A Pompano Beach family is without their beloved family dog after a communication mistake led to him being put down.
Chopper, a 6-year-old pit bull mix who got loose earlier this month, was euthanized just hours before his family was set to pick him up at a shelter, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
"He was like one of my kids," owner Jennifer Micucci told the Sun-Sentinel. "He was the most lovable dog. He played hide and seek with the kids. He was their big stuffed animal."
Chopper went missing back on June 10, after he slipped through the backyard fence. He wasn't wearing a collar or tag, so when he showed up at a Broward County shelter, workers assumed he was a stray.
After four days of searching, Micucci finally found Chopper on Monday, June 14 on an online listing of missing animals. She called the shelter but since it was closed Mondays and Tuesdays, she figured she'd pick him up on Wednesday, the 16th.
When Micucci called on Wednesday to say she'd be there to pick him up early in the afternoon, she received heartbreaking news: Chopper had been put down.
"I was hysterical, I cried for days," Micucci, 29, said.
County officials said a call center employee who had spoken with Micucci on the 14th didn't tell the shelter that Chopper's owner had been found.
Chopper actually lived longer than he should have. Broward County's policy is to euthanize dogs and cats without tags three days after they're brought to the shelter. Since the shelter Chopper was at was closed, he got a little extra time.
Lisa Mendheim, spokeswoman for the county's Animal Care and Regulation Division, said the whole mess might have been avoided if Chopper had been wearing his tags.
"When we see that tag, we know the animal belongs to somebody," Mendheim said. Dogs and cats are required to wear tags even when they're indoors, under Broward County law.
"We have a collar with tags, but that's only when he goes for a walk," Micucci told the Sun-Sentinel. "I don't leave it on 24 hours a day. He stayed inside the house. He's never been loose before."
The call center employee who didn't pass along the info won't be disciplined, but Micucci can't help but feel his death could have been avoided.
"He went missing, and then we found him and thought he was coming home," she said. "And then that morning, to find out he's gone over someone's mistake. It's such a heartbreaker."
