Animal advocates questioning why BARC continues to euthanize dogs after 'Code Red' list was frozen
HOUSTON - Every day, BARC, the city's animal shelter puts out a ‘Code Red’ list. It has pictures and descriptions of all the dogs that will be euthanized the next day.
It's literally their last chance to make it out of BARC alive.
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One dog named Phoebe was on BARC's ‘Code Red’ list last August.
"I called them that morning, there's a dog on the list. I've got to save her, so I get approval that day, and then I had to get down there that day before they euthanized her," said Dawn Barrett, Phoebe's foster mom.
Everyone can see BARC's ‘Code Red’ list.
"There are thousands of networkers around the country that are trying to save dogs in Houston," said Michelle Camp, who has rescued some 350 dogs.
People wanting to save dogs from death at BARC will watch the ‘Red Code’ list for hours. Why? Because it is updated every hour.
"We watch that list, and watch which dogs drop off, so we know, that dog is not in need any more. Let's concentrate on those that are still on the list," Camp said.
On Saturday, September 10 at 1:45 p.m. the ‘Code Red’ list froze.
"At 4 p.m., it was frozen. At 9 p.m., it was frozen. The next day, Sunday, it was frozen around 8 a.m.," said Jennifer Braudway with BARC Task Force.
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Due to the computer glitch, no one could tell which dogs were OK and which dogs were about to die.
According to BARC's euthanasia list, 12 dogs were still put down on Saturday, September 10.
"What's another 24 or 48 hours, it's not that crucial that we can't give them another 24 hours to find out what's going on, and where these dogs are," Barrett said.
BARC's Cory Stottlemyer told us, "The technical issue did not cause the 12 dogs to receive less time. All were publicly viewed a full 48 hours in advance and received the same opportunity, and time to get tagged by an approved rescuer or foster despite the technical issue."
"They only included certain rescues, all the networkers were excluded. A lot of lives could have been affected," Braudway said.
"I'm not saying all of the lives could have been saved by networkers," said Camp. "But possibly one or two, and a life saved is a life saved."