Tuesday, November 16, 2010

God Bless And Care For Target......

FLORENCE, Ariz. — A dog named Target that lived through explosions in war-torn Afghanistan couldn't survive a brief stay at an Arizona animal shelter.
An unidentified employee at the Pinal County facility was placed on administrative leave after euthanizing the female shepherd mix by mistake, county Animal Care and Control officials said Monday.
"When it comes to euthanizing an animal, there are some clear-cut procedures to follow," Ruth Stalter, the county animal control director, said in a statement. "Based on my preliminary investigation, our employee did not follow those procedures."
Sgt. Terry Young, the owner of the dog, told The Arizona Republic, "I just can't believe that something like this would happen to such a good dog."
Target frightened a suicide bomber inside a military base and potentially saved dozens of soldiers' lives, Young said.
He said the dog was treated like royalty from then on at the base at Dand Patan, near the Pakistan border.
Young brought Target to the San Tan Valley area southeast of Phoenix in August, when he returned home from his tour of duty.
The dog escaped from the family's back yard Friday. Young put out online notices and contacted TV stations that did reports on the missing hero dog.
A neighbor found Target wandering later Friday, put her in his back yard and called the pound. The dog did not have a microchip or tag.



15 comments:

  1. I read about this earlier and got very upset. Some of the comments were so horrible towards the owner for not having a tag or any kind of identification. This should never have happened in my opinion at that animal shelter. With or without an ID, this precious Hero would have been put down "due to an accident". I certainly do not blame the owner and I think it is very upsetting that this "shelter" just put a Hero down "by accident". Debbie and Holly

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  2. This story makes me emotional, angry and sad all at once. Thank you for talking about it. Hopefully awareness of this serious problem will spread.

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  3. I am with Kristine. I hope that the person who made this mistake is held responsible for this horrible mistake!!

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  4. Such a sad story. I have been reading too many sad stories about our family pets these day.
    Too many "mistakes" are being made.

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  5. This is so wrong. A local shelter here has a program where you can "foster" one of their dogs/cats without actually taking them home with you. You can bring them toys or treats, play with them, visit with them, etc. It's a good option for people who want to help but can't actually donate money or adopt an animal. A friend of mine was in the program and they accidentally put her foster down. She's heartbroken, as I'm sure Target's family is too.

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  6. I read about this story this morning ...I am just heartbroken.

    Your pal, Pip

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  7. I read about this too. It's really ridiculous and how could this kind of mistake can be happened! I'm sad and angry too.

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  8. Such a sad story :( Thanks for sharing.

    Muah,

    Minnie Moo

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  9. Our heart goes out to Target's family. What a horrible thing to have happen...

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  10. I read about this story, it is so sad. My prayers go out to Target. Thank you for commenting on my blog today, so that I could discover yours. I'm your newest follower.

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  11. Just unbelievably AWFUL! We solute you Target...rest in peace!

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  12. It is a horrible story, all the moreso because it was so preventable. There are so many things that could have been different, up until the moment that Target was euthanized, and then we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's just senseless, like events took on a life of their own.
    - - - - - - -
    Jack@PDB
    dog beds and more

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  13. This story saddens me beyond belief. How horrible and heartbreaking! Thank you for posting it and for bringing awareness to us all!

    I found your blog from Maggie Mae's Blog. She posted info about your cash for comments (which I did). You are so wonderful!

    I am your newest follower. I would like to invite you to visit my blog and follow me if you'd like at http://parkavenuechihuahua.blogspot.com/

    Have a fantastic weekend! :-)

    Tina
    Park Avenue Chihuahua

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