Ariz. Humane Society changes policies after cat killed [View all]

[cowcommander]

PHOENIX --The Arizona Humane Society apologized for "failing" a pet owner whose cat was euthanized, changed its policy of not accepting credit cards over the phone and established an emergency fund for pet owners unable to immediately pay their bills. The policy changes come amid public outcry over the Humane Society's decision to euthanize a cat when its owner could not afford to pay an estimated $400 clinic bill at the moment he brought it in for treatment.

"The agency is immediately taking steps to ensure that the Daniel Dockery situation never repeats itself," Humane Society spokeswoman Stacy Pearson said Wednesday. "We truly and sincerely apologize to Daniel Dockery." Dockery, a recovering heroin addict, brought his 9-month-old cat, Scruffy, to the Arizona Humane Society's Campus for Compassion on Dec. 8 after it suffered a laceration on a barbed-wire fence.

When clinic officials refused to take a credit card from his mother over the phone or wait 24 hours for her to wire him cash, Dockery reluctantly surrendered ownership of Scruffy. He said staff told him the cat would be treated and put in foster care. But on Tuesday, Dockery learned that Scruffy was put down just hours after he left the clinic because of a lack of available doctors.

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/pets/story/2011-12-29/Ariz-Humane-Society-changes-policies-after-cat-killed/52269888/1