Shelter Says Decision To Euthanize Three Dogs Was 'Heartbreaking'

SALEM, MA -- Former volunteers at the Northeast Animal Shelter said they met with officials from the nonprofit Thursday and were told three dogs would be labeled "un-adoptable" and euthanized on Friday. While the shelter maintains biting issues with the dogs cannot be corrected through training, the advocates claim Northeast has not done enough to try to correct the problem behavior.

Julie Orsillo, who initially raised concerns about Northeast in March, said she and other volunteers were told at Thursday's meeting that no decisions had been made on the dogs, but later found out they were scheduled to be put down on Friday.

Northeast Animal Shelter responded with a statement from a staff veterinarian on Friday afternoon, and noted it had been able to save 99.7% of the animals it had accepted for intake last year.

"Unfortunately, this week, we did have to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize three dangerous dogs, all of whom had histories of unprovoked bite incidents to people, including children, and other animals. Our decision was made after review by our staff veterinarian and a certified consulting behaviorist who evaluated these dogs, looked at their histories of repetitive unprovoked aggression, and determined that the likelihood of their causing additional harm in the future is extremely high. This is the last decision we ever want to make, and our staff is extremely saddened, but we also must place the utmost priority on protecting the people and animals in our community," Northeast saud.

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has been conducting a review since late March at the Salem-based nonprofit. Earlier this year, a series of Patch articles looked at problems at Northeast, including how it determines whether or not pets are "un-adoptable." While Northeast bills itself as a "no kill" shelter, that terminology means it does not euthanize "adoptable" pets.

"We are a no-kill shelter, and we hold that mission in the highest regard. In 2017 our live release rate was 99.7%, an amazing record that far exceeds the 90% criteria for a no-kill shelter," Northeast said in its statement. "However, even as a no-kill shelter, there are times when we have to make the extremely difficult decision to humanely euthanize animals who are terminally ill or in acute, irreversible pain or those considered dangerous to public safety."

Orsillo said she and other former volunteers had been trying to get the shelter to hold off on euthanizing Chewie, Duffy and Dancer, who had been listed for adoption on the shelter's Website before being removed from the site last week. Orsillo said their removal from the Website raised concerns that the dogs were set to be euthanized, prompting the volunteers to request Thursday's meeting with shelter director Donald Shapiro.

"We [were] reaching out to other rescue groups for help, if they could take these dogs to save their lives," she said.

More on this story:

• Investigations Raised Concerns About Northeast Animal Shelter (05/31/2018)
• State Conducting Records Review At Northeast Animal Shelter(04/12/2018)
• Shelter's Punishment-Based Training Techniques Raised Concerns(03/26/2018)
• Staff At Northeast Animal Shelter Refused To Care For Local Pets(03/21/2018)
• Allegations Mount Against Northeast Animal Shelter Management(03/20/2018)
• Northeast Animal Shelter Responds To Allegations By Ex-Employees (03/19/2018)
• Ex-Employees Claim No-Kill Animal Shelter Euthanized Healthy Pets (03/18/2018)

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).