WATERVILLE — The owners of two pit bulls that attacked and killed another dog last month and injured a woman are fighting a request that their dogs be euthanized.
Danielle Jones and Brandon Ross, the owners of the two Staffordshire terriers, which are a type of pit bull, denied charges of keeping a dangerous dog, in Waterville District Court on Tuesday. The case will go to trial at a date yet to be determined.
A Winslow woman, Sharron Carey, 60, was injured in the Aug. 30 attack on Lucille Avenue in Winslow, and her Boston terrier puppy, Fergie Rose, was killed after the pit bulls escaped a fenced yard and attacked.
“I watched my dog get murdered, and there was nothing I could do about it,” said Carey, who wore a brace on her right arm when she appeared in court Tuesday along with her husband, Bill, and their attorney, Steve Blackwell.
“At what point do you realize you have a problem with these dogs?” asked Blackwell, who said the dogs were also involved in a previous attack at another location in Winslow. “This is a serious issue, and it puts the neighbors in jeopardy.”
Jones and Ross, who appeared with their attorney, Tom Ferris, declined to comment outside the courtroom.
During the proceedings, Ferris said they “absolutely” object to the dogs being euthanized. District Court Judge Valerie Stanfill said the case will go to trial.
The dogs are in the custody of the Humane Society Waterville Area, where they have been in quarantine since the attack and where they are expected to remain until the trial.
Sharron Carey has permanent nerve damage in her right arm because of the attack, and her husband said that he and his children are worried about the psychological impact the incident has had on her.
“She’s not sleeping. She’s upset emotionally,” he said. “It could be permanent. I don’t think anyone in this room would deal well with something like that.”
Keeping a dangerous dog is a civil violation punishable by a fine of $250 to $1,000. The Careys have requested that the dogs, Bentley and Kole, be euthanized, but under state law a judge could also order that they be confined in a secure enclosure or securely muzzled in the future.
Winslow Animal Control Officer Chris Martinez said he was not surprised that Jones and Ross are fighting the move to euthanize the dogs and said there has been a great deal of community reaction to the case.
“My personal opinion is that I don’t want to see any animal be killed or euthanized, but at the same time I don’t think anybody in the community wants them back and I don’t blame them,” he said.
The case is the second pit bull attack in recent months in central Maine. In June, a 7-year-old Bangor boy was killed by a pit bull in Corinna. No charges have been filed in that case, which remained under investigation as of the end of August. Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton said Tuesday that case is still being investigated.
Marlene Martin, who lives in the Lucille Avenue neighborhood where the Winslow attack took place and used to see Carey walking her puppy, was in the courtroom Tuesday and gave Carey a hug afterward.
“It affects everyone that lives in the neighborhood,” she said. “People have stopped walking around.”
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