BRISTOL — An Elkhart County family says Humane Society workers were "negligent" by putting their lost dog to sleep. The Humane Society says everything was done "by the book." Now, the two sides are headed to court.

It all started in late December, when Steve Messer and his wife Melissa made an unexpected trip out of town.

"My nephew passed away on Christmas Eve," Steve said. "We left to help out the family out of town. Then -- I think it was the next day -- my dad had a stroke. So, we left from the funeral to go be with him."

While they were away, the Messers left their 3-year-old German Shepherd named "Bear" chained to a kennel outside their New Paris home, with an agreement that Steve's brother would feed and care for the dog while they were gone.

"It was about a 30 foot length of chain, but my brother Vincent was coming out and watching the dog, feeding him, getting him fresh water, taking care of him and stuff," Messer said.

But, when the Messers returned on January 7th, Bear was nowhere to be found.

"I got back home, and my dog had slipped his collar. I went through the area, you know, asking about where the dog was at and that," Messer said.

He quickly found the answer.

"My neighbor found the dog," Messer said.

"The neighbor actually held the dog for 4 days on his own account," agreed Elkhart County Humane Society Assistant Director Rachel Dennis. "But, he couldn't keep it at his house anymore. He brought it in to us. He did not know who it belonged to."

The problem is, neither did the Humane Society.

"The dog came in with no tags, no microchip, no identification. We held the dog for 3 days, which is our protocol. We actually don't have to hold them for any amount of days. But, here, we hold them for 3 days if we do not know who the owners are. If we do know who the owner is, we hold it for 10 days," Dennis said.

"I went to pick up the dog on Wednesday. He was dropped off on Saturday morning. At first, they said my dog wasn't there. But, then they found his card, and the director called me into his office, and he says 'Steve, I'm sorry," Messer said.

"I asked him, 'you're sorry about what?' He said, we've euthanized your dog. And it was just ... it was unbelievable," Messer trailed off.

Even though the Messers acknowledge that Bear had no identification, they believe the dog should have been kept for 10 days, for several different reasons.

"First, when [my neighbor] dropped him off, he put a new collar and a leash on the dog to ensure they would keep the dog 10 days, to give someone a chance to come over and claim the dog," Messer said.

Messer says the Humane Society worker who accepted the dog assured the neighbor that's what would happen.

Another reason for a longer stay, Messer says?

"He was pure bred and well taken care of. He was so gentle, and so beautiful. We raised him from a baby, and he was just a very special dog. This wasn't a mangy dog off the street," he said.

That makes losing Bear much harder, Melissa says.

"He was definitely part of the family," she said, choking back tears.

"It's a dramatic loss. I've got so many emotions, I just can't explain," agreed Steve. "I cry. I have dreams of this dog coming up to me. I have anger. I just can't even tell you what runs through me."

Dennis says she understands the Messers' frustration, but says beauty isn't determining factor.

"What kind of a shelter would we be if we just picked the beautiful dogs and euthanized all the ugly ones? We don't do that. We don't pick and choose," she said.

The problem, Dennis says, is one of space.

"Usually, we are more calm in the winter than the summer. But, not this year. We have had a lot of animals. Last year, our total was 12,000, which is 2,000 more than what we usually take in. We took in 56 cats in one day over the summer. We've just been full every day," she said.

The Humane Society's 10,000 square foot facility doesn't have the space to fit every animal that isn't adopted.

"I wish I could tell you that we have 12,000 kennels, but we don't," Dennis said. "We only have 18 adoption kennels [for dogs] and 20 stray kennels. On many of them, we're doubling up [inside one kennel.] On smaller dogs, sometimes we triple up."

The only solution available in order to continue accepting state mandated animals is to euthanize, Dennis said.

For example, a dog involved in a "bite case" must -- by state law -- be housed by the Humane Society for at least 10 days.

"Unfortunately, sometimes, that means there's no space available for a dog that might be a good candidate for adoption," she said.

The result is that more than half of the animals the Humane Society accepts each year are put to sleep.

"On average, we euthanize about 6,000 to 7,000 animals a year," Dennis said.

But, in this case, she says euthanasia could have been avoided, if the proper precautions were followed by the dog's owners.

The first, she says, starts with where Bear was kept while his owners were away.

"To leave their dog outside for 7 days, tied up to a doghouse in subzero temperatures -- because it was very cold that week," Dennis trailed off. "What does that say about you?"

Secondly, Dennis says the shelter received no calls about Bear until the 4th day after he had been brought in.

"If you notice a dog is missing, call us immediately so we can do a lost report. That way, we can put the report in our book. And, before we euthanize an animal, we go through the book and make sure we're not putting down a dog that's already been reported lost," she said.

Then, there's the issue of identification.

"If the dog would have been micro-chipped, we could have found its owner a lot quicker," she said.

When asked why Bear wasn't micro-chipped, Messer thought for a moment.

"The [Humane Society] Director asked me that. I told him I didn't believe in it," he said.

When asked if he regretted that decision, Messer replied "no."

He also admitted that Bear didn't wear regular ID tags on his collar.

"[He never had ID], no, no," he said.

Still, it all adds up, to heartbreak for the Messers.

"I don't even have the words to say it," said Messer. "I was attached to him, really bad. This was his home, and we were his family."

It's a feeling that Dennis says she, and other Humane Society employees share.

"It's very hard. It's not something we want to do. It's not something we like to do. It's just something we have to do," Dennis said.

Still, Messer is promising to push for change.

"Nothing's going to bring Bear back. We know that. But, we want something put in place that assures this does not happen to anybody else's dog. We want justice for Bear," he said.

That promise now includes a civil lawsuit filed Monday in Elkhart County Court.

It alleges that the Humane Society was "negligent" in its handling of Bear's case.

"We're asking for the maximum -- $6,000," Messer said. "But, the money means nothing. It's just the fact that we want something done here."

The two sides are scheduled to appear in court in March.