Horror As Pit Bull And New Born Puppies Put Down While Giving Birth

Dacia Anderson/Facebook

A former animal shelter volunteer has spoken out about a pit bull who was euthanised while birthing her puppies.

Dacia Anderson had volunteered for Amarillo Animal Management and Welfare, helping animals who require shelter.

However, she was horrified when the shelter made the decision to euthanise a pit bull and her litter while she was still in the process of giving birth.

Dacia’s emotional Facebook status where she described the upsetting experience has been shared over 3,000 times; sparking outrage among animal lovers.

Dacia explained how she had come across the ‘obviously pregnant’ pit bull while assisting an Amarillo-Panhandle Humane Society employee with a walk-through of the facility:

I went into her kennel to take a picture for the APHS Facebook ‘In the Facility’ album. She was friendly, but scared, and jumped up on me for comfort.

I looked at her band and noted she had been an owner surrender the previous day.

Dacia later noticed the dog had given birth to a single puppy. She let staff know of the situation and of the fact the dog didn’t have a whelping box.

She believed the situation had been taken under control after witnessing a kennel attendant putting together a whelping box.

However, Dacia was surprised when her attempts to enter the building were met with resistance:

I was told to give them a minute. I could see the AMW staff vet, a few other kennel attendants, and a large, portable metal cage in the building.

I immediately knew they were gathering mama from G7. I happened to pass another AMW employee and asked if she was being euthanised. He said that they were probably just moving her to somewhere more quiet, and less stressful.

A bit later on, and Dacia was informed of the devastating truth:

A bit later, I heard that a message had been sent stating G7 was euthanised. She was in labor, and euthanised. An AMW employee later confirmed that it was indeed the same dog.

Her last moments, while she lay dying, were spent still trying to clean her newly birthed puppies. Their words, not mine.

The newly birthed puppies were also euthanised alongside their mother.

Dacia added:

I am aware that euthanasia is a reality at the shelter. I am well aware of the overpopulation problems. I am also well aware that AMW has to make hard decisions.

However, I feel that this action is the exact opposite of a what ‘the most humane community in the Panhandle of Texas’ would do. This act was horrific to say the least. If this is acceptable to the leadership of the shelter, then what is out of bounds?

Dacia Anderson/Facebook

Animal Management and Welfare, a separate body to the Amarillo-Panhandle Humane Society which takes care of intake and euthanasia, has stated how the course of action taken was necessary for public safety.

According to ABC7 Amarillo, Director Richard Havens has spoken about how the dog’s previous owner had reported her to be aggressive

The owner of the dog in question contacted 911 to state they had a vicious animal that was there’s [sic].

We responded after hours, we took the animal into custody and then the following morning, we ended up euthanising it due to the nature of the call and then the behaviours that we also saw the animal exhibiting.

Dacia Anderson/Facebook

According to the Star-Telegram, Dacia has been asked to take a leave of absence from the shelter.

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Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.