Woman wants Pitt County Animal Shelter to be held accountable after she says it killed her dog

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Destiny Daniels says after ten days of being quarantined at the Pitt County Animal Shelter, her dog, Kaos, was killed before she was able to pick him up.

“I’m not bringing home an alive dog. I’m bringing home a cold body of a dead dog today,” Daniels said.

A misunderstanding on paperwork turned into a fatal tragedy for Daniels.

While spending a ten-day quarantine in the Pitt County Animal Shelter, the director says the dog was euthanized by accident.

Daniels says, “I’ve never lost a dog before. Never have I had a dog that I’ve had from a puppy and raised up until now so I never really knew how close you can be with a dog or if something happens to your dog.”

On the morning of January 22nd, Daniels made a 911 call after walking in on her niece and Kaos in an emergency. While trying to feed the dog, the three-year-old was bitten.

Per protocol, Greenville Animal Protective Services told Daniels the dog needed a 10-day quarantine. Kaos was taken to the Pitt County Animal Shelter with the expectation that Daniels would be able to pick him back up.

“If my dog would’ve just passed away by natural causes, that would’ve been okay with me but I already know he was in there for ten days, scared, not knowing anyone, and just for y’all to put him down...”

Shelter director Chad Singleton says although APS checked off that Daniels wanted her dog back, a shelter employee did not input that detail into the shelter’s computer network, which led to the accidental euthanization. Now, Daniels has hired a lawyer.

Associate attorney Jonathan Jakubowski of Bart Brown Law says, “I got to see my dog’s wagging tail, his smiling face when I got home. She didn’t.”

Though nothing can bring Kaos back, Daniels hopes no other dog owner will ever feel the way she did because of an office error.

“I want answers, I want something to be done about it and I want someone to be held responsible.”

Jakubowski says historically in these situations, the outcome depends on the jurisdiction you’re in on whether or not they view animals like property or valuable companionship.

Moving forward, Jakubowski says their next steps are going to be to reach out to the Greenville city attorney and to draft a demand letter in the coming days.

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