TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Editor's note: This story was originally published March 14, 2004.

The female Labrador is bounding and friendly, moving constantly.

It takes time for shelter worker Denise McGovern to calm the animal down, coaxing the Lab to sit at her feet.

The dog doesn't know it, but she is in the middle of a life-and-death pop quiz.

McGovern runs her hand slowly down the Labrador's back, grabbing a handful of skin and pinching.

Not too rough. Not too soft.

The dog looks back over her shoulder repeatedly, curious. But she doesn't bark, snap or bite.

She gets a solid "B" grade.

McGovern puts down a bowl of food and the Labrador goes for it immediately. As she eats, McGovern picks up a plastic hand attached to a wooden dowel, grabs the dish and slides the stainless steel bowl away.

There is no growling or snapping jaws. The Labrador heads for the distant food bowl and starts eating again.

Good sign. Another B.

McGovern administered other tests on that balmy Friday more than a week ago, tapping the Labrador on the back leg and darting away to see if the Lab would play -- pinching the skin between her toes.

Passing meant the black dog would get a name and a spot in the county shelter's adoption kennel.

Failure meant euthanasia.

The test was developed by the American Humane Association to help shelters evaluate whether a dog is safe for people to adopt.

The county shelter uses the test on every dog that is not claimed by an owner. There is no similar test for cats, so shelter workers use their best judgment.

It isn't easy to test animals you've fed and played with, McGovern said, knowing the outcome could be their death.

"You become attached to the dogs," she said. "When they have to pull the dog and have it euthanized, sometimes (the workers) can't do it."

Someone else often has to bring the dog to the small block building in the rear of the shelter, back where the public can't go.

The Labrador was found wandering around Freedom Middle School on March 1. The collar, the fact that she has been spayed and her friendly nature tell workers that she was someone's pet.

But she wasn't licensed and didn't have an address or phone number on her collar. If she had, animal control officers would have simply taken her home or called her owner.

McGovern finishes the test with a smile on her face.

The Labrador gets a passing grade.

She is named "Lady" and moved to the front of the county shelter -- the part where the public can find new pets.

But Lady isn't the only dog McGovern tests that Friday.

She evaluates a chow and a boxer, too.

The chow gets a low C, is tested again, and gets a similar result. It's too low of a score. He might bite. The county can't allow a family to take a dog that might bite.

The boxer passes a first test with a solid B. But when he is put with other dogs he attacks. He is retested and fails.

Both animals are given lethal injections.