Dog’s death leads to policy review

Officials with the city of Post Falls and Kootenai County say they are taking a second look at their procedures after a dog with a collar that contained a phone number was euthanized.

The owner of the dog, Katherine Mitchell, said she was never called by authorities to be notified about her family’s dog, Bluu. She said she called various agencies looking for the dog but didn’t find him until it was too late.

The dog, a blue-nose pit bull, got loose and was picked up by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department and taken to the Post Falls Animal Shelter.

Ten days later it came down with parvo, an illness that is spread by feces and can be fatal to dogs, and was euthanized.

Mitchell said that when she went to get her dog’s body, he still had his collar and tag.

“One phone call when they found him and he wouldn’t be dead right now,” Mitchell said.

Kootenai County sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said a call was made on Nov. 21 by the deputy who collected the dog after a vicious-dog report. He said the deputy reported that the phone rang and rang and no one answered.

“He tried to call the number, got no answer and checked the dog in,” Wolfinger said. “It’s a tragic situation and we’re sorry about that, but there’s a certain responsibility there.”