Owner shocked after 'teddy bear' dog put down

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Nick Brady did not know Auckland Council had his dog until after the animal had been put down.

The 43-year-old digger operator was in shock after losing his 'irreplaceable' labrador-staffy cross, Patu.

He did not find out Patu had been picked up by animal management until after the much-loved pooch was euthanised, last Friday.

'He was an irreplaceable dog, it's just so wrong on so many levels what they've done,' Brady said.

Auckland Council has apologised for failing to notify Brady and is working on its lost and found pet process to prevent a repeat of the accident.

Brady had owned Patu for around almost three years after inheriting him from a young Tauranga family.

The dog went missing on September 30 after Brady shifted from his Stanmore Bay home to Glen Eden to help his hospitalised father. He left Patu tied up in the yard but the mischievous mutt slipped his collar and went walkabout.

Unbeknownst to Brady, Patu was picked up from West Coast Road by Auckland Council's animal management team and taken to Henderson Animal Shelter.

Brady rang animal management that day but could not get through to the shelter. Patu was microchipped but he knew some of the contact information was out of date.

He tried calling again for the next three days but did not manage to speak to anyone at the shelter, instead getting bounced back to the council's switchboard.

He left his updated contact details with the council's lost and found pets department, who promised to pass them on to the council's shelters and let him know if Patu had been found.

He tried ringing again multiple times in the following week but still did not get through to the shelter. Because no one had contacted him, he assumed Patu had been taken in by a private individual and not by the council.

When he returned to his house in Stanmore Bay on Sunday to pick up some furniture, he found a letter in the letter box informing him Patu was at the Henderson shelter and would be 'destroyed' within seven days of the date he was found.

Brady called Auckland Council again but was asked to ring back in the morning.

On Monday morning, he finally spoke to someone from Henderson shelter who gave him the bad news: Patu had been put down several days ago.

'I'm just in shock, absolutely in shock,' Brady said.

Auckland Council Animal Management manager Tracey Moore said staff checked for a microchip and registration details immediately after picking up Patu and tried to contact the Brady on the details listed.

As well as sending the letter, shelter staff tried the home phone number listed under the microchip data but this was disconnected. A voice message and a text message was left on the cell phone number attached to the microchip information.

Brady was aware this information would be out of date and corrected it several times when he called council.

Auckland Council has a policy not to  not re-home pitbull type breeds, so 'sadly' Patu had to be put down, Moore said.

'We are incredibly sorry this has happened, and will be looking into how we can improve our processes to ensure this sad situation does not occur again.'

Brady is glad the council is improving its processes for contacting lost pet owners because he does not want his situation to happen to anyone else.

However, he thinks the council's policy of not re-homing pitbull breeds is unfair, and is partly responsible for Patu's death.

'They're just picking on the one breed. If it was a labrador, or a poodle or whatever, he'd still be alive to this day. They're judging him on what he looks like, but they don't even know what he is behind the scenes, what sort of dog he is. They just put them down, not based on who he belongs to or how many kids love him or anything.'

Although Patu looked fierce - he had some pitbull heritage - he was a softy at heart who was great with children and 'absolutely not' a danger to anyone, Brady said.

Brady wishes he had gone to the shelter to check if Patu was there, but in the midst of moving and looking after to his father he did not find the time.

'I'm not making excuses for myself, but I was very busy, and I'm really kicking myself for that now.'

Layla Clements, a vet at Whangaparoa Veterinary Centre, got to know Patu well when he was brought in for treatments.

'I just absolutely fell in love with him the first time I saw him, he was just a big teddy bear. He had such personality and he was such a gentle giant. Wouldn't have hurt a fly, no way,' she said.

She was 'mortified' by what had happened to him. The first time she met Patu he was delivered to the clinic after being found roaming the streets.  

Clements went 'out of [her] way' to find Brady and reunited the pair.

'I was successful in finding him, and reunited them, and I don't know why they can't do the same thing. It's not that difficult,' she said.

'It's not okay, these animals are part of peoples' families.'