L.A. Shelter Worker Fired for Cruel Euthanization Method

Last week a veterinary technician at the West Valley Animal Shelter in Chatsworth, Calif., was fired because of the cruel way he euthanized dogs.

The Los Angeles Times reported today that Manuel Boado, who had worked at the shelter since 2007, did not sedate the dogs before euthanizing them, brought them into a room filled with dead animals and inserted needles into their jugular veins, a painful practice that is not allowed by Los Angeles Animal Services.

According to the Times, during Boado’s termination proceedings, several shelter employees provided horrific accounts of what they had witnessed in the euthanization room.

Carolina Martinez testified that she became physically ill while working with Boado and seeing the doomed dogs “struggling, shaking and urinating.” Boado would repeatedly jab the dogs with the needles, causing excessive bleeding. Martinez stated that she had never seen so much blood before, or witness anyone do such things to animals.

An unidentified shelter worker testified that he had seen two dead dogs with Boado in the euthanization room, along with another one whose body was partly covered with blood. Another employee stated she had overheard Boado telling a dog to “just die already.”

L.A. Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette told the Times that Boado had created a “Fear Factor” environment for the already terrified dogs. “It is totally unconscionable to add an element of fear if you’re about to take an animal’s life away,” she said.

When Barnette initially recommended that Boado be fired, the Times reports that city hearing officer Stephen Biersmith thought the punishment was “too extreme” and his pay should have been docked instead. But after reviewing the case, the city’s Civil Service Commission unanimously voted to terminate Boado.

Boado’s lawyer, Terry Porvin, denied that his client treated animals cruelly. He said Boado only brought dogs into a room with other dead dogs because the refrigerator used to store the bodies was broken. Opening it would have released a stench so foul that it would have “made his work more difficult,” Provin said.

He also claimed that Boado did not receive training on how to properly euthanize the dogs. But in an email to the Times, Doug Fakkema, the veterinarian who trained Boado, said he never would advise any shelter employee to inject healthy dogs in their jugular veins. He wrote that the procedure could be used for larger animals, such as livestock, but is “more likely to cause pain” for dogs, and should only be done in “extreme circumstances.”

Barnette told the Times she did not consider contacting the district attorney’s office to prosecute Boado, as she was focused solely on terminating him.

As i Love Dogs reported earlier this year, L.A. Animal Services has been under fire for dogs that have gone missing and fraudulent time cards, as well as the seizure of 120 weapons at its six city shelters.

Boado has not been charged with any counts of animal cruelty.

PHOTO: Biggishben

• Update – December 16, 2011: The Los Angeles Times reported today that based on angry emails over this case, Brenda Barnette said she has changed her mind and will ask the district attorney’s office to look into prosecuting Manuel Boado on animal cruelty charges. “Several concerned and caring citizens have come forward asking to have [Boado] prosecuted for animal cruelty,” Barnette wrote in an email to the Times. “The department can request an investigation, which we will do.”