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An Albuquerque Animal Welfare employee has acknowledged posting a video of a dog’s euthanasia on social media but said it was intended for public education, according to a newly released investigation.
The city’s Office of Inspector General writes in a new report that it substantiated an anonymous complaint that a city staffer recorded the euthanasia of a dog in the city’s care last December and subsequently posted the video on TikTok.
The post has since been deleted, according to the report.
“The subject stated they immediately deleted the video upon speaking with their supervisor and (human resources),” the report says. “The intent was that this would be informative for the public to show that euthanasia, when necessary, is humane, sanitary, and peaceful.”
The report does not identify the employee by name.
According to the OIG, the city’s prevailing social media policy does not specifically address employee activity on their personal social media accounts, including whether they can post about events that occur in the workplace.
But the employee’s supervisor told investigators that she has approval authority over “all matters for social media posting,” and that she addressed the issue with the employee the day in March she learned about it. She said employees are not allowed into exam rooms during procedures, according to the report.
The inspector general’s report does not say what, if any, actions department management took as a result of the employee’s social media post.
An Animal Welfare Department spokeswoman said Friday that the employee remains on the staff but did not say if he or she had been disciplined.
“While we cannot discuss the details of personnel issues, we can say that the matter was addressed immediately upon management being notified,” spokeswoman Desiree Cawley said in a statement. “The employee is still working in the department and has been retrained on our policies.”
