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SANTAQUIN — Aiming to fight what they call an "archaic" city law, the Humane Society of Utah has agreed to legally represent the family of a dog that's been ordered to be put to death.
Dexter, a 5-year-old Australian shepherd, escaped a Santaquin family's fenced backyard last October before allegedly biting a teenage girl.
Lindsy Bray, Dexter's owner, is fighting a judge's order to put the dog down, claiming her dog isn't "vicious," as he is apparently defined under Santaquin's city ordinance.
"My dog doesn't bite people," Bray said in an interview with KSL this week. "I think he saw a girl and was like, 'Hey let's play,' and maybe jumped at the back of the leg and scratched her."
According to a police report, the dog did not "break any skin," but Santaquin's ordinance defines a vicious dog as "a dog that has bitten, clawed, attacked, chased, harassed, pursued or worried a person without provocation."
Santaquin Police Cpl. Mike Wall told The Associated Press the department takes all dog-bite cases seriously.
Gene Baierschmidt, the Humane Society of Utah's executive director, called the judge's order to euthanize the dog an "overreaction" based on Santaquin's definition of a vicious dog.
"This overly broad definition is not in tune with other common ordinances," Baierschmidt said in a prepared statement. "We believe that this is an overreaction and the city cannot euthanize every dog or cat when it scratches somebody."
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Craig S. Cook, president and general counsel for the Humane Society of Utah, has agreed to represent the Bray family for free.
“It is hoped that the City Council will amend its 19th-century ordinance to provide its citizens with full due process of law, to provide an acceptable definition of a ‘vicious’ animal and to further allow alternatives to the present mandatory death sentence,” Cook said.
The case is currently in the 4th District Court in an appeal from the Santaquin Justice Court. Parties have agreed to dismiss the criminal action if the City Council amends its ordinance, according to the Humane Society.
Santaquin city officials issued a prepared statement Thursday saying the city does not comment on pending litigation.
However, the City Council does plan to review its animal control ordinance during its June 7 meeting, the statement said.
Bray is hoping the ordinance will change.
"I want to save my dog, but not only mine," she said. "I feel for all the other families that are having to kill their family pet."
Contributing: Ashley Kewish