- Illinois, USA -
As reported by Lincoln Courier, “the Humane Society of Logan County has released a statement after receiving harsh criticism from the public on Facebook after having to euthanize a five-and-a-half-year-old male dog named Titan.”
The organization wrote in the statement that “Titan was put to rest” on Tuesday, January 26, at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Part of the statement reads: “HSLC is a no-kill shelter, and we still are. To constitute a no-kill shelter, the shelter does not euthanize for time or space constraints. Humane euthanasia is used as a last resort in instances when an animal is deemed too ill or too dangerous for rehabilitation. This decision was not taken lightly or before going to extensive lengths to rehabilitate, transfer, and publicize Titan.”
For those who don’t know who Titan was, here is how HSLC briefly recounted his story in their statement:
“Titan arrived at HSLC in January 2018. He was adopted once, for a period of approximately four months, but returned due to behavioral issues and attempted attacks on the family cat. Since this initial adoption and return, Titan has not received any viable (no kids, pets, fenced yard) adoption applications in his time with HSLC. Recently, someone expressed interest, but did not meet the requirements and expressed concern after witnessing a recent attack.
Titan has a history of documented, and undocumented attacks on both humans and other animals. Titan has had more than the necessary incidents of aggression but most went undocumented by volunteers attempting to insulate Titan from this outcome. Many will say he just played rough or didn’t know his own strength in attempts to downplay. We also know that some of our volunteers were lucky enough to never see his aggressive side, and we are thankful that they knew the loving side all animals have. However, two recent attacks on volunteers that involved severe bites caused HSLC leadership to reach out to our insurance and legal provider.”
According to the organization’s statement, HSLC has reached out to many shelters even out of state in an attempt to transfer Titan, but as stated, “due to his history of aggression towards other animals and humans”, attempts to transfer the furbaby turned out to be unsuccessful.
One of the people who was outraged by the decision made by HSLC to euthanize Titan, is Ms. Fonda Robbins.
Ms. Robbins wrote in a Facebook post: “I have just received regrettable information that The Humane Society in Logan County euthanized Titan yesterday at Animal Control. I think you will all have to form your own opinions about this decision. Mine will be to publicize their poor handling of this voiceless dog and to not provide additional funding to this facility. I would further hope that people will understand that the Titan Team worked very hard to save this dog and there was another way out. The Board should be ashamed of themselves and in Titan s Memory we thank him for his life and trying to hang on to get a loving home. The Board made sure he would not survive to get that.”
The Humane Society of Logan County feels that there has been a lot of misinformation posted on social media regarding their decision to euthanize Titan.
Lincoln Courier reports that Lincoln acting Mayor Tracy Welch shared a Facebook post by his brother Ashley Welch, who volunteers at HSLC.
Part of the post, published by Lincoln Courier, just reiterates what HSLC stated about Titan being an aggressive dog.