Decatur Animal Services shelter is facing a wave of outrage on social media after a woman claims workers left her injured dog, Sophia, to die in a kennel after being hit by a car.

On Jan. 1, at approximately at 6:55 p.m., a Decatur police officer was dispatched to the 2900 block of Lynnwood Circle SW due to an unattended dog having been struck by a vehicle, according to a release from the city.

Upon arrival, the on-call animal control officer was notified and responded to the scene.

At that time, the only injury to the dog was believed to be isolated to its hind legs, the release said.

The animal control officer noted that the dog had no identification tag or collar, and the caller reported that they attempted to locate the owner in the neighborhood but were unsuccessful, according to the city.

After officers were unable to locate the owner, Allison Howard, animal control transported Sophia to Decatur Animal Services. Once at the shelter, workers determined that she was not chipped, the release says.

Officers consulted a veterinarian about the dog’s injuries and were advised to house her at the shelter and bring her back for a checkup the following morning.

Approximately three hours later, Howard came forward and spoke with the on-call animal control officer over the phone, according to the city.

The vet was contacted again so Howard could brief them on Sophia’s medical history, but the planned course of treatment remained unchanged, the release says.

Following this conversation, arrangements were made to release Sophia the following morning.

But according to a Facebook post from Howard, she made multiple attempts to come pick up her dog and take her to an emergency vet that evening.

And she expressed concerns that Sophia would miss two doses of her seizure medication.

But due to the shelter’s policies, Howard was not allowed to come pick up the dog after hours.

“The Decatur Animal Shelter has a long-standing practice of not releasing animals after hours to owners,” reads the city’s release.

“In 2024, the shelter took in approximately 2000 animals a year. Of that number, only 35 percent are reclaimed by owners. Of the 2000 animals, approximately 1400 animals come into the shelter with no identification tags and/or chips.”

“This generally causes many animals to be taken into the shelter that otherwise could possibly be immediately returned to the owner. It is encouraged that all pet owners, who do not already do so, take this opportunity to consider outfitting their pets with identification collars and/or chips.

“This effort will likely lower the numbers of occasions animals are taken into the shelter’s custody, and better assist efforts to locate owners.”

Shelter workers arrived the next morning to find Sophia dead.

“Due to the complete negligence of Decatur Animal Services, Sophia has passed away,” Howard wrote in a Facebook post yesterday morning.

“After begging for her last night, I showed up this morning expecting her to be injured from being hit by a car, however, instead I was shockingly met with a garbage bag with her inside.”

“…They KNEW she was on medications for seizures/etc., knew she was injured from being hit by a car, knew who her owner/Mama was (I CONTACTED THEM), & left her in a kennel to die, alone anyway. I was right here.”

“Even if I couldn’t have saved her, I could have held her in her last moments. She deserved better & Sophia I am so sorry your mommy failed you. The director [Brian Lundberg] even told me how me ‘not watching’ you led to this.”

Decatur Animal Services shared the city’s release to its Facebook page on Friday afternoon and the post was flooded with hundreds of angry comments.

“The audacity of this post is just as wild as not letting the owner of the little dog collect said dog, not to mention putting the blame on her shoulders when evidence shows she did everything she could to try and get the dog to the vet, while yall refused and let the dog die…. Seems like Decatur Animal services is real bad guy here,” one woman wrote.

“a very amazing job to Decatur Animal Services for avoiding an apology and accountability while pointing fingers at the poor baby’s grieving owner,” wrote another.

According to the release, the city is currently reviewing its shelter policies in the aftermath of the incident.

“While these circumstances are unfortunate, current policies and procedures for the Decatur Animal Shelter were followed,” it reads.

“Due to these specific circumstances, existing policy for injured animals taken into the custody of the shelter after hours, and their potential for being released after hours to its owner, are being reviewed in hopes of increasing its effectiveness and preventing a similar outcome in the future.”