AMARILLO, TEXAS -- An Amarillo woman is accusing Animal Control of foul play after her dog, Raider was euthanized Friday.
Ashley Hicks states that she received a phone call Friday afternoon around 4pm that he dog had escaped from her backyard and was picked up by Animal Control. She knew something was immediately wrong from the condition the dog was in. "Breathing was labored. He was totally unresponsive to anything," said Hicks.
After two visits to two different vets, Raider was put to sleep. The cause of death was Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, also known as DIC. DIC is a serious disorder of blood clotting that could be caused by trauma.
Hicks states that it wasn't until Raider was in the care of Animal Control that he was wounded. She believes it was because her dog was a pit bull that it was profiled and then harmed. "I had lost my dog at the hands of someone else," said Hicks. "It was because of excessive force and neglect of someone else and that killed me."
Animal Control Assistant Director, Shannon Barlow states that her staff is not responsible. It had been four hours from the time they received phone calls about the dog to the time he was caught. "The dog had been out running and we don't know what happened to the dog," said Barlow. "Anything could have happened while he was out."
Barlow states that the dog did experience some traumatic damage but none of it was from her staff. “Something did happen to that dog, but it didn’t happen at the hands of Animal Control officers trying to secure the animal, “ said Barlow. “If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t be out there trying to keep things safe for the animal.”
The vet where Raider was taken and eventually put to sleep refused to comment on the subject.
To contact Amarillo Animal Control you can contact them at 806-378-9032
