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KALISPELL- An end of life service for pets is seeing the end of the road at the Flathead County Animal Shelter after the Flathead County Board of Health ruled to no longer allow pet owners to bring their animals in to be euthanized.

Residents who want to put a pet down or euthanize it, you'll need to find somewhere other than the Flathead County Animal Shelter. Director Cliff Bennett says there are a lot of reasons, and fraud is at the top of the list.

"We've had people bring in dogs and cats that they claim that they're their own. And later it turns out they're not. They're part of a custody dispute or a marital breakup, or maybe just neighbors mad at each other, and so wouldn't that be a terrible thing to do, to put someone's animal down."

Bennett remembers one case in particular of a man who brought a dog in to be euthanized, and then left right away.

"[The person] didn't stick around very long for us to ask questions, and after he left, we discovered that the dog would eat, did appear healthy, our vet looked at the dog, and found it to be healthy."

So Bennett says they had to make the right decision, but the owner was upset.

"We decided not to put the dog down, the mistake was not calling the person that said they were the owner. And telling him we were not going to do that. But we just need to be out of that business all together."

Bennett says putting an animal down, is no small thing and added these serious matters should never be taken lightly.

"That's really a decision that should be left to a doctor of Veterinary Medicine and we have some great ones here in the valley and plenty of them."

Bennett also told us the shelter will still accept all surrendered animals if they are found, or if an owner simply can not take care of them anymore. While that service costs $20 it gives the animal another shot at life.