In Arizona, a rescue shelter euthanized a dog by accident. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this specific shelter has committed such an egregious error.
According to the Daily Mail, The Maricopa County Animal Shelter mistakenly euthanized a Husky named Moscato, marking the third accidental killing in the past four months. Unfortunately, the shelter euthanized the dog after a rescuer sent an email to the wrong inbox. As a result, shelter staff did not remove Moscato from the euthanasia list as scheduled.
Not the first dog accidentally euthanized by this shelter
Alarmingly, similar incidents occurred at the animal shelter in December and January. In both cases, the shelter mistakenly killed the dogs. According to Arizona Family, the shelter maintains a euthanasia list for dogs with severe medical and behavioral issues. Because she was on the list, only rescue operations, such as AZ Husky Rescue, could adopt Moscato.
Alison Nicolosi, the co-founder of AZ Husky Rescue, said, “[Moscato] was letting us pet her, she was so sweet, she was just a scared dog”. Apparently, Nicolosi was actually working on getting Moscato into a new forever home. Unfortunately, when Nicolosi emailed the shelter to remove Moscato from the list, she accidentally sent the message to the wrong inbox.
Afterward, when volunteer Emi Litcof arrived to pick the Husky up, she received the tragic news. “Your heart just dropped to your stomach knowing that there was a dog that deserved to get out that didn’t,” said Litcof.
A tragic end for a lovable dog
Interestingly, both Litcof and Nicolosi believe Moscato shouldn’t have been on the list at all. Specifically, they said shelter staff misread her fear as a behavioral issue. Sadly, Litcof said, “She was very scared in a shelter environment. She had no aggressive tendencies whatsoever.”
In response, A Maricopa County Animal Shelter representative said, “We are deeply heartbroken for what has occurred”. Additionally, a message posted on the shelter’s website said, “We don’t want to see animals suffer, and in their condition, it is not humane to have them in a shelter environment. Euthanasia is always the last resort”. As a show of respect, the shelter is sending Moscato’s ashes to the rescue.
Ultimately, Nicolosi regrets not saving Moscato in time; the loss affected her on a personal level. Concludingly, she said, “We’ve seen so many dogs that were so much worse than she was… she had so much potential to be a really good loving family dog”.
