Friday, March 20, 2009

FL TIMES-UNION USDA:Clay dog experiment violated federal animal welfare regulations -- County officials declined comment, said they hadn't seen report

USDA: Clay dog experiment violated federal animal welfare regulations -- County officials declined comment, said they had not seen report

By Beth Reese Cravey Story updated at 1:26 PM on Friday, Mar. 20, 2009

beth.cravey@jacksonville.com
(904) 359-4109


Clay County violated five federal animal welfare regulations in a in September 2008 experiment that involved putting a dog in a non-air-conditioned truck for an hour at midday, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigative report. The incident prompted complaints to be filed with the Clay County Sheriff's Office and State Attorney's Office, both of which declined to file any charges. In addition, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a complaint with the USDA.

In a Jan. 8 report, Robert Brandes, a USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service veterinarian, reported on his probe of the incident, saying he found five violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

According to the memo, the violations were:

• Failure to register as an animal research facility.

• Failure to establish and receive clearance from an animal experiment oversight committee.

• Subjecting a dog to sustained temperatures in excess of 85 degrees, failure to consider alternatives to using the dog and failure to consult a veterinarian.

• Failure to obtain a written protocol for the experiment.

• Failure to document whether the dog was held in the pound for at least five days before being used for research.

County officials declined comment Thursday, saying they had not seen the report nor had received any official word from the USDA. Whether the county has or will get an official USDA warning was unclear. Nolan Lemon, a regional USDA spokesman reached Friday,was not familiar with the case and had no immediate comment but said he would check on its status.

The experiment was prompted by the September death of an aggressive dog that was picked up but died after 80 minutes in the back of an Animal Control truck.

The dog’s owners said the dog was in the truck too long; a necropsy was inconclusive, but one pathologist said heat and dehydration were likely contributing factors.

To re-create and measure the environmental conditions, Animal Control staff put a dog from the pound, of similar size and weight to the dead dog, in the same holding cage for an hour. Weather conditions were also similar. The temperature did not exceed 86 degrees, the dog was closely monitored and suffered no ill affects, they said.

Brandes said in his report that the vehicle met ventilation standards, and the temperature “inside the compartment was always lower than the outside temperature.”

According to Brandes’ report, Animal Control Director Connie Goon and her boss, county Enforcement Services Department Director Bill Bodenweber, said “this was the first research project that was ever performed, and assured me that they will not perform any research activity in the future.”

“This facility is a county animal control shelter, and the employees are county civil servant employees,” he said in the report. He recommended the county receive as penalty “nothing more” than an official USDA warning of violation of federal regulations, or no action at all.

PETA, in a news release issued Thursday, said Animal Control should have known better.

“Clay County Animal Control tried to avoid liability for the tragic death of a dog in its care by apparently trying to kill another dog,” PETA Director of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo said in the release. “We’ve long known that leaving a dog in a car — even on a 70-degree day with the windows slightly open — can be deadly. We certainly didn’t need Clay County Animal Control to endanger an animal to prove what we already knew.”

The dog used in the experiment was returned to the pound afterward. Ultimately, the dog was euthanized after exceeding its allowed stay without being adopted, Bodenweber said.

Animals picked up by Animal Control are held at the pound for three days, allowing the owner time to reclaim their pet. The animal is screened for health and temperament and if it is deemed adoptable after the holding period, it is put up for adoption. The length of time given for an animal to find a home depends on the pound population at the time, according to the county Web site.

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