Animal Control Kills Dog by Mistake

KANSAS CITY, MO. -- A Lee's Summit dog owner is furious after his pit bull was euthanized by mistake. Animal Control in Kansas City admits the mistake and says it's investigating.

Marlin Hatcher wants an apology, something he says he's yet to receive from Animal Control.

"My dog is dead, not coming home, I can't pet him, can't walk him, can't feed him, he can't wag when I hit the door no more," said Hatcher.

Hatcher kept a lot of pictures of his 6-year-old dog, Ox. He might have been a pit bull. But, Hatcher says Ox was gentle enough to snuggle with his kids.

"My youngest daughter doesn't know yet, afraid to tell her, I don't know what I'm going to tell her that's who she plays with, what do I say?" said Hatcher.

"We're doing an internal investigation to find out what went wrong that led to his unfortunate mishap. It's not something that we ever want to have to tell a pet owner," said Lesly Forsberg, Animal Control Director.

Forsberg says Ox was taken from a kennel at 55th and Norton because he hadn't been altered. That violates city ordinance. But, animal control is supposed to give the owner five days to retrieve his pet and make arrangements to get the dog fixed. Instead, Ox was put to sleep less than two days after he was brought in.

Animal Control says a new employee got his cages mixed up and grabbed the wrong dog.

"I'll use this opportunity to express my deepest apologies to the owner. We never want something to happen to an animal while it's under our care," said Forsberg.

Animal Control has offered to help Marlin Hatcher adopt a new dog. But, Hatcher says what he wants is accountability and the assurance this won't happen again.

Animal Control says their employee who made the mistake could face disciplinary action.
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We have a HUGE problem with Animal Control in Kansas City. They are wasting tons of taxpayer money due to the "Pit Bull Ban", going after dogs in yards and taking them out of grandmother's arms while REAL crimes are happening. What about the two dogs found on two separate days with legs cut off? What about people who chain their dogs and they freeze to death?

Wake up Animal Control! There are real crimes going on out there!