Vet Defends Decision to Euthanize Dog That Bit Girl
ABC-7 has received a lot of reaction from viewers about the decision to euthanize a dog that bit a 6-year-old girl on the face in East El Paso last weekend.
And most of them were upset about the decision to put the dog down. Tuesday we spoke with the man who made that call.
After talking with Dr. Bernie Page, the El Paso Animal Services Program veterinarian and the rabies control authority in the El Paso area, ABC-7 also spoke with the owner of the dog, as well as family of the girl. She remains hospitalized after undergoing surgery.
“It was based on state law and it was very clear,” said Page, who knows the job comes with making some very tough decisions, like the one to euthanize the Labrador on Monday after it bit 6-year-old Destiny Saenz on the face.
“We have no real choice in this matter,” Page said. “State law is very clear on this and we are following our state policies.”
Page admitted to that he didn’t get much sleep on Monday night after making the decision to euthanize the dog. He said it’s a decision he has to make dozens of times a year.
“It’s extremely difficult because you have to make those very, very difficult decisions,” Page said. “It’s frustrating when you realize it could be avoided by having animals currently vaccinated and this is an avoidable situation.”
The dog’s owner, who did not want to be identified, told ABC-7 Monday she had just told her children that their dog — named Nemo — had been put down. She added that Nemo had never bitten anybody before in his eight years with her family. But she understood the decision to euthanize the animal.
“We are put in the position of having to do things everybody hates and it’s really a sad situation,” Page said. “I think about a little girl laying in the hospital with a severe facial laceration having facing the possibility she could have been exposed to rabies and we act accordingly.”
Page said the bite being on the face was also of major concern, since it was closer to Destiny’s brain and could have spread the disease quicker. The rabies test on the dog was negative.
Destiny’s aunt, Brenda Porras, told ABC-7 the bite was so severe you could see her cheek bone and teeth through the cut.
She added, “Poor dog and poor Destiny.”
