PRICE, Utah — After a veterinarian publicly claimed that dogs at the Carbon County Animal Shelter were being underfed at the orders of those in charge, the sheriff's office has now responded and says that is not the case.
Last week, Dr. Dan Harmer had a letter to the editor published and spoke with news outlets, including FOX 13 News, about his experience working with the shelter. He said shelter employees brought him a dog that was extremely thin, saying others were also losing a lot of weight.
Harmer said they tested the dog for parasites and other issues, but "there was nothing wrong — except he just didn’t have enough food."
Harmer claimed he was told by shelter employees that they were ordered to only give dogs a half cup of food per day.
The Carbon County Sheriff's Office, which oversees the shelter, responded to Harmer's claims on Monday with a press release.
The sheriff's office said Harmer never went into the kennel portion of the shelter, and he never brought any concerns to them about the feeding practices or overall health of the animals. They said the dog mentioned specifically by Harmer — "Waffles," who was later adopted by Harmer's family — was neutered by Harmer on Oct. 17. Then at the end of November, they said Waffles became ill. He reportedly had diarrhea and was losing weight "rapidly."
According to the sheriff's office, Harmer called Utah state veterinarian Dr. Daniel Christensen, who then went to the shelter for a "surprise visit." The sheriff's office said Christensen found no abuse happening at the facility and gave the shelter a "weight management body condition scoring system" to help ensure the best feeding practices.
"We now utilize this process and do our best to ensure our animals fall into the healthy category," the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office also said they never ordered the shelter employees to only give half a cup of food to the dogs. Rather, officials said, a "dog food representative" came by the shelter and advised them on best feeding practices. This came about because the dogs were being fed twice a day and a "significant amount" of food was being thrown away when it wasn't eaten. They added that the food used by the county has guidelines on how much to feed dogs depending on their weight.
In addition, the sheriff's office said they have paid just over $35,000 to Harmer this year for vet services — more than any year in the past. They claim that before Harmer, their vet expenses were about $6,500 per year.
"To say that this work was done Pro Bono or at a reduced rate is not accurate," the press release read.
The sheriff's office said it will continue to investigate the decline in the health of "Waffles" — who Harmer said has gained 17 pounds since being adopted by his family. They also said they've been in touch with Harmer, and they plan to meet with him in person to discuss these issues.
