An otherwise healthy German Shepherd, Odin, was erroneously killed based on short-term adopters words rather than Veterinarian checking microchip. Adopter was contractually obligated to return the animal to the rescue if unable to keep. This dog’s microchip was still tied to the rescue. Both the adopter and the Veterinarian are at fault. 

We aim to ensure this never happens again! Veterinarian practices should be obligated to verify and exhaust all other options prior to killing an animal voluntarily. This would have never happened if the rescue was contacted!  The only option for the rescue is to pursue the adopter for breach of contract, but besides costing a non-profit money to do so, there are no assurances it would be successful, doesn’t bring the baby back, and doesn’t truly change anything that went wrong. 

Please sign our petition to enact change to ensure requirements are added to the AVMA Euthanasia guidance to ensure this never happens again and that we can obtain Justice for Odin including the Veterinarian’s, Weare Animal Hospital and Exotic Bird Clinic of Weare, NH, detailed disclosure of the entire scenario, public apology for these actions, confirmation that they have added the adopter, Jeff Jackson of Weare, NH to all Do Not Adopt (DNA) lists possible, internal procedural updates ensuring this can never happen again, and Odin’s remains released to the rescue.

Here’s more details on the situation -

Odin was added to the NYC Animal Care Center’s kill list in July 2022 after being surrendered and not acclimating well in the shelter. He was described as being unable to be handled and deteriorating rapidly. He wasn’t eating or drinking. My husband and I have saved a prior misunderstood dog off the list, but when we saw a purebred German Shepherd dog (GSD), we knew that we had to help because GSD’s are notorious for not doing well in shelter environments due to their confusion and loyalty. At that time, he was listed as “Duo Duo” and the notes on him were horrible. We had no real idea what was true and what wasn’t. It was obvious he was stranger reactive, but there were so many conflicts in the data that we didn’t know what to believe. Due to his behavior, he was listed as a New Hope Rescue only which means that only a certified rescue could pull him out of the shelter.  We reached out and Pound Hounds Rescue out of NYC stepped up and agreed to support us as fosters for their rescue once again to save this baby.

My Husband picked him up from the Brooklyn ACC and drove him all the way to our house in New Hampshire. He was skin and bones and so sick. After consulting the rescue, they okay’d us to take him to the local emergency veterinarian since it was the weekend. It was immediately evident that this dog didn’t want to give up and was misunderstood. He was loving and allowed all handling. Luckily getting him to the vet at that time and putting him on antibiotics was enough with our support and love to turn things around. After a week of lethargy and significant kennel cough, he improved, started eating and drinking, and bonded with both my Husband and I. 

The rescue posted him for adoption and once he felt better we started meet and greets. Unfortunately, It did not go well and this is when we started seeing what trauma this poor dog had been through. It became evident that he was raised as a protection dog and never socialized. He would hard bark at anyone else and had to know where my husband and I were at all times.  We also noticed that he was trained on pee pads and not necessarily used to going outside. Boy was he smart though! Based on his name in the shelter and his initial responses to our commands, we deduced that English was not his initial training language and he never really got out of his prior home at all. Luckily for us, He picked up our commands and going outside in days. He was so good with us. It was others that he couldn’t be around. We didn’t give up! We knew he had it in him! We fostered him in our home for nearly 6 months. We muzzle trained him. We bonded with him and loved him. I worked from home with him laying on my feet daily.  We even paid to get him fixed and guess what? He allowed all handling and was such a good boy!  

When we finally were able to get a local renowned dog trainer to evaluate him, right before thanksgiving, they agreed that he was able to be rehabilitated! From the first training session we saw huge changes!!!  By this time, we had also met a potential adopter who appeared to be as committed to his rehabilitation as us! This adopter came with us to the training and everything. They would drive nearly an hour to our house to continue walking him and working on their bond.  At the same time, it was now January and I was in the 8th month of a pregnancy. When the trainers felt like it was time to transition Odin to his new home, we were very emotional. Although the adopter had participated in his training and understood his challenges, his wife and family had not. On transition day, I spoke to his wife for the first time and shared that we were here if they needed anything and that we’d be more than happy to help.   She mentioned that they had travel plans and I offered to take Odin back during their trip.

We kept in contact over the next few weeks and based on the comments and the photos the adopter shared, things were going well. Communication dwindled and as we got into the end of our pregnancy we assumed no news was good news. About a week after our son was born, we texted the adopter for an update and we received a text response telling us that he put him down. It broke our heart. We didn’t understand and none of his words made sense. He had the dog for weeks and tried to board him fully aware of his issues. It was only logical that the dog would require decompression and special handling to adapt to anyone new. We had even gifted him with remaining training at the same training center the pup was used to, but he didn’t use it as expected. He claimed they went to other trainers and these other trainers validated his belief that the dog could not be rehabilitated. If you know even the basics of rescue, you cannot judge a dog that hasn’t acclimated to their new environment. He didn’t set this pup up to win and he didn’t follow the requirements of his contract. Had he notified the rescue or myself, that pup would have come back here and been fine. Worst case, we would have kept him ourselves rather than killing him because the world did him wrong from the start. These trainers obviously didn’t realize the adopter didn’t allow decompression and that he attempted to board him within weeks of an adoption. 

The rescue and myself reached out to the veterinarian to try to understand how this could have happened and they are hiding behind privacy claims rather than owning up to their actions in this travesty.  At a minimum the pets microchip should have been scanned and the rescue should have been contacted before the animal was put to death. That microchip was still registered to the rescue!!!

What breaks our heart the most is that Odin died without us or someone who truly loved him. The adopter didn’t even keep his remains. We are truly broken hearted, but nothing can bring this baby back. We spent thousands of dollars on this boy and he was improving! He was loved and happy! All we can hope for is that this action never happens again. We aim to ensure this adopter never gets another animal again and that this Veterinarian and others like it are obligated to ensure everything is done before ending a life. 

We genuinely appreciate your support.