City worker leaves dog in van

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An Albuquerque Animal Welfare worker is under investigation for leaving a dog in a city van for two days.

It is a trip animal welfare workers make at least twice a week, shuttling dogs and cats from the Westside shelter to the Eastside shelter for surgery, then back to the Westside.

“We print out a list of all the animals being transported and they’re checked off as they’re being transported for surgery and then checked off as they come back from surgery,” said Kennel Supervisor Mary Soto.

However, the department confirms a few weeks ago one of its employees messed up and did not follow that procedure, putting a dog in serious danger.

“It’s my understanding that an animal was left on the transport vehicle after surgery then was later found by a volunteer,” Soto said.

The dog was dehydrated but okay.

Soto told News 13 it appears the worker was not paying attention and may have just forgotten about the dog.

The department does not believe the employee left the dog in the transport van on purpose but the employee could still face discipline.

“Starting with a letter of instruction all the way to termination and anything in between including days of suspensions unpaid,” said Soto.

News 13 was tipped off that the dog was left in the van for two days over a weekend at the end of August.

Soto did not know for sure how long the dog was stuck inside the van but said it was at least overnight.

“It’s not typical that this happens it’s very rare that an animal is actually left behind on a van,” she said.

As of air-time Tuesday night Animal Welfare was not able to tell News 13 what kind of dog was involved and whether or not it has been adopted in the past few weeks.

Soto said because the investigation is ongoing she could not provide the worker’s name or provide us with any real details of the case.