Dog tossed over fence at Ky. animal shelter returned to owner

CLARK COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - UPDATE: A dog is back with its owner after surveillance video showed the animal being tossed over the fence at the Clark County Animal Shelter.

According to a post on the shelter’s Facebook page, staff members went to the shelter Sunday night for a health issue involving another animal that had been surrendered. When workers got to the shelter, they found another dog.

Workers checked their surveillance footage and saw a man pull up, dump the dog over the fence, and then leave within 90 seconds.

They also checked their emails, Facebook messages, and answering machines and say the man made no attempt to get in touch with the shelter. They say they can be reached by any of those means, even after hours.

In the post, the shelter asked the person to contact them immediately so they can complete the proper surrender procedure.

While our crew was at the scene covering the story for WKYT News at Noon, the man returned to the shelter to claim the dog.

We’re told he had suffered a medical event and went to the hospital, but didn’t know what to do with his dog so he left it in the shelter’s fenced area thinking it would be safe. He told us his plan was to come back and jump the fence to get his dog back.

He says he thought this was his only option, but shelter spokesperson Adreanna Wills says it wasn’t. If someone is having a medical emergency, the shelter will hold their animal.

Shelter officials say a “simple phone call, email or message and this would have been another everyday occurrence for us.”

Many people also don’t know it’s a Class A misdemeanor to abandon an animal. The shelter checked with the county attorney who decided to not press charges against the owner in this case.

Copyright 2022 WKYT. All rights reserved.