A dog in the custody of the Parlier Animal Control Service has been found dead after spending nearly three days outside without enough food and water.
 
The City’s animal shelter is run by the Parlier Police Department. Chief Jose Flores said on Wednesday that a mixed breed female dog was supposed to be picked up by an animal rescue worker on Friday, but that worker didn’t show up until Sunday. Flores said it’s a tragic case of miscommunication and assumptions made by some of his staff.
 
Chief Flores said his animal control officer made an assumption that the dog was going to be picked up on Friday. The shelter is closed on the weekends. The officer allegedly left the dog in a cage with water and food, but only left enough with the thought the dog was going to picked up immediately. The animal rescue worker didn’t come until Sunday.
 
At this point, Flores said an investigation has been launched to figure out exactly what led up to this tragedy. There are about eight dogs currently in the custody of the Parlier Animal Control Service.
 
“Preliminarily speaking, what we seem to have here is a series of miscommunciation between staff and the rescue people,” stated Flores.
 

He continued, “The animal was actually left in a cage with water and food for immediate transport.”

Flores said they’re taking responsibility for their part.

“Our officers should have never assumed that that person showed up here without verified that they had. Had they verified that that person didn’t come on Friday, they would have known the animal needed to be placed in the kennel where she was placed prior to this event,” stated Flores.

Flores said under state law, they can euthanize dogs at their shelter, but they choose to work with rescue organizations to help find the dogs a home. The chief said he hasn’t found negligence or abuse in this case, just calls the series of events, tragic.

The Chief said this incident has forced them to implement new policies. From now on, rescues can only occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays when there’s plenty of staff and they can verify that the animal has been transferred face to face.