Mary Jones is heartbroken after her Jack Russell called Max was put down by Animal Anti-Cruelty League Johannesburg (AACL-JHB).
She said this is tragic knowing that AACL-JHB should be looking after their animals, but this action tells her that they did not care for her Max.
“On October 28, 2022, my Max went missing in the Mondeor area. I contacted Jerry at AACL-JHB on October 29 asking if he had any Jack Russell that had come in. I also sent him photos of my Max. I also posted pictures on Facebook and all the vets in the vicinity.
“I mentioned to Jerry that I had adopted Max in March from them and he was microchipped. Jerry replied on October 30 advising that no Jack Russell had been brought in. I sent another message to him on November 16 and he still advised that no one had brought in a stray Jack Russell.
“Low and behold on December 4, I was browsing through AACL-JHB for lost and found animals and came across my Max advertised as Smallie to be adopted. AACL-JHB advised that the Jack Russell was brought in on November 1,” explained Jones.
She said she immediately sent a WhatsApp to Jerry advising him that her Jack Russell was at AACL-JHB and she advised that she would collect him the following day (December 5). She said she would bring in her documentation including Max’s microchip number: 992003000135361.
“Jerry eventually replied advising that the Jack Russell was scanned and did not appear to have a microchip. I replied that I was on my way to collect my Max. Jerry replied that the Jack Russell was not with them anymore, meaning they had put him down. However, according to AACL-JHB you have to advertise the dog to be adopted for 14 days once the animal arrives there.
“I explained my situation to Carren Nickloes, the marketing and relationship manager at AACL-JHB. She had a meeting with her manager and politely told me that they had received a Jack Russell on December 2 from the vet in Columbine Avenue.
“He had no microchip according to them. They said he was aggressive and they put him down on the same day. Nickloes’ manager did say it was their mistake for not putting in a microchip when I adopted the Jack Russell, but I have paperwork showing that they put in the microchip.
“I asked if I could view the deceased dog. I asked Nickloes to scan him for the microchip. I did hear a beep, however, I was advised that there was no microchip in the dog.
“Nickloes and her manager insisted that it was not my dog. I took photos of the deceased dog and compared them to my photos and it was my Max, and they blatantly denied the above.
“We were discussing why the advert was placed on December 1 at 14:48 and my dog was put down on December 2 and he is still being advertised for adoption. I have all the documentation and photos to prove that it is my Jack Russell,” she said.
Nickloes apologised to Jones and her family for the pain they endured. She said as an organisation the AACL-JHB has always taken pride in its positive and intensive impact on the community and their animals for over 65 years.
Their mandate to care for and protect all animals has been the cornerstone of the ethos of the organisation since its inception.
“Sadly, although policies and procedures are in place at AACL-JHB to mitigate any deviation from this mandate, human error or negligence is always a factor where the care of animals takes place. This unfortunate incident has not only left a family without their beloved Max but has also brought to light the impact that processes cannot be neglected or overseen for any reason.
“The management and staff of the AACL-JHB sincerely apologise to Mrs Jones and her family for the unfortunate incident and any stress that has been caused due to the euthanasia of Max,” she said.
The AACL-JHB through their intensive investigation into the alleged miss-handling of the dog as per Mary Jones’s complaint has concluded the following:
“All animals entering our kennels go through an intake assessment upon arrival, which includes, a basic medical check-up, vaccination/rabies, tick, flea and worm control and is canned for a microchip before they enter the general population of our kennels. Should a microchip be found an attempt is made to contact the owner immediately.
“A photo is then taken of the animal to timeously be networked and advertised as a stray animal on our website and Facebook pages. Should the animals be not claimed by the owners after 14 days, known to AACL-JHB as the ‘stray period’, the animal’s status on our records is changed from a ‘stray’ animal to ‘up for adoption’. Afterwards, it will be advertised accordingly, in an attempt to find a new loving home.
“It needs to be noted that any member of the public that has lost their animal and contact us with details to see if it has been handed over to us, the AACL-JHB kennel office staff should recommend that the client visits our premises to personally look at animals in our kennels regularly due to the volume of new animals that arrive until the animal is found.
“This is due to descriptions and photos often shared with us not always giving the best identification to match lost animals with their owners. This is regardless if animals are microchipped, wearing a collar/disk etc. at the time of disappearance.
“All animals that are adopted from us are sterilised, microchipped and with vaccinations/rabies updated before they leave our facility. A medical assessment is done by one of our veterinarians before release to their new family to ascertain the above has been done and the animal is in good health.”
Investigation findings
1. On November 1, 2022, when the Jack Russell arrived as a stray from the Columbine Veterinary Clinic in Mondeor at AACL-JHB, the intake process was done on the Jack Russell in question, where sadly no microchip was detected. A photo was taken of the dog which was then placed into the general population.
2. The dog was not immediately advertised on our website and Facebook platform as being a stray animal. The first time the Jack Russell was advertised, was when his stray period (14 days) was finished and was placed directly into the adoption programme on December 2, 2022. Although Mrs Jones contacted us on a few occasions to ascertain if Max had turned up at our premises, she was never invited to come and view the Jack Russells we had in the kennels at the time.
3. On December 2, 2022, the same day that Mrs Jones arranged to visit us to view the Jack Russell, AACL-JHB general manager instructed the kennel staff to euthanize three dogs due to extensive aggression, she was not advised by staff at the time that Max had not been advertised.
4. The Jack Russell (Max) was adopted by Mrs Jones on March 7, 2022, our records show that he was sterilized and microchipped on March 2, 2022, along with two dogs. Unfortunately, although our records state that this was done, no microchip was found in the Jack Russell when he arrived as a stray.
We are investigating the validity of the microchip placement in the other two dogs, done on the same day. Although animals are given a health check by the veterinarian on duty at the time of adoption, we cannot confirm if they were scanned by kennel staff to confirm a microchip was being read by the scanner, before being released to the new family.
We conclude that this process was not done satisfactorily in the case of Max.
Action was taken in response to the case of Max
1. Disciplinary action is in the process for all staff involved in this incident.
2. Due to staff turnover in the kennels, AACL-JHB management acknowledges the breakdown in management, supervision, guidance and knowledge transfer regarding the kennel staff, this has led to processes not being followed and has ultimately impacted certain animals.
Because the kennels supervisor vacancy was not filled, and the staff empowered to provide leadership, they have not risen to the expectation required in that department, a senior experienced staff member has taken transferred internally as kennel supervisor, to provide leadership, stability and provide any oversight in all procedures.
3. We are in the process of reviewing all our policies and procedures and possible shortcomings.
4. Follow up have been done regarding the other two dogs microchipped on the same day as Max to confirm their microchips are being read by the scanner.
