Concerns that Haines Sanitation would no longer accept euthanized animals at the landfill were the result of a miscommunication, said Richard Crosby, operations manager.
“We’ve gone through a couple employees in the office since I got here in June,” Crosby said. “I don’t know who might have said it, but whoever did was mistaken.”
Sarah Jaymot, executive director of Haines Animal Rescue Kennel, said she had been told Haines Sanitation wouldn’t accept euthanized animals on its property.
“As far as HARK’s been an organization and has performed euthanasia, that’s been a service that’s been available to us and to community members,” Jaymot said. “Under the new management, weeks ago now, they called me and said, ‘We won’t do this anymore.’”
Jaymot said she didn’t remember the name of the person who had called HARK about the restriction on euthanized animals.
She said without the Haines landfill as an option, locals instead could bury an animal on their own land or make a trip to a crematorium or landfill in Juneau.
“If you bury on your own land, it has to meet state standards for how deep the dog needs to be, because it’s got euthanasia drugs in it,” Jaymot said. “There’s also a migratory bird act that falls under that, which is why the animal has to be so deep, because if an eagle or migratory bird digs up the animal, ingests the euthanasia and dies, the owner can be fined $10,000.”
At the veterinary crematorium in Juneau, “you’re looking at $200-plus for small cats and small dogs, and then it just increases from there,” Jaymot said.
Crosby, though, said Haines Sanitation still is an option.
“I got in touch with the owner (Tom Hall), and he said that he had heard nothing about it, and as far as he’s concerned, we do still accept them,” Crosby said.
Jaymot said HARK performed euthanasia 24 times in 2009. She said the free service is available “to provide this community with a humane option.”
“For the most part, we’re dealing with cats and dogs, and when the vet is in town, we don’t perform euthanasia,” Jaymot said.
Euthanasia is performed at an owner’s request, for health reasons.
“Way back in the day, animals that were in here for a certain amount of time were put down,” Jaymot said. “We don’t do that anymore.”
HARK has final discretion, so “the euthanasia tech, whoever they are, reserves the right to say, ‘I don’t agree with this,’” Jaymot said.
“HARK is a no-kill facility, so if they said, ‘We don’t like our dog anymore,’ we’d say, ‘OK, we’d be more than willing to take your dog from you,’” she said.
Crosby said residents who want to bring their euthanized animals to Haines Sanitation should provide “just some kind of a heads up” so workers are prepared.
“We have a pet cemetery out front for the people who come and bury their own animals, or we bury them for them, and they can come visit them, but euthanized animals we would bury in the back somewhere,” he said.