I am writing to alert Seattle pet owners to be extra cautious when leaving on vacation; I learned the hard way that a trip to the Seattle Animal Shelter may prove lethal even when a pet is properly licensed and micro-chipped. Particularly if the pet is older or requires any sort of medical attention and the owner cannot be reached to approve life-saving care.

On the evening of Monday, Jan. 22, my nearly 13-year-old black lab male (Harley) got out of my yard while being cared for by neighbors as I vacationed in Mexico. A walk of only two blocks was typically enough to tire my old hunting partner, but on this night he wandered nearly a quarter mile before a kind Samaritan called Animal Control (found him). Exhausted, wobbly and in obvious respiratory distress (the officer who picked him up told me she feared he would not make it to the clinic), he was rushed to the Emerald City Emergency Clinic where they diagnosed him as having probable laryngeal paralysis. Harley was intubated so that he could breath, sedated and given oxygen (among other treatments). By the next morning he was apparently out of danger enough that he was turned over to the Seattle Animal Shelter. Here the story takes an ugly turn.

After riding around on the shelter's truck Tuesday morning, Harley was finally brought to the facility and (I'm told) put in a quiet location away from the fray. Though still distressed and breathing laboriously, the shelter chose not to seek extra medical care. Why? I was later told in person by the shelter official who ultimately ended Harley's life that, "We could not reach you and weren't sure you would have wanted us to incur additional emergency charges on your behalf." Herein lies the crux of this tale of warning: if you are not immediately available to authorize emergency care, you risk a deadly outcome from this taxpayer-funded organization.

On Wednesday morning, Harley suffered another breathing attack during a short walk with a staff member. After again attempting to reach me, they opted to put him down versus sending him to emergency care offsite. They claim he never would have made it to a vet in time - he was dying. I am thankful he was no longer suffering, but I believe common sense thinking could have prevented this tragic outcome. Why did the Seattle Animal Shelter assume I was a deadbeat owner unwilling to pay for extra care? I had only been unreachable for a mere 36 hours - am I the first person ever to take a vacation and have an animal get loose?

Ironically, on Tuesday evening my neighbor reached me via my friend's cell phone and after listening to my messages I talked in person to the Emerald City Emergency Clinic - they assured me Harley was fine and could be found at the shelter. Tragically, while my neighbor vainly attempted to navigate the shelter's elaborate, automated phone system to claim him the next morning (he finally reached someone in person only to be told he could not claim the animal until noon), Harley was being destroyed.

Some of the blame is mine - a faulty gate latch and a microchip with my old vet's contact information (but they knew he was my dog). My greatest mistake was believing that a valid Seattle pet license was in some way a contract with the city that stated I cared deeply for this dog and would be coming for him no matter what. All I asked in return was to keep Harley safe until I could claim him. I would have paid any price.

Steve Malloch

Morgan