Bo, a14-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, was euthanized by city Animal Control after he was found apparently hit by a car. The family, however, claims the dog had a medical condition that caused it to bleed from its nose. The dog did not have tags or an identification chip so the city could not locate the owner. Courtesy of Hance Family.
By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review
A family dog is dead after the city’s Animal Control supervisor violated a city ordinance by euthanizing it without first seeking the advice of a veterinarian.
The evening of Oct. 25, Bo, a 14-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, wandered out of the Del Prado neighborhood home he lived in with Margaret Hance, her husband and 15-year-old daughter. The family was moving furniture and had left a door open, Hance said, not expecting the old dog to escape.
It was over an hour before the family realized Bo was gone. When she called the police after the family briefly searched for him, Hance said she was told by dispatch that Bo appeared to have been in an accident, was picked up by Animal Control Supervisor Mary Jo Frazier, and euthanized.
Making matters worse, by the time Hance called the police station and received the bad news it was nearly 8 p.m. and the city’s animal control employees, including Frazier, had gone home. Though a police officer was sent to her home to offer consolation, Hance said she was given no additional information regarding the circumstances of Bo’s death that night.
“We didn’t get any sleep,” she said.
Early the next morning, Hance and her husband went to Boulder City Animal Shelter where she said they were told by Frazier that Bo was reported to police by a resident, and appeared to have been hit by a car because he was bleeding from the nose and mouth.
They were told that in the time between picking Bo up and arriving at the shelter, his condition declined considerably — with more blood loss and difficulty breathing — and Frazier, unable to locate an owner because Bo was not wearing a collar and wasn’t microchipped, made the decision to put him down.
Though euthanasia technicians such as Frazier are licensed for the purpose of being able to put suffering animals out of their misery, and often do, city code prevents animal control from euthanizing injured or sick animals without the “professional judgment” and the certification of a veterinarian. The city has verbal contracts for emergency veterinary services at reduced rates with both animal hospitals in town. Also, Boulder City Animal Hospital, where Bo was a patient, was open at the time he was picked up, around 6:30 p.m.
“I have no idea why (Frazier) didn’t contact the vet and have the vet look at him,” Hance said. “He may have had a chance but we’ll never know.”
Frazier declined to comment on her actions.
City Manager Vicki Mayes, however, commented on Frazier’s behalf.
“The dog was, in (Frazier’s) opinion, literally bleeding to death in front of her and in extreme pain,” Mayes said. “It was like a mercy thing.”
However, Hance doubts that Bo was hit by a car, and believes that what Frazier thought was an injured, dying dog was simply an old dog with a wobbly strut, raspy breathing condition and routine nose bleeds.
“He looked sickly, he has cancer,” Hance said. “But he wasn’t in pain and he was happy.”
Boulder City Animal Hospital owner and veterinarian Randy Stanton said that Bo was on record as having both a breathing condition and routine nosebleeds, but neither posed a serious threat.
“Nosebleeds may look like something that is major … but it’s not something in and of itself a significant problem,” he said.
Hance said she was told by Frazier that the decision to put Bo down was based on 20 years of experience with animals.
Stanton said that Frazier’s experience is no substitute for professional medical training.
“I have 40 years of experience driving,” Stanton said. “It doesn’t make me a race car driver.”
Hance said her family is not only upset with the city’s role in Bo’s death, but how it handled things afterward.
The same morning Hance and her husband arrived at the shelter and spoke to Frazier, the couple arranged for a pet cremation service to pick Bo’s body up immediately.
“(The cremation service) promised they’d have the dog picked up in an hour. We just wanted (Bo) away from (animal control),” she said.
But that’s not what happened.
Oct. 27, the day after Hance believed Bo was cremated, she inadvertently learned from a conversation about the incident with Mayor Roger Tobler that Bo’s body was not immediately picked up and cremated.
Without informing her family, the city called off the cremation and arranged to have Bo’s body examined by Henderson Animal Control Administrator Gary Weddle, a licensed veterinarian, Hance said.
“We felt we needed to know (what happened) because these people were making an allegation that we killed the dog needlessly,” Police Chief Thomas Finn said.
Finn said Bo was taken to an outside vet because the city wanted an objective opinion.
However, neither Finn, nor Mayes could say whether the city legally had the right to override the wishes of the family. Both said it would be a question that would need to be answered by City Attorney Dave Olsen, who could not speak to the Boulder City Review because he is currently on medical leave.
Weddle could not be reached to discuss the post-mortem exam because he retired the day after performing it. But a copy of the exam results was provided to the Boulder City Review by Hance.
Weddle found that Bo was covered in a “significant amount of blood,” which he believed could have been a result of getting brushed by a car or somehow hitting his nasal area.
“This dog would have required significant veterinary supportive care to have been able to try to save it, it appears from my examination of the body,” Weddle wrote in his final comments.
But after seeing Weddle’s exam report, Stanton said the conclusion was “absolutely wrong.”
“I don’t think (Weddle) could have come to the proper conclusion without having more information given to him about the history of the dog,” he said.
Also, Stanton said there was no indication in Weddle’s report that Bo was hit by a car, such as blood in the wind pipes, or the most common sign, splintered toe nails.
“There was no evidence in (Weddle’s) autopsy of any major trauma on Bo,” Stanton said.
Perhaps no one can say what happened to Bo that day, or what the result of a trip to the vet would have been.
But he is gone and Hance wants to make sure no other family has to go through what hers has been through.
“I’m not looking to sue, I’m not looking to make money out of this. I want (Frazier) out of that job. That’s the bottom line,” she said.
However, if the city does not take action, Hance said she will be contacting an attorney to explore her options.
Mayes and Finn said the incident is under review and it is not yet known if there will be any disciplinary action.
But regardless of any potential city misconduct, it remains that Bo was let out of the house without wearing a collar or being microchipped, Finn said. “(Hance) didn’t identify her dog,” Finn said. “She can blame everybody in the world but ultimately it comes right back to her.”
inadvertently learned from a conversation about the incident with Mayor Roger Tobler that Bo’s body was not immediately picked up and cremated.
Without informing her family, the city called off the cremation and arranged to have Bo’s body examined by Henderson Animal Control Administrator Gary Weddle, a licensed veterinarian, Hance said.
“We felt we needed to know (what happened) because these people were making an allegation that we killed the dog needlessly,” Police Chief Thomas Finn said.
Finn said Bo was taken to an outside vet because the city wanted an objective opinion.
However, neither Finn, nor Mayes could say whether the city legally had the right to override the wishes of the family. Both said it would be a question that would need to be answered by City Attorney Dave Olsen, who could not speak to the Boulder City Review because he is currently on personal leave.
Weddle could not be reached to discuss the post-mortem exam because he retired the day after performing it. But a copy of the exam results was provided to the Boulder City Review by Hance.
Weddle found that Bo was covered in a “significant amount of blood,” which he believed could have been a result of getting brushed by a car or somehow hitting his nasal area.
“This dog would have required significant veterinary supportive care to have been able to try to save it, it appears from my examination of the body,” Weddle wrote in his final comments.
But after seeing Weddle’s exam report, Stanton said the conclusion was “absolutely wrong.”
“I don’t think (Weddle) could have come to the proper conclusion without having more information given to him about the history of the dog,” he said.
Also, Stanton said there was no indication in Weddle’s report that Bo was hit by a car, such as blood in the wind pipes, or the most common sign, splintered toe nails.
“There was no evidence in (Weddle’s) autopsy of any major trauma on Bo,” Stanton said.
Perhaps no one can say what happened to Bo that day, or what the result of a trip to the vet would have been.
But he is gone and Hance wants to make sure no other family has to go through what hers has been through.
“I’m not looking to sue, I’m not looking to make money out of this. I want (Frazier) out of that job. That’s the bottom line,” she said.
However, if the city does not take action, Hance said she will be contacting an attorney to explore her options.
Mayes and Finn said the incident is under review and it is not yet known if there will be any disciplinary action.
But regardless of any potential city misconduct, it remains that Bo was let out of the house without wearing a collar or being microchipped, Finn said. “(Hance) didn’t identify her dog,” Finn said. “She can blame everybody in the world but ultimately it comes right back to her.”
