In the defendant's chair sat Jeremiah Aguilar — a veteran who said he is on 100-percent disability from post-traumatic stress — fighting for the life of the dog he said is his saving grace. He sat with a bowed head when Judge Richard Brown announced he would not change a previous order of euthanization.
At the opposite end of the table sat the woman that Dutch, an American Allaunt, attacked and severely injured on Nov. 14, 2012, while she was caring for him at her home.
In a breaking voice, she, too, told of post-traumatic stress, saying she experiences it due to the attack and threats received after Dutch's story went viral last week.
The court had also received a raft of unpleasant communication, Brown said.
"I went through this horrific experience and almost lost my life," the woman said, breaking down.
"It's hurt me greatly, what they're putting me through. We're just really sad about this situation. It's hard that I almost lost my life, and then to be treated this way ... I just want this over so I can go on with my life."
Her finger, which Dutch bit hard enough to break and inflict tendon damage, was still in a brace. Photos from the court file showed the extent of bites to her upper thigh and backside. Her medical bills topped $28,000, it was said in court.
Evidence at a January trial established that the woman had broken up a dog fight and that Dutch repeatedly attacked her after he was taken inside, Brown said.
Aguilar maintains that his dog was provoked. "He's not what they say he is," Aguilar said, disputing Animal Control's finding that Dutch is vicious and dangerous.
Thursday's hearing was held for purposes of sentencing Aguilar and so the judge could hear mitigating — and aggravating — factors as to Dutch.
Brown said nothing presented justifies reversing the previous order.
Aguilar was told to surrender Dutch to Animal Control, but because he is appealing to Montrose County Court, euthanasia is not imminent.
Aguilar had not turned over the dog as of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Animal Control Supervisor Mike Duncan said. Aguilar did not immediately return a message left Thursday evening.
Aguilar was also fined $500, with $250 suspended. He was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution and was sentenced to 20 days in jail, with 18 suspended.
Aguilar is further prohibited from making Internet postings concerning the victim.
The case captured worldwide attention last week after a story on a dog advocacy website went viral. The initial story, which since has been updated, portrayed the victim as a dog beater and Dutch as a service dog who was defending himself.
More than 200,000 people have signed online petitions in support of Dutch.
But the portrayal doesn't match the facts, Brown said. Dutch was not a service dog at the time of the attack, and he bit the woman — a former owner who had raised him as a puppy — repeatedly after he was separated from the other dog and taken inside.
"I understand that emotions have become very high. You would have to be a complete village idiot not to know what's going on," Brown said.
"This was not defensive behavior," Animal Control Officer Christine Gibson told the court, describing the intensity of the attack.
Contrary to what some have opined, Dutch was not in fear of his life by the time he began biting the woman, she said.
The woman was watching Dutch for Aguilar when a fight broke out in the yard between Dutch and her dog, Artex. She said she had to hit Dutch with her hands and then hit him with a flimsy tiki torch pole to break it up.
Once she got him inside, she tried to clean him up, and he lunged, biting her in the thigh down to the bone, it was said in court.
Per official reports: The woman attempted to take refuge in her room, but fell, and Dutch leapt on top of her, biting her buttock and again hitting bone. It was in prying his jaws loose that the woman's finger was bitten and broken.
She was able to get free, barricade herself in her bedroom and call her fiancé — telling him to be ready to use his gun — while Dutch repeatedly rammed himself against the door and reportedly attacked furniture.
Defense attorney Amy Ondos repeatedly questioned why the victim called her fiancé rather than 911. The woman has said she feared for the safety of first responders, according to Animal Control.
"I have nightmares, visions of me dead on the floor," she said.
Dutch was "unsatisfied" when he couldn't get at Artex, she said, but he hadn't tried to bite her until they were inside the house and she went to clean blood off him.
When he bit her the second time, she could feel him "tugging," she said.
"I couldn't budge. He had all his weight on me. I saw myself dead on the floor. ... He was not going to stop. I'm lucky I got away," the woman said.
Gibson said temperament testing Aguilar obtained for Dutch after the incident is more accurately behavioral testing. True temperament testing takes place repeatedly, over an extended period, she said.
Ondos later asked Gibson whether she had extensive exposure to Dutch, and she said no.
Defense witness James Kohout of Canine Manners said he put Dutch through several tests in a five-hour period Tuesday. At no point did Dutch act aggressively, even when Kohout pretended to beat him; instead, he acted playfully or hid behind Aguilar.
In a live test for a TV station, Kohout approached Dutch threateningly with a metal stick. "He just acted like he wanted to play with the stick," Kohout said. Dutch even took a treat that the TV reporter held in her mouth, he said.
"At this point, the dog should've aggressed. I stand by my statement that this is not a vicious dog," Kohout said.
Aguilar said the dog is vital to getting him through post-traumatic stress episodes, including severe nightmares.
He said that on Wednesday, he had to be admitted to the hospital because he was so anxious over Dutch that he passed out.
"It was the thought of having to have him put down," Aguilar said. "I had an anxiety attack. ... I felt my head was going to explode."
Losing Dutch would be like losing a family member, he said.
"Have you thought about the injuries to the victim?" City Attorney Russ Duree asked.
Aguilar said he feels bad for the woman and has nothing against her. He and his wife even helped her immediately after the attack, he said.
Brown said many aspects of the case are troubling, including criticism of the woman's actions.
"None of us were there, were we? I find no fault in the victim here," he said.
The court could not be convinced that Internet reports were true, he said.
"What seems to have come across is that the victim savagely and mercilessly beat the dog for no reason at all," Brown said.
"The impression created on the Internet is far different than reality. You (Aguilar) didn't do it, but people have done it for you. What's been created is a lynch mob mentality."
Brown said he didn't see a lot of remorse in Aguilar, and that some of the things others put online come perilously close to witness intimidation, which in Colorado is chargeable as a felony.
He called the Internet postings an effective pre-emptive strike that played on the public's love of veterans and animals, and which further cast the victim as having deserved what happened.
"This is a classic example of a lynch mob mentality created on the Internet," Brown said.
No one likes euthanasia and "only once in a blue moon" does he receive such a recommendation, the judge added.
He paused for a full minute to demonstrate how slowly time can pass when one is being attacked. The woman's ordeal had lasted several minutes, he said.
"I know you want me to take a chance on Dutch. Believe me, I understand that every time we're dealing with an animal, we're dealing with a family pet," Brown said.
It would be an "easy out" to allow Aguilar to take Dutch to Oklahoma, he said.
"I'm not willing to take that risk. It could very well be that nothing will ever happen again, but there's absolutely no assurance that it won't," the judge said.
Ondos said she will appeal the decision. The process can take months.
(Montrose Press - Feb 15, 2013)
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