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Shelter leaders recount emergency animal injury and say prompt transparency quelled online criticism
Summary
Gary Herrero described an incident in which an animal injured itself on a partition mechanism during adoption counseling; he credited rapid, transparent messaging from the agency’s media team with reducing social media backlash. Officials said the animal was taken for emergency veterinary care.
Director Gary Herrero recounted a prior-agency incident in which an animal got its mouth caught on a partition mechanism during an adoption counseling and required emergency veterinary care. He said social media users posted a single image that prompted rapid criticism before staff and the media relations team posted an account of events and the shelter’s response.
Herrero said the shelter secured emergency veterinary treatment and immediately communicated facts to the public, which he said reduced the social media criticism: "we immediately had our own media team just, again, be transparent and explain exactly what happened, and that immediately quelled the social media." The leaders framed the example as illustrative of why transparency and timely communication matter for protecting both animals and staff.
