Frustrated Dog Owner + Wichita County Humane Society Director Give Their Versions of Missing Dog Story [VIDEO]
It’s tale of a lost dog, a frustrated owner and a beleaguered non-profit agency.
On August 28, Miranda VanWinkle’s dachshund Pete went missing. VanWinkle says that upon discovering Pete’s disappearance that evening, she immediately began trying to contact Wichita Falls Animal Control.
VanWinkle says her attempts to contact them were not successful and ultimately the dog ended up in the hands of the Wichita County Humane Society on September 4, who adopted the dog out to a new home on September 9.
"I called [the Humane Society] Tuesday morning after Labor Day and told them that they had my dog, I was going to come first thing on Wednesday morning (9/9) to come get him," VanWinkle says. She then asked if they would hold him for her, and according VanWinkle, the person she spoke to with the Humane Society said yes, they will hold him.
VanWinkle says she called the Humane Society first thing Wednesday morning to let them know she was on her way to pick up her dog and that's when they informed her that the dog had already been adopted out. VanWinkle says she went to the Humane Society anyway to see for herself.
"I saw my dog and I was like, I'm taking my dog home please let me," says VanWinkle. Humane Society staff again informed her that the dog had already been adopted and was only still at the facility to be neutered.
Humane Society director Cheryl Miller says her agency followed prescribed procedures with regard to how long the dog was kept at their facility and adopting the dog out to a new owner.
Standard procedure for both Animal Services and the Humane society is if a dog has a collar it's held for five days, if not it's held for three days before it's put up for adoption or euthanized. Miller says that VanWinkle's dog was with Animal Services for eight days before they picked him up and brought him to the Humane Society.
"'We pulled the dog, brought it to our shelter, it was there four days, and it was adopted," says Miller. "We do not hold animals unless it comes in as a stray, then it's the three or five day hold. But once we pull it from Animal Services it goes straight up for adoption," Miller continues.
We sat down with Van Winkle and Miller to get each party’s detailed take on the story, both interviews are included in the video above.
Here is VanWinkle's original post to Facebook on September 10: