Animal control officer chooses dog over job
Last month, an animal control officer in Joliet, Illinois, took a dog home from the township’s animal shelter, fearing it had been wrongly labeled aggressive and was going to euthanized.
He got fired for doing so.
Yesterday township officials, while not offering Bryan Jones his job of 14 years back, decided to let him keep the dog — a three-year-old long-haired Chihuahua.
“Wow cool. I’m just excited now,” said Jones, who has named the dog Chewy. “He’s been doing great. This will be good.”
According to the Herald-News, Jones didn’t think the dog was aggressive, even though a veterinary technician had come to that decision.
On Feb. 27, Jones said, he saw the dog with a “caution: I may bite” sign on its cage. A vet technician said the dog had snapped at a visitor. Jones said he played with the dog that week without incident. Fearing the dog would be euthanized, Jones took it home with him on March 2 without notifying anyone.
On March 5, township Animal Control Director Sarah Gimbel sent Jones a text asking if he had the Chihuahua. He admitted he did. On March 9, Gimbel called Jones and told him to bring the dog back. When told he would be fired if he refused to return the dog, he still declined to do so.
The township will send Jones a letter with his final pay, minus the dog’s adoption fees.
(Photo: Matthew Grotto /Sun-Times Media)
Posted by jwoestendiek March 20th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: adoption, aggressive, animal control, animal control officer, animal shelter, animals, bite, bryan jones, chewy, chihuahua, dog, dogs, euthanasia, fired, home, joliet, joliet township, labeled, labels, officer, pets, shelter, shelters, snapped, took
Comments
Comment from TOS
Time March 20, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Chewy looks just like a dog who adopted me when I was a teenager. Chico was devoutly attached to those people he considered to be in his pack, but if a stranger reached for him – yeah, he’d snap. That’s something you might do when you’re a tiny scared pup. It’s a shame Jones lost his job, but good for him for doing what he felt was right!
Comment from Julie
Time March 20, 2012 at 9:49 am
A vet tech not even a vet said this ? Not to mention the damn dog was probably scared in the situation he was in. The animal control officer knows more than a vet tech I guess. Good for him. I for one am very proud of this guy. He is a hero in the dog lovers community. And to see a good story about an animal control officer is very rare.