
CINCINNATI—While insisting they always tried to follow the facility’s policies as best they could, workers at Helping Paws, a local no-kill animal shelter, told patrons Friday they couldn’t promise them there wouldn’t be any, shall we say, unfortunate accidents. “We do our best to give every animal a safe and happy home, but of course there can always be—how should I put this?—certain unforeseen circumstances,” said Richard Menlo, a volunteer at the shelter, explaining how things could go wrong every now and then due to events outside their control. “Obviously, we don’t want any of these animals to be put down, but there’s always the possibility a cage gets left open, we turn our backs for a moment, and that Welsh corgi you got there just happens to stumble into a syringe full of pentobarbital. It’s a real shame when it happens, but there’s only so much we can do. You understand what I’m saying?” Menlo added that, sadly enough, unfortunate accidents could also befall people who, for whatever reason, might try to report this shelter to the Humane Society.