The Oregon Department of Justice is investigating Hannah the Pet Society after complaints that the pet-leasing company unnecessarily euthanized three dogs in November.

Department spokeswoman Ellen Klem confirmed the investigation Wednesday, but said the department is not going to share any details about the investigation at this time.



Hannah, founded by Oregon veterinary mogul Scott Campbell in 2010, offers a unique pet-adoption model.



In exchange for a monthly fee, the company provides food and health care for the entire life of the dog, cat or other animal. There's just one catch: Hannah retains ownership of the pet, and the company has the final say in all of the animal's medical decisions.



In a recent interview with The Oregonian, Hannah chief executive Fred Wich said this model makes pet "parenthood" more affordable because customers don't have to worry about an unexpected vet bill.

Our 2012 report: Hannah the Pet Society raises questions as it expands



But that model doesn't sit well with some: Since 2012, customers have filed 10 complaints with the Department of Justice and two lawsuits with Multnomah County against Hannah. Common threads run throughout the complaints, which accuse Hannah of charging customers more than they were initially quoted, failing to clearly describe the ownership model, and failing to provide pets proper care, among other things.



When the blog Seattle DogSpot reported in January that Hannah had euthanized three dogs, outraged readers -- believing that the dogs were put down without good cause -- started a petition, calling on the Oregon justice department to look into the circumstances surrounding the killings, as well as the company's other business practices.



Now that the department's investigation is in progress, Hannah is under more scrutiny than ever.



The Oregonian/OregonLive initially learned of the DOJ's investigation through email correspondence between the agency and an animal-rescue provider.



Three dead dogs





Some provisions of the Hannah contract

- Once the pet parent signs up, the contract is in place for the rest of the pet's life. If the customer wants to assume ownership of the pet, they must cancel their contract with Hannah and pay the adoption fee (about $800 for dogs that Hannah finds and $200 for dogs that are brought into the program by their former owners, according to the company's

).

- If the pet parent moves out of Hannah's service area, they will either need to cancel their membership and pay the adoption fee to get out of the contract, or return the pet to Hannah for "re-homing."

- Any pet parent who doesn't want or isn't able to care for their pet can cancel their membership by dropping it off at a Hannah location anytime.

- Pet parents don't get to choose the food Hannah delivers, or get to choose the vet that works on their pet, unless they want to pay extra for it. Otherwise, Hannah provides all food and care.

- And when a pet dies - whether it dies of natural causes, is eaten by a coyote or hit by a truck - the pet parent must provide Hannah with proof of the pet's death to get out of the contract. Hannah says it has "several easy ways" to provide this proof, but some customers have complained that they were required to bring their pet's carcass to a Hannah location.

Sources: Hannah the Pet Society FAQ, DOJ complaints

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Hannah the Pet Society euthanized three dogs: Pip, a 1-year-old terrier mix; Kelso, an 11-month-old black lab; and Charlie Bear, a 3-year-old Chihuahua mix.



Wich told The Oregonian that the dogs were put down because they had all bitten or attempted to bite humans.



But Lori Furman, board president at Columbia Humane Society, which provided two of the dogs, said the pets never showed signs of aggression. Hannah should have returned the dogs to Columbia instead of putting them down, Furman said. She said her nonprofit cancelled its contract with Hannah as soon as they confirmed the November euthanasia incidents.



"These dogs were fine," she said. "One was a puppy. Their assertions that they were aggressive were nonsense."



Wich said Hannah has a goal euthanasia rate of zero. "If we were perfect at our job it would be zero, because we wouldn't bring on dangerous dogs," he said.



Wich said Hannah formalized its euthanasia process because of the incident. Now, he said, the company uses a three-step process involving a six-person committee before deciding to put down a pet.



But Hannah won't return dogs it deems aggressive to the shelters or organizations they came from. That wouldn't be responsible, Wich said.



"If we can't figure it out, they won't be able to figure it out, either," he said. "That might be hubris, but that's how we think. ... If we're guilty of anything, we're guilty of thinking we can fix everything. And we can't."



As for the the 10 complaints with the DOJ, Hannah responded to each that warranted a response. It disputed the complaints. In most cases, the customer had signed off on the very thing they were complaining about, it said. Hannah held that it had treated each of the complainants fairly, and chalked up some of the complaints to misunderstandings.



In almost every case, Hannah agreed to refund the customer in full.



Euthanasia in Oregon



Though many disagree with Hannah's decision to euthanize Pip, Kelso and Charlie Bear, as the dogs' owner, Hannah acted within the scope of state law.



Per Oregon law, pets are property, and an owner can legally kill a pet for any reason - or no reason at all - as long as it's done humanely. The law also applies to corporations like Hannah.



"It's not illegal to euthanize a healthy animal," said Lori Makinen, executive director of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board.



While Makinen hopes Hannah is meeting the same minimum standards that shelters and animal rescue operations use, the state board has no authority to investigate the company's practices.



Hannah isn't the only organization euthanizing pets. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that 2.7 million animals are put down each year.



According to the American Humane Association, shelters euthanize pets due to overcrowding, but also because the animals are sick, aggressive or injured.



And while "no-kill" shelters exist, shelters may euthanize a percentage of their animals and still keep the no-kill designation. On its website, the Oregon Humane Society shuns the term for itself despite its 98 percent save rate. The other 2 percent of those animals are put down.





"It's a last resort, but sometimes it's the humane thing to do," said Oregon Humane Society spokesman David Lytle. "There comes a time when the pet's best option is to end its suffering."



The humane society also euthanizes aggressive pets, but only after exhausting all other options and attempting to retrain the pet, Lytle said.



Wich said Hannah also exhausts all options before euthanizing a pet. Its critics have wondered whether the company cares more about profits than pets, but Wich said that's just not true.

"You'd have to be a really evil person to have the motivation to do the things we're accused of doing," he said.



Refusing to work with Hannah



While Wich said the company isn't profitable yet, it's growing fast. Hannah operates two retail locations - one in Washington Square mall and one in Clackamas Town Center - as well as two health centers.



Wich declined to provide specifics on the number of pets Hannah owns. Instead, he said the number is more than 4,000. Three-fourths of Hannah's business comes from people who enroll their pets in the program as an alternative to pet insurance, he said.



He also declined to say where Hannah gets its dogs, though he said Hannah does not work with puppy mills. Wich wouldn't provide the names of the shelters or other organizations with which Hannah works. And he wouldn't say how many they work with, except that the number is less than 10.



The Oregon Humane Society isn't one of them.



"We have declined to work with (Hannah)," Lytle said. "One reason: We were unsure about the source of the animals they were offering for adoption. They didn't offer any criteria, so we couldn't rule out breeders or puppy mills. ...They say they're shelter animals, but they never give any details about where the animals actually come from."



Tina Stewart, founder of Tender Care Animal Rescue in Vancouver, has also refused to work with Hannah.



"I had never heard anything good from them," she said. "I just don't believe in renting a pet. If you want to rent something, rent a car. ...It's just about money. There's no regard for the animal. It's like they don't have feelings."



-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum