City to pay owner of euthanized dog $41K, is sued by ousted animal control official
To avert a possible lawsuit by the owner of a dog that was put down by animal control this summer because its owner couldn’t come up with a $100 payment within 72 hours, a Nevada city has agreed to pay a $41,500 settlement.
Key to the case was a new Carson City ordinance that became effective in May. It provided for 10-day boarding of lost pets under protective custody at owner expense, rather than the 72-hour waiting period that applied under prior law, according to chief deputy district attorney Randy Munn. The potential cost of defending a lawsuit also factored into a unanimous vote last week by the city board of supervisors to approve the settlement with Jeraldine Archuleta, the owner of the euthanized shih tzu , according to the Associated Press and the Nevada Appeal (sub. req.).
She was represented by attorney Cal Dunlap, who praised the settlement in a written statement.
Meanwhile, it appears the city’s total bill related to the controversial euthanization could add up to considerably more.
Archuleta’s complaint, in a letter to the Appeal, that she had visited animal control and pleaded to no avail for additional time to come up with the $100 before her dog was put down, elicited public outrage. And earlier this month, Gail Radtke, the former manager of Carson City Animal Services, sued the city for defamation, contending that she was publicly criticized, without appropriate basis by other city officials concerning the shih tzu’s death and was wrongfully fired, damaging her professional reputation, according to earlier Associated Press and Nevada Appeal (sub. req.) articles.
A city official who is also named individually as a defendant in the suit declined to comment when contacted by the AP.
Radtke is represented by attorney Jeff Dickerson of Reno.
