NEVADA -- A pit bull that bit a woman numerous times in late April was ordered released from the pound and returned to its owner by Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Eddie Trujillo.
“Normally I have zero tolerance for biting dogs and if this had happened on the streets, in a park or anywhere else in public I probably would have had it put down,” Trujillo said of the dog in the case. “But this was on private property, and I had to take that into consideration.”
Renee Maestas, the dog-bite victim alleged that the pit bull’s owner lured her onto her property on the 1400 block of 10th Street and then ordered the dog to attack her. The other woman, Franchesca Saiz, told authorities that Maestas came onto her property to fight her and that the dog was merely defending her.
Saiz, 28, of Las Vegas, pleaded no contest to a dog bite citation for which she was fined $100 on May 14, according to court records.
But Trujillo ordered her dog released after animal control officers in the case corroborated Saiz’s story that the dog bit Maestas, 39, during a confrontation on Saiz’s property on April 27, Trujillo said.
Saiz contends that Maestas entered Saiz’s property uninvited and the two, who have had problems in the past, got into a fight during which the pit bull named “Estrella” came to her defense and bit Maestas several times.
Saiz pleaded no contest to a charge of public affray stemming from the fight between her and Maestas, who was bitten repeatedly by Saiz’s dog during the incident.
Saiz was given a deferred 90-day jail sentence and a $500 fine under which the case will be dismissed if she stays out of trouble for the next six months, according to court records. She was required to pay a $29 court fee.
Maestas has pleaded not guilty to a charge of public affray stemming from the same case and will be summoned for trial at a date yet to be set.
(Las Vegas Optic - June 13, 2013)
