Notorious Phoenix dog shelter mistakenly euthanizes THIRD dog in three months

A husky has been accidentally euthanized at an Arizona dog shelter — the center’s third mistake in the past four months.

Moscato was put down last week after a rescuer sent an email to the wrong inbox, meaning the animal had not been removed from the euthanasia or email list at the Maricopa County Animal Shelter.

It comes just three months after the tragic death of a Rottweiler in January, just before he was due to be rescued.

Another similar mistake happened last December at the Phoenix shelter, according to Arizona’s family.

A volunteer who arrived at the center to pick up Moscato but was told the shocking news told the outlet: “Your heart was pounding in your stomach, knowing there was a dog out there who deserved to get out, but didn’t did.’

Dogs with no home in the county can be e-listed if they have behavioral or medical issues, including struggling with the shelter environment.

Alison Nicolosi, the co-founder of AZ Husky Rescue, was working to get Moscato out of the shelter when the tragic incident happened and felt the husky should not have been on the list.

“She let us pet her, she was so sweet, you could see it in her eyes she was just a scared dog,” she told Arizona’s Family.

She said she emailed back and forth with an employee at the Maricopa County Animal Shelter and planned to take Moscato in once she found a room.

The person she spoke to was not working the next day, so instead of the email going to another inbox and getting picked up, it was missed.

This meant no one saw the husky taken off the e-list.

When volunteer Emi Litcof went to collect the animal, she was told it had been put down that morning.

She told the outlet, “Your heart sank to your stomach knowing there was a dog out there who deserved to get out but didn’t.”

The rescue organization advocates not putting dogs on this list, but offering them to the public for adoption.

“She was very sweet, she was very scared in a shelter environment, and she had no aggressive tendencies at all,” Litcof said.

Nicolosi added, “We’ve seen so many dogs that were so much worse than her and she just had so much potential to be a really good family dog.”

A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Animal Shelter told the outlet, “We are heartbroken by what happened.”

They added that they are sending Moscato’s ashes to AZ Husky Rescue and are hiring a behaviorist to work with dogs who are struggling in the shelter environment.

Regarding the e-list, the county’s website said, “We don’t want to see animals suffer, and in their condition it’s not humane to have them in a shelter environment.” Euthanasia is always the last resort.’

Rottweiler Cerrit was also accidentally dropped downtown in January

Rescuers said Moscato had “no aggressive tendencies at all” and was “very sweet.”

A spokesperson for the shelter said they were ‘heartbroken by what has happened’

A similar tragic incident occurred in January, when a rescue group was devastated to learn that 3-year-old Rottweiler Cerrit had been put to sleep just before he was to be rescued.

Shelly Froehlich, who runs ‘Rotten Rottie Rescue’, saw 3-year-old Cerrit on MCACC’s euthanasia list for behavioral issues and knew she had to save his life, she said Arizona’s family.

‘He had to get out of there; it was a bad place for him,” she said.

Kim Powell, a spokesperson for the shelter, said a vet team worker missed a crucial step and failed to see “Rotten Rottie Rescue” pick up Cerrit.

A rescue group was supposed to pick up Cerrit after he was neutered, unfortunately there was a note inside that the vet didn’t see. They failed to see that this dog was a guaranteed attraction. It is an irreversible mistake and the person responsible for this is beside themselves,” she said.

At the time, she admitted that it also happened in December, leading to the needless death of another dog.

“Now we’re taking a deep dive into what it is and how we can make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said at the time.