County officials are examining "procedural issues" after Animal Control workers put to death a family pet that had gotten loose.
By SUZANNAH GONZALES
Published September 4, 2003
D-O-G has gotten loose before.
Once, he went out the doggie door. Then he dug underneath the back yard fence. Then, on Aug. 27, he slipped out of his leather collar, which was attached to a chain tied to a tree.
Next, owners Johnny and Barbi Sowell, of Hernando, were going to try a kennel cage.
That won't be necessary.
After D-O-G, pronounced DOE-gee, got loose the last time, he was mistakenly put to death by Citrus County Animal Control, which, according to the Sowells, had taken custody of him on Aug. 27.
Johnny Sowell went to pick up the dog at Animal Control in Inverness the next day. He paid a $25 fine and said he'd be back at 3 p.m. after he got off work and had his pickup truck. But when Sowell got there, the dog was gone.
"He wasn't in the pen," he said.
After finding his dog dead, Sowell said he got upset and complained. Then, he said, "I left. I just left."
He loved that dog, he said.
The 31/2 year-old German shepherd mix was given to the Sowells' son, Dakota Blake Sowell, on his seventh birthday.
D-O-G was friendly and has never bit anyone, Johnny Sowell said.
"It was an unfortunate mistake," said Barbara Flynn, vice president of Arthur J. Gallagher & Company-Tampa Bay, which serves as the county's insurance brokerage firm and risk consultant.
Flynn would not provide details on how the mistake happened, saying only that some procedural issues are being looked into and that county officials are conducting an internal investigation, which should be completed by Friday.
"They regret the incident dramatically," Flynn said of the county.
Flynn said the Sowells have accepted the county's restitution offer of $1,000 and that paperwork to conclude the process is being completed.
But Barbi Sowell said, "At this point, we're still exploring our options. We've spoken to an attorney."
