Rottweiler who injured a jogger is put to death
WEATHERSFIELD, Vt. --A Rottweiler named Bear who seriously injured a jogger earlier this summer was put down on Friday after the Select Board voted 4-1 to have the dog euthanized.
Bear attacked Timothy Kehoe of Weathersfield as he was jogging by owner Douglas Metcalf's residence on July 8.
On Aug. 3, the board declared the dog vicious and gave Metcalf until Thursday to find a suitable rescue organization or the dog would be put down.
The Select Board rejected Metcalf's suggestion that the dog live with a friend at a remote hunting camp. Select Board Vice-Chairman John Arrison said the board wanted to turn the dog over to an organization that could rehabilitate Bear, not a private citizen.
The board acted after receiving reports via e-mail from a Rottweiler breeder and a representative from the Northeast Rottweiler Rescue and Referral who evaluated the dog. Arrison said both advised the dog be euthanized.
"The town has liability when two people with credibility tell us to euthanize an animal," he said. "The four of us were not willing to put this off any longer."
Sue Skaskiw, executive director of the Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals in Bridgewater, said the board is wrong to have killed the 3-year-old dog.
She said town officials asked her to arrange to have the dog evaluated by a professional dog behaviorist. That behaviorist recommended the dog be placed with an experienced owner without young children who lives in an isolated area and could apply a strict training regimen, she said. Skaskiw said a home in New Hampshire was found for the dog that met those criteria.
"We feel it's a breach of contract," she said, "I'm angry. The town invited us in and I feel that we were used."
The Select Board did not see a copy of her report because the board never requested it, she said.
Bear was euthanized by a veterinarian at the Springfield Animal Hospital, where's he was kept for the past several weeks.
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Information from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/
