Toby, 16, was shot and killed by an animal control employee earlier this week.
Owner Bryan Pennington said he is pushing for procedures to be changed.MANCHESTER, Tenn. -
A Manchester man is pushing for procedures to be changed after his 16-year-old lab was shot and killed by an animal control employee earlier this week.
Dog owner Bryan Pennington told Nashville's News 2 when his beloved dog Toby went missing late Monday night he was immediately concerned.
"I got a flashlight and started looking. I thought maybe he was asleep on the front porch. He's got a dog box on the front porch and I looked under there and he wasn't there and I looked under all the bushes," he said.
Pennington said he was unable to locate Toby, who he had owned since he was three-years-old, Monday night.
The next day, Pennington learned his pet had been shot by Coffee County Animal Control Officer Charlie Brown.
Officials reported to Nashville's News 2 new neighbors called police on Monday afternoon after they found Toby laying in their front yard.
"I was called out by police dispatch Monday afternoon roughly around 4:07 p.m." Brown said.
The animal control employee said the dog had been hit by a car and was not moving.
Brown said he found Toby laying in the yard without a collar, ID tag or micro-chip.
"The dog, in my opinion, was suffering very badly," said Brown. "I went from house to house that day in the rain with my rain coat on looking for anyone that day that could help me with this dog."
However Pennington was not home at the time, so Brown took Toby back to the animal control building.
Under normal circumstances, Tennessee state law requires dogs and cats picked up without identification to be held for five days before being placed for adoption or destroyed.
Brown told Nashville's News 2 he felt like Toby was suffering too badly to just leave him lying in a kennel, so he administered a sedative to put the dog to sleep before using a 22 rifle to euthanize the dog.
Officials said the Coffee County Animal Control currently does not have the funds to have a veterinarian after hours or during emergencies.
"It is never an easy thing; never. It is terrible and I don't like doing it no more than the next man," Brown said.
However, Pennington said he is very upset his dog was euthanized with a gun.
"All I really want is to see the county change there rules so that nobody goes through this again. I think there is a proper way to euthanize a dog, especially a dog of that age," he said.
The Coffee County Health, Welfare and Recreation Committee, which oversees animal control, has called a special meeting on Monday at 5 p.m. to discuss the department's procedures.
