Royal was a beautiful lab/pitbull mix at Plainfield Area Humane Society (PAHS). She was only a year old.  She puppy nipped and was in need of training. A rescue was scheduled to pull her out of the shelter on Tuesday, May 31. The rescue was in contact with the Executive Director, Elijah Brice-Middleton, about pulling Royal and sending a couple coming down to PAHS for her. The rescue was also in constant contact with Josh Reyes, the Shelter Manager who is certified in euthanasia. On Saturday May 28, 2022 a family with kids came to meet Royal. The only reason it wasn't a good match was their dog not taking a liking to Royal, but Royal LOVED other dogs. Royal then had another couple coming for her that was going to adopt her; they even had a dog that looked just like Royal, and they were not only well aware of the puppy nipping but also very willing to work with her to grow out of it. They worked with puppy nipping before, and were looking forward to training her. 

The rescue was in contact with Josh Reyes about who was coming and when, and if for some reason the couple didn't come, the rescue was going to put her in boarding.l- either way she was getting out of PAHS. The couple asked to come on Monday, May 30, 2022, but the shelter was closed to the public for Memorial Day.  The couple had an appointment to adopt Royal on Tuesday at 9:15AM. A volunteer went to facilitate the meet and greet and confirmed Royal was alive at that time! The couple informed the volunteer and Reyes that they would be getting off of work a bit later in the day at 1 o'clock. The volunteer facilitating the meet and greet was called and told not to bother coming back because Royal was put down. 

What needs to change:

The Executive Director and Manager need to resign or be fired for this senseless act.

The board members need to resign since they knew about animals being euthanized.

All of these animals need to have a SECOND CHANCE at life and be posted on their website for adoption!

Hire a trainer/behaviorist

Create bylaws that if a rescue is going to pull an animal, the shelter can not interfere. 

Euthanasia should only occur for animals that are severely ill or injured.