REDDING, CA -- Molly, the pit bull that killed Redding Mayor Missy McArthur's toy fox terrier, and Bailey, another dog from the same household, have been sentenced to death.
Their owner, McArthur's next-door neighbor Heather McSweeney, says she won't appeal the sentences — a process that would cost her thousands of dollars.
Next door, McArthur has two new dogs in her home.
"They are great," said Mayor Missy McArthur. "They are so sweet."
She named the two male toy fox terriers Diablo — because he has a nose for mischief — and Ruben because his face resembles Ruby, her 7-year-old fox terrier that died June 2. They weigh in at 6 pounds each.
Despite a 6-foot fence, a bamboo thicket and two sections of 3-foot fence between McArthur's backyard and McSweeney's yard, two of McSweeney's dogs made their way to Ruby.
McArthur heard Ruby outside barking about 7:15 p.m. June 2.
McArthur checked on the dog, but saw nothing unusual.
When McArthur went back inside her home, she heard her dog scream.
Back in the yard she saw Molly, a 5-year-old female pit bull, attacking Ruby. Another one of McSweeney's dogs, Bailey, a 6-month old Australian shepherd, was also in McArthur's yard.
Although McArthur was able to pull Ruby from Molly's mouth and rushed her to the veterinarian, the small dog suffered major injuries in the attack and was euthanized, said Capt. Lee Anne Smith of Redding Animal Regulation.
She called it a "gruesome attack" that left Ruby with an open chest cavity.
Last week an administrative board reviewed the attack and determined that Molly and Bailey are dangerous dogs and should be euthanized, said Greg Clark, assistant to the Redding city manager. He said McSweeney has until Monday to appeal the ruling. After that the dogs will be killed.
McSweeney, 28, said Friday that she doesn't plan to appeal although she didn't agree with her dogs' death sentence.
"It felt like it was decided before we got there," McSweeney said.
She said the cost of fighting the board's decision is just too high.
An appeal would go to Shasta County Superior Court, so attorney fees would be likely. McSweeney, as the appellant, would have to cover the cost of housing the dog at Haven Humane Society, said Ray John, CEO at Haven.
"We've had dogs here as long as eight or nine months during the appeals process," John said.
At $20 a day per dog at the kennel, that adds up to about $5,000 for one dog and $10,000 for two dogs.
McSweeney said she's lived next to McArthur for 22 years and they've long been good neighbors.
McSweeney even has Ruby's half-brother, Buddy, 14, that McArthur gave to her family.
She said she wishes the administrative board had shown mercy for Molly and Bailey.
"I would have had my dogs' teeth removed if that was what it took," McSweeney said. "We lost members of our family."
Jeramie Brooks, 31, who lives with McSweeney, said he was especially heartbroken about Bailey — his Christmas gift last year from McSweeney.
"She never had any priors," Brooks said. "She never bit. She was just a Frisbee dog."
Clark said it appeared Bailey started the fight with Ruby that ended with the dog's death.
It wasn't the first time Molly had been documented for violence, he said. In 2007 she bit a person who walked by on Palisades Avenue in north-central Redding, where McArthur and McSweeney live. After that McSweeney was given a dangerous-dog warning.
McArthur said
Molly also bit a landscape worker last year, but it wasn't reported.
Held in the same chamber where McArthur regularly meets as a member of the City Council, the administrative hearing was a much different affair.
"It's very emotional," she said. "Everyone is crying. I hope I don't have to go through that again."
McArthur said she doesn't feel like she received any special treatment from the board because of her title, noting that the board came to the same ruling the same day in another case of one dog fatally attacking another.
"It was even-handed justice," she said.
Saddened by the loss of Ruby, McArthur said she bought Ruben and Diablo about two weeks ago to keep commotion in her home.
She found the dogs on a website for rescue dogs and had them flown from Ohio to Sacramento, where she picked them up. The dogs cost $100 each, and flying them to California cost $300.
Ruby, a purebred fox terrier, had cost $800 when McArthur bought her from an Oregon breeder.
She said the dogs were worth the cost.
"The cat was lonely," she said. "I was lonely."
(Record Searchlight - June 24, 2011)
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