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CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The euthanasia of a drug-sniffing K-9 is raising questions about what happens inside the Clayton County Animal Control shelter, and whether staff followed the rules.

Advocates said surveillance footage and a missing page from the shelter's logs raise concerns about the procedure, concerns the county says are unfounded.

Kona was donated to the Clayton County Sheriff's Office after his original owner died in 2022. He was trained to detect contraband inside the county jail.

Sheriff Levon Allen said he discovered Kona's handler was smuggling contraband in and arrested him in October 2025 on three felony charges .The case is still pending in Clayton County Superior Court, and the former deputy has not entered a plea.

When deputies went to retrieve Kona from his handler's home, the dog attacked and bit a deputy, Allen said.

Sgt. Pete Thompson, a K-9 handler with the Clayton County Sheriff's Office, said no one could handle Kona at that point and they could not find a veterinarian willing to board him.

 If he's attacking people, I can't bring him to my home with my family,  Thompson said. That's when deputies made the decision to take the dog to animal control until they figured out what to do next.

 That's not the same Kona I know'

Clayton County Animal Control is run by the Clayton County Police Department.

 Through the night, there were incidents that took place at the animal control to which they were concerned about the behaviors as well,  Allen said, adding he called the police chief to have the department's K-9 handler with 30 years of experience evaluate Kona as well.

The Clayton County Animal Control adminsiters drugs, euthanizes sheriff's K9 Kona. (WANF)

 Ultimately [they] came to the same conclusion about the aggressiveness,  Allen said.

If anyone was going to get through to Kona, Clayton County sheriff's K-9 handler Sgt. Ronda Johnson said it'd be her.

 Every time he would see me, he would get playful and jolly,  Johnson said, recalling her interactions with Kona during their

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