Freedom fatal for family's pet
Escapes Humane Society custody, is hit and killed

A dog excaped from he Humane Society while being held on a 10-day rabies watch after biting a child. The dog excaped from an outside exercise area used daily to help keep the dogs healthy. The dog was found the a day later along U.S. Highway 491 on the north side of Gallup near an auto parts store, most likely run over by a car. Without proper records and shots, a dog must be kept for observation after any minor bit incident with people. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — When the animal control officials picked up Robert Dunsworth's Chihuahua at his home in Gamerco to check for rabies, he thought the dog would be returned to him in 10 days.

Two days later, after animal control officials reported that the dog had escaped, Dunsworth said he found the 8-year-old dog "totally ripped apart."

Dunsworth said he was devastated by the loss of his dog. "What do I tell my kids now," he thought when he found the dog near Checker Auto Parts on Coal Basin Road. Cozy Balok, head of the county's animal control program, said she apologized to Dunsworth and offered him another dog, realizing that the new dog would not make up for his loss.

"There just wasn't anything else we could do," she said.

The situation began about 11 a.m. on Saturday when Dunsworth let his dog out to go to the bathroom.

The animal control program later received a report that the dog had bitten a 10-year-old girl in the ankle, and the dog had to be picked up to be tested for rabies.

This is normal procedure, Balok said, even though she can not remember the last time the county has seen a rabies case involving a dog or a cat. There have been cases involving bats, and the program does periodic checks on the local bat population and finds some infected with rabies from time to time.

Dunsworth's dog was picked up on Saturday. Two days later, when one of the community workers was preparing to take the dog outside for a couple of hours of sunshine while his cage was being cleaned, he escaped.

"He was out of here before anyone could do anything," Balok said. Animal control officials went out in cars to look for the dog, but no trace of him could be found. They even went back to Dunsworth's home to see if the dog had returned there.

Balok said the dog apparently traveled down U.S. 491 and was struck by a car.

She said the program was trying to do something nice for the dog - giving him a chance to be outdoors instead of cooped up in a cage - when he escaped. She added that this happens about twice a year, despite all kinds of precautions that the program takes to make sure that the animals in their care are treated properly.

"We don't want anything bad to happen to the animals in our custody, but sometimes things like this happen," she said.

As for Dunsworth, he said it will take time for his family to get over the loss.

"I just think that the animal control program could have been more careful and taken more precautions," he said.