KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A local family wants to know what happened to Roscoe, the family dog seized a month ago by Animal Control.

The family said it's been a frustrating four weeks as Animal Control officers have repeatedly changed their story about why they took the dog.

When a Kansas City, Kan., woman saw the news story Monday night about a man who won an $8,000 civil judgment against the city after it euthanized his five dogs by mistake, she contacted KCTV5 News to tell her story.

Sasha Cockrum said her family adopted a German shepherd mix named Roscoe last December from the Kansas City, Kan., animal shelter.

In late October, Roscoe was on a chain in front of the Cockrums' house on Grandview Avenue when an Animal Control officer showed up, claiming there had been an anonymous complaint that Roscoe was an illegal breed, according to Cockrum.

"They said they were removing him because he was a pit bull," Cockrum said. "He's a shepherd mix. Well, this officer said, 'No, he has the characteristics of a pit bull. Listen to his high-pitched yipe. That's a pit, ma'am. I have to take him.'"

Roscoe was seized and that is last time the Cockrums have seen their pet.

Cockrum's husband went to the animal shelter that afternoon. He took along the paperwork from the KCK animal shelter showing that their own officer deemed the dog a shepherd mix in June.

Then, according to the family, the KCK shelter changed its story and claimed the owners were neglecting Roscoe.

That charge didn't stick either and shelter officials then said they were keeping Roscoe because he was not neutered, the Cockrums said.

That's true.

Sasha Cockrum said financial problems after a rough pregnancy prevented them from neutering Roscoe.

But, she said, after the dog was seized she thought she had a deal with the shelter's director, Capt. Henry Horn.

"At first he told us, 'Give me until Wednesday and then I will take him down and get him neutered and everything myself and then you guys can pay for it.' Fine. OK. Capt. Horn said that," Cockrum said.

But a few days later, Cockrum said, Horn called back. "He basically told us that we're not getting our dog back. He's either going up for adoption or euthanization."

The KCK shelter has been plagued by problems for several years.

Two years ago, a KCTV5 News investigation uncovered that the shelter had euthanized almost a hundred animals well before the three-day holding period that Kansas law mandates.

At the time, the state Animal Health Department said there was a total lack of management at the KCK shelter and that animals were being killed, "subject to the whims of shelter employees."

The problems continued after our investigation.

In April 2006, according to state records, the KCK shelter once again put down a dog before the three-day holding period.

In March 2007, state officials discovered the shelter loaned a trap to a city resident to trap a stray dog.

That stray dog was never trapped, the state said, but the trap ended up snaring several domestic and wild animals.

The state urged the shelter to change its procedures.

State inspectors conducted a routine inspection of the shelter in the June 2007 and it passed with no problems.

KCTV5's Craig Nigrelli went to the KCK animal shelter to try to find out what happened to Roscoe.

"The people have tried to get answers about their dog named Roscoe. They say they've called and got the runaround on the phone. They just want to know if their dog is dead or alive," Nigrelli told workers at the shelter.

Employees told him he would have to talk to the city's public information officer.

Members of the Cockrum family said they're losing hope because of the lack of information about Roscoe. "It's very upsetting. He was a family dog. He slept with us. He ate dinner when we ate dinner. He was protective over the kids," Cockrum said.

The public information officer for the KCK Police Department, which oversees the shelter, called Nigrelli to say that Roscoe is definitely alive. However, she refused KCTV5's request to see Roscoe.