Many people are upset with the Norfolk Animal Care Center after the euthanization of a pit bull mix named McLovin.
McLovin was trained at a center in New York before getting adopted in Hampton Roads. The Norfolk Animal Care Center says McLovin’s owner surrendered the dog to the shelter after he mauled a cat to death.
The City of Norfolk released a statement:
Norfolk Animal Care and Adoption Center understands that sometimes it may be necessary to give up a pet and staff does its very best to place an animal into a new home.
On May 11th, a Norfolk Animal Control Officer delivered a pit bull mix to the Center. The animal control officer advised shelter staff the dog’s owner called shortly after her dog mauled to death a 12-year-old domestic short-haired cat owned by a Norfolk resident. The officer reported the dog jumped onto a car parked on the neighbor’s property to attack the cat.
The dog’s owner followed animal control to the shelter and relinquished ownership of her dog on the same day as the attack.
Shelter staff researched the dog’s history and discovered repeated failed adoption attempts with other out-of-state agencies and a rabies certificate that was altered to change the dog’s breed and age. The dog was scanned for a microchip. Staff contacted Home Again Microchip for owner information. The microchip was never registered.
Given the dog’s history, the decision of the dog’s owner to surrender the dog which legally transferred the ownership to the City and in the interest of public safety, staff made the decision to humanely euthanize the dog.
Viewers flooded the NewsChannel 3 Facebook page in support of the dog, saying they are devastated that McLovin was “murdered.”
