Editorial: A dog bled to death over three days in a California shelter. Could new laws help?
It is a true story sure to bring tears to the eyes of any dog owner: A Siberian Husky ended up in an animal shelter in Orange County after being hit by a vehicle. It was injured and bleeding, but there were no notations from a veterinarian on treatment, like administering pain medications. According to a lawsuit against the county, the animal received only a minimal amount of pain medicine, and kept bleeding and suffering for three days until it died.
State Sen. Janet Nguyen recounts this sad tale as she promotes a bill that would recommend key veterinary practices at shelters across the state to ensure such a lack of treatment does not happen again anywhere else.
The Huntington Beach Republican is also sponsoring a second bill that would standardize reporting by shelters in California’s largest counties when it comes to how many animals get taken in, how many get placed and how many end up being euthanized. With this information, the public can see how well shelters are performing. …
Nguyen’s Senate Bill 1478 would recommend guidelines for veterinarian notations on charts for such things as treatment plans and pain control. The bill would establish how quickly shelter staff would need to see an animal that comes in. Protocols for treatment of injuries and infectious diseases would be set forth, as well as how to manage pain and guarantee proper communication between vets and staff.
“Animals have no voice,” Nguyen says. “So we are their voice. We must treat dogs, cats and other creatures in our shelters with care and dignity.”
A second bill, SB 1459, would mandate that counties with populations over 400,000 report on their websites how many animals come into shelters, how many get fostered or adopted, and how many die naturally or by euthanasia. ...
Click here to read the entire editorial as published in the Fresno Bee.