OKEECHOBEE — The decision to euthanize an animal is one of the hardest decisions a pet guardian can make. Veterinarians and animal control professionals more commonly broach this topic with progressive decline in physical health, severe injury, and associated quality of life. 

Behavioral euthanasia, or the decision to euthanize due to behavioral concerns, occurs when the severity of a dog’s behavior negatively impacts their quality of life, and the safety of the pet guardians, or poses too much risk to the public.

Over the past two years, Okeechobee Animal Control which is run by the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office employees, has taken in over 2,359 dogs due to various reasons and has found over 2,100 of them homes through adoption or returned to their rightful owners. 

We are extremely proud of the diligent efforts our staff makes continuously to ensure the animals in our community are treated fairly and are provided with a second chance.

The Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office also has six working K9s and two Therapy K9s. We are working to implement a program within our jail that will utilize trustees to teach K9s basic obedience skills in an effort to make them more adoptable.

While euthanasia is a sad reality of being responsible for animal control, it is a necessity. However, our goal, which should be evident by the totality of our actions, is to find second chances for as many as we possibly can. 

In compliance with our guidelines and after the mandatory 10-day wait period mandated by the Health Department, the Jack Russel canine named “Robin” was deemed, through its actions and observations, a risk to the public and was euthanized.