A Chatham-Kent animal rescue organization is looking for answers after a woman allegedly breached a contract by euthanizing a dog she had adopted.
According to CK Animal Rescue, a woman who adopted a two-year-old Great Pyrenees named Honey had the dog put down without the group's permission -- and now they want justice.
Honey's story started in mid-2018 when the pup was surrendered to CK Animal Rescue after her owners found her too big to handle. From there, she was put in their foster program, which helps prepare dogs for adoption.
Melina McCormick was Honey's foster parent for seven months and is a volunteer with the organization. Besides showing slight aggression and uncomfortableness with other dogs, McCormick said Honey had no major issues and was a happy dog who never showed any signs of aggression with humans.
"We worked on her aggression. I never had a problem with her other than I had to be careful with her with the [other] dogs but, she did get to the point where she could be social with them," said McCormick.
Honey was eventually put up for adoption with a long list of specific requirements to ensure she was taken into a fitting home. When a woman expressed interest in adopting Honey, McCormick said the organization spent nearly an hour explaining Honey's temperament. They also conducted a home visit and held a meeting with Honey and the woman to see how the dog behaved.
"When the person who euthanized her put in the application, I called her, I spoke to her for 45 minutes, we discussed the whole thing, we went through everything and then I told her to think about it," McCormick explained. "She had to send in the application with a 'yes' to proceed or a 'no'. She chose to proceed with it."
McCormick said the woman signed all necessary parts of the contract. The contract also included and a spot where adopters can state any stipulations that would make them return the dog -- Honey's adopter listed aggression towards humans as her stipulation. McCormick said the contract is very clear on its requirement to bring the dog back rather than having it put down.
Honey was adopted in early 2019 and McCormick said at first, the organization received frequent updates on how good the dog was doing in her new home. Then, in early February, McCormick said the adopter went silent and they didn't receive another update. Two months later, on April 5, McCormick checked in with the woman but received no response.
A day later, officials at the organization received a text stating, "Honey is at peace now."
McCormick said she has been a mess since hearing the news of Honey being put down and that the woman breached the adoption contract and strict adoption guidelines by euthanizing the dog instead of bringing her back to the organization.
"The adopter shall return the dog to the owner, which is CK Animal Rescue, if for any reason the adopter is no longer able or no longer wishes to care for the dog. The adopter should not abandon, give away, sell or otherwise transfer the dog to any other person, organization, agency or group," McCormick said as she read the contract aloud.
In the contract that adopters must sign, there is a clause that states that CK Animal Rescue remains the technical "owner" of any animals that are adopted. McCormick said they put these measures in place last year after a dog that was adopted from them was put down by the adopter because it was barking too much.
"The reason we have it set that way, that CK [animal rescue] remains the owner of the dog, is so that we do have recourse if something like this happens where the person has mistreated the dog or whatever," she explained. "If we just say we're the guardians, we have no legal right to help that dog."
McCormick said the alleged reason for the euthanization was that Honey was beginning to bite people. McCormick cannot confirm whether this is true but said she had never heard concerns directly from the woman about the dog's temperament in the three months that she had her and reiterated that euthanization for any reason must be approved by CK Animal Rescue first.
"The adopter shall not euthanize the dog unless in compliance with the items outlined in [Section] 19 and after providing the owner with ample notice in writing. The adopter always has the option to return the dog to the owner at any time should the adopter be unable or unwilling to care for the dog," said McCormick.
According to McCormick, Section 19 states that the adopters cannot euthanize the adopted dog unless it is suffering from terminal illness or old age accompanied by suffering.
"The whole thing is so set up that you don't have to kill that dog, no matter what it's doing, it comes back to us," McCormick said. "If Honey got mean, which she never did here, but if she did, I knew that dog. That lady had no right to make that decision. If it had to be done, I should have been the one to handle Honey's fate, not her."
The organization said they will be speaking to their lawyers this week about possible legal action for what they call a "blatant breach of contract." They have also set up a GoFundMe page titled "Justice for Honey" to help pay for any associated legal fees. McCormick said she hopes bringing attention to Honey's story will prevent a similar situation from happening in the future.
"None of this is going to bring Honey back, I know that. But, it can't happen again. It can't be so easily fluffed off and left like that," she said. "Maybe other rescue groups have had this problem but no funding to pursue it or they're afraid to pursue it."
The section of CK Animal Rescue's adopter contract
