeled "quarantined" was also missing from the cat's cage.

"We are no longer going to allow volunteers to have any contact at all with quarantined or impounded animals," said Davis.

Quarantined cats and small dogs will now be held in separate room from the other animals.

The identity cards on the cages will also include a picture of the animals to cut down on confusion.

Michael Baughman has worked at PARC for about 18 years. He says that unfortunate incidents like this one show what weaknesses the shelter needs to improve.

"We didn't supervise them as closely as we should have supervised them and we had bad come from it," Baughman said. "I'm certainly going to do what I can to make sure it never happens again."

John Davis says if Humphrey decides he would like to adopt a new pet, the county would be more than willing to handle the fees involved.


ORIGINAL STORY
PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A horrible mix-up has left a family in Hurricane in mourning. The Putnam Animal Relief Center accidentally euthanized the family's cat. The family was offered an apology and a gift certificate to replace him.

For Terry Humphrey, his cat Kitty Tom was like his child. Humphrey and his girlfriend have had the cat for nine years.

"He was a part of the family," Humphrey says. "When it came to me, I was his roughhouse buddy."

But during a renovation to his home, the cat got outside. Humphrey says by the time he found Kitty Tom and brought him back inside, the cat was scared. It bit him on the finger. Humphrey went to the doctor after his finger started to swell, and it was reported as an animal bite.

The next day, Humphrey says he got a call from the Putnam Animal Relief Center informing him that his cat had to be quarantined for five days.

Humphrey says he reluctantly took the cat to the Putnam Animal Relief Center.

"Of course like anyone, you leave out of there heartbroken and everything," Humphrey says. "So I'm counting down the days, and finally Wednesday morning rolls around."

But when he went to pick up the cat Wednesday Humphrey was hit with some shocking news. He was told Kitty Tom was put down by mistake.

Brian Donat, who oversees the center, says it was a "tragic" mix-up. Donat says some volunteers were cleaning the cages over the weekend and somehow Kitty Tom was mixed in with some stray cats.

Donat says the center is reviewing its procedures to make sure this never happens again.

Humphrey says it also upset him that the shelter offered him a $25 gift card to replace his cat.

"You can't replace something that you've had for nine years," he says.

Now Humphrey wants to make sure this never happens again. And he says it will take time to get over the loss.

"There's times I'll be sitting here and I just see something black go past my eyes and I'm thinking, 'No it wasn't him,' but you still see certain things that remind you of him," he says.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Nope Sorry nnot stupid on Mar 11, 2010 at 08:26 PM

Im sorry but im only for dogs but cats are still a good pet. If they were smart which i can obviously see theyre not they should've recheckedfor the paperwork if do say so myself.The boss needs to get his head out of his employee's butt and pay attention to his work instead,oops!! did i say that outloud?I've been there and seen how that facility works and i wasn't pleased,the puppy room is always amess,the catroom stinks,and the big runs are always messy.They really truely need to work on there facility and make it a little more presentable i think.But they should get some employee's that actually want to work there and not just be there to be seen and make everyone feel sorry for them i think too. As for the cat owners i think they should sue them or just the guy who euthenizes the animals or charge him with something because they should've double checked before just going ahead and doing that. That was a little crazy on his behalf.
Posted by: furious on Mar 10, 2010 at 06:31 PM

anonymous... that was the point!!! No one has proof that there is or isn't an "animal heaven",but in my opinion (notice I said "my") since I have been taught and believe about Noah and the ark and "all creatures great and small the good Lord made them all" I lean more toward the side of yes there is an "animal heaven". I don't think the Lord would have gone through all the time of creating them and then saving them from a flood for nothing. I also believe that my God can do anything that I ask of him if he feels that it is what I need. As far as a lawsuit, that never came from me. I do believe people should be made aware of the situation so it won't happen again, but alot of lawsuits could be handled in another way other than money and name calling. Volunteering is a great gift to give of yourself, if you are able. It is a win-win situation, but volunteers have to rules and supervision. Again these are just my opinions... they don't make me right or wrong, but they are food for thought
Posted by: Cherie's world on Mar 10, 2010 at 01:28 PM

Cherie, it sounds like you need to turn off your computer, take another prozac, cash your welfare check, grab that half eaten bag of chips off the counter and click over to the Dr. Phil or Ozzy show and I promise, everything will be ok. It's pretty clear that your mind and soul is confused. That's what happens when you are too lazy to do research for yourself and you let others tell you what is right and what is wrong. You obvioulsy can't formulate an original thought in that head of yours thus allowing the likes of Keith 'THE sportscaster' Oberman tell you what is what. There's a great big, complicated world outside the 'tri-state' area but you shouldn't worry yourself with all that now. Do us all a favor, stop thinking and leave those toughy decisions to the grown ups.
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