GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - A public campaign to save the life of a pit bull on death row has led to a temporary stay of execution.
The dog, Kron, attacked a horse three weeks ago near Merlin, a rural community in southwest Oregon.
The Josephine County Board of Commissioners ruled that Kron must be euthanized but reversed course last week after an outcry that included a protest in downtown Grants Pass. The three commissioners voted unanimously to send the case to a hearings officer, the Daily Courier reported (https://is.gd/1h8wLF).
County records show the dog is owned by Brye Rogers but was staying with Leah Harp, whose property is a few hundred feet from where the horse lives.
The dog left Harp’s yard through a broken gate, said David Pitts, an animal protection officer who investigated the incident.
Horse owner John Bartlett told commissioners that he fired at the dog when it was in a pasture and again when it charged his wife. Kron was shot twice, once in the head, but survived and is now at the county animal shelter.
Bartlett’s grandson, 15-year-old Drew Hogan, told authorities in a written statement that the dog at one point had latched onto the nose of the horse, a 30-year-old mare named Hummer.
“The dog was dangling off the horse’s nose,” he wrote. “The horse (was) trying to get the dog off by flailing her head.”
Veterinarian Todd Bershad said the horse suffered an 8-inch cut over its nasal bone and a cut to the interior of its left nostril.
An online petition started on the dog’s behalf describes the injury as a small laceration that didn’t require medical attention. The petition had more than 18,250 supporters as of Friday morning.
“This is heinous disregard for a well-loved member of a family that quite literally didn’t hurt anyone or any animal,” states the petition, written before the stay of execution. “If you have your four-legged friend sitting next to you while you read this, think of how lucky they and you are to be comfortable and not in pain… and not facing death over a trivial matter.”
The Daily Courier reports the hearings officer will be Robert Bain, a local attorney. A hearing date has not been set.
County attorney Wally Hicks said hearings officers used to consider most cases involving dogs, but the practice was discontinued because “everybody was appealing” the decisions to commissioners.
___
Information from: Daily Courier, https://www.thedailycourier.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.