Woman Claims Town Euthanized Her Dog Without Permission

A woman from Freeport claims that the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter euthanized her dog without her permission last weekend.

Jessica De La Rosa was joined by Laura Gillen, a Democratic candidate for the town supervisor position, and advocates who have long criticized the shelter, in a press conference outside the Wantagh shelter on Thursday.

According to Newsday, De La Rosa's dog, Oso, who was 13-years-old, got out of her yard last Friday morning. She said it wasn't until she saw a post on Facebook that she found out her dog was at the Hempstead shelter.

The town said that the shelter got a call for a stray dog, which was picked up Friday morning. But the dog, the town said, was in incredibly poor health. Instead of taking it to the shelter for examination, the dog was brought to a animal emergency hospital for evaluation. It was passing blood in its urine, had trouble standing and walking, and wouldn't eat or drink, Town Spokesman Mike Deery said. The veterinarian believed the dog may have been hit by a car.

However, the dog had no tags or microchip on it. The town shelter checked its list and found no reports of a missing dog matching the description of the one they had found, Deery said.

Oso was kept at the hospital overnight for observation. The next day, the dog still wouldn't stand, eat or drink. Additionally, doctors had found a large tumor on its bladder.

"After consultation between the town’s staff veterinarian and the private animal hospital’s veterinarian, it was agreed that humane euthanasia was indicated for an animal that was clearly suffering and had a vastly diminished quality of life," Deery said.

But De La Rosa, Newsday reported, said her dog was healthy and able to walk. She claims she was told Saturday morning that her dog was put down and that she needed to come identify him.

"I didn’t know he was sick," De La Rosa said, according to Newsday. "Everyone loved him and he was able to walk on his own. There’s no need to put down a dog without their owner’s consent."

Photo: Patch