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| Tigger mauled another dog to death, but Tigger's owner only complains about the death of HER dog. |
The dog was picked up after an attack on the street. The owner was scheduled to go to court Friday, but that was before she found out her dog was already put down.
"Tigger was the only dog I had that truly loved the kids, no matter what they did," said Anna Boone, Tigger's owner.
Anna Boone and her family have welcomed several dogs into their home. Tigger was a Catahoula/Pit bull mix. He was taken from his family on December 17th.
"We were dealing with a contractor and he went with the kid in the front yard. It really shocked me, he took off running," said Boone.
She says Tigger was running after a small dog. "He picked it up like a toy, swooped it up and turned around like he was playing and dropped it," said Boone.
[So she thought her dog was 'playing' with this tiny dog? Did she go over to check on it when it lay there in the street, dying???]
Boone says she didn't think anything serious had happened until animal control officers showed up at her door with a complaint filed by the other dog's owner. The smaller dog had died from its injuries. The owner of the smaller dog also told investigators Tigger attacked her.
"She claimed Tigger bit her, she was bitten and at no point was he near her," said Boone.
[How does she know this unless she stood there, watched her dog attack and mortally wound this little dog? Did she go up to the dog and its owner to see how they were? Maybe if she had, she'd have realized that her dog wasn't 'playing' and had actually bitten the owner.]
The bite investigation notice states Boone's dog bit a woman's finger and attacked her dog. Animal officers told Boone they had to take Tigger to the pound for 10 days for rabies observation. According to the warning notice issued by animal control, Boone could pick up Tigger on December 27th.
When that day came, they told Boone she couldn't pick up Tigger because there was a debate over him being a dangerous dog.
On January 5, 2012, she received a letter notifying her she had been granted an opportunity to present her side of the story on January 13, 2012. "I had all my witnesses ready to testify, pictures, photos," said Boone.
Boone says Brenda Pearson, Director of the Companion Animal Alliance, called her on January 12, the day before the hearing, with heartbreaking news. "She said I'm sorry to have to tell me that they had already euthanized him," said Boone. "I was floored."
While Pearson says she does not know who make the error. She admits someone at animal control or the shelter, which brands itself as a no kill operation, made a mistake.
"We didn't realize the lady had a court date because on the paperwork it didn't state a court date," said Pearson. "So we euthanized the dog."
The impound record only says the dog was being held because it was a bite case. Pearson says she has met with the supervisor of animal control to start taking extra steps to avoid the same tragedy in the future.
"We'll track the actual officer and interview that officer, and do more, exhausting research on that case," said Pearson.
Pearson tells WAFB she made repeated attempts to reach the owner of the smaller dog, but she says she has not heard back from her.
A posting on the news site, allegedly written by Tigger's owner:
"Tigger got let out by my child. We had a contractor working in the gate area, which allowed him access to the front. Although he has shown no dog aggression previously, he chased after the small dog, picked it up, and then dropped it. The incident took five seconds. The other owner claimed he killed her dog, but also that he bit her. She will not talk to a/c or me. If her dog was truly killed, then I am sad for her, but it was a terrible accident, not a malicious lie that caused her dogs death."
(WAFB - Jan 13, 2012)
