Now the same law that would have killed Jake is set to kill Wiggles, a Shih-Tzu accused of biting a neighbor kid who came into his fenced yard. According to a posting on Facebook, the neighbor kids had taunted and physically hurt Wiggles for a long period of time prior to the bite. Wiggles is not owned by a city councilman and has been stuck in the shelter since January. No one has - uh, stolen him. A closed door hearing to determine his fate is due to announce a result today. Wiggles is the first dog to come up for a hearing under Sioux City's vicious dog ordinance. I will update this post when I hear something on the case.
Update: No news reports yet but the Facebook page has been updated to say Wiggles is going home.
Update Deux: Wiggles is home and the owner has posted on Facebook:
The first thing Wiggles did when he got home was run to the door. When we got inside he made a dash around the house, came up to me, gave me a big kiss, and then made his rounds running around the dinning room table" he runs around the table to tire himself out" then he layd down next to me and sighed and took a little nap! I am so happy! Thank you all!!!!!! He is too! NOW EVERYBODY SAVE SPORK!!!!!!!!!!In addition, the owner vows to continue fighting until Sioux City's vicious dog law is changed.
The Sioux City Journal has an article about Wiggles' death row pardon.
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3 comments:
If the neighbor kids were known to have taunted and physically hurt Wiggles for "a long period of time" why on earth was he left outside unsupervised and unprotected?
Should he have been safe outside in his own yard? Sure. But obviously he wasn't, and his owner *knew* that. And now he's at risk of being killed because his owners didn't protect him.
I agree with Katie... ideally all dog owners should be aware that a dog left outside unsupervised *may* be subject to abuse from passers-by. But if you KNOW it has happened in the past you should take steps to protect your dog!
But I don't want to get too distracted from the statement that Wiggles was facing death because he's "accused of biting a neighbor kid who came into his fenced yard."
WTF!! Since when is a dog not allowed to bite a TRESPASSER!!!??
Seriously, that is so f-ed up!
After reading the newspaper account, it seems the hearing officer was unusually astute and instead of just rubber-stamping the government's case, held them to standards of actual fairness and proof. I hope the next dog is as lucky.
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