The town wanted to take custody of Pagan Moon, an English mastiff, after eyewitnesses reported seeing a man beat the animal in public. However, the man said the dog was not his to take.
Pagon was at the East Haven Animal Shelter, awaiting the judge's decision.
"It's not my dog, and never was," said Herman Martinez. "It's her dog they're trying to say it's mine."
Martinez, of East Haven, claimed Pagan belonged to his girlfriend, Maria Saunders. She said she wanted the dog back.
"That's my baby, and I just want the opportunity to do what I want to do for him," Saunders said.
However, East Haven animal control officers said that doesn't matter. They said they were trying to take Pagan away because they said it was in the dog's best interest.
Eyewitnesses described seeing Martinez beat Pagan outside of a Rite Aid store in East Haven.
"Every time he was getting aggressive with that dog, that dog was lifting up his paw," said Marguerite Muzzo, one of the eyewitnesses. "So I didn't see anything vicious about that dog. I think in canine language that he was begging him to stop."
Martinez said he was disciplining the dog.
"I was trying to calm him down," he said. "A dog trainer says don't let the dog dominate you."
Officials also said they were concerned about Pagan's well-being. They want to find another home for him.
That's a thought that was not sitting well with Saunders.
"I just want my dog back," she said.
It will be up to the judge to decide where Pagan ends up.
(WFSB - June 2, 2014)
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